COVID-19 vaccines show promise for music professionals hoping to get back to gigging in 2021, but their distribution timeline pushes live events back to summer at the earliest. In light of this, Bandcamp will continue to hold no-fee holidays on the first Friday of every month from February to May.
The music download platform’s first no-fee holiday took place on March 20th. After reporting that $4.3 million in music and merchandise sales went directly to artists on that day alone, the company announced no-fee Fridays for the remainder of the year. The company reports that 800,000 fans spent $40 million on those nine days alone.
“Although vaccines are starting to roll out, it will likely be several months before live performance revenue starts to return,” wrote co-founder Ethan Diamond in a blog post. “So we’re going to continue doing Bandcamp Fridays in 2021, on February 5th, March 5th, April 2nd, and May 7th.”
Since its 2008 launch, Bandcamp has become a popular choice for musicians on account of the options it offers music and merchandise sellers. The company is also one of the few profitable download stores that shares its financials with the public; in 2016 it posted its numbers to dispel rumors that it may have been going under.
You can easily find out when Bandcamp’s next no-fee holiday will be via IsItBandcampFridayYet.com.
