The online music platform’s latest initiative gives artists the opportunity to crowd-fund their vinyl releases.
In another boost to the format’s ever-growing resurgence, Bandcamp have announced the launch of a new vinyl pressing service that “streamlines the financing, production and fulfillment of vinyl records.” The innovative initiative will allow artists to crowd-fund their vinyl releases with no upfront investment, only pressing and shipping records when a minimum funding goal is reached by fans.
“The Bandcamp vinyl service will open to all artists and labels later this year.”
In a post to their website, Bandcamp contrast the increasing popularity of vinyl with the surprising observation that only 9% of the album sales on Bandcamp offered a vinyl version, suggesting that the cause may lie with the difficulties and risk presented to artists by vinyl production. Their pressing service hopes to address these challenges, giving artists a risk-free, hassle-free method of production that offers them complete control and allows them to retain all rights and ownership to their music.
Bandcamp have always been innovators: their pay-what-you-like model upended the status quo when it was famously endorsed by Radiohead in 2007, and this latest offering is no different, offering artists increased independence in another addition to their progressive platform. Though the service won’t be publicly available until later this year, they’ve launched with four “pilot campaigns” that give a glimpse of what’s possible, featuring releases from Jim Guthrie, Juliette Jade, Mesarthim and Grammy-nominated jazz trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah.