As most of you will know by now Bandcamp is seriously invested in the music industry and the success of the artists that push it forward. So, it will come as little surprise that they have devised and been beta testing a process where they will shoulder all of the responsibility of running a vinyl release campaign. While it is par for the course that Bandcamp would devise such a forward-thinking process serious props must go their way as anybody remotely connected to the vinyl label industry will tell you that it can be a risky and expensive game.
With Bandcamp already fulfilling a whole host of vinyl pressing beta campaigns, it seems the music streaming platform is ready to progress to the next stage. We are sure that there will be plenty of other underground labels and artists that will have been approached regarding this with Dragutesku an example of this. With his Instagram stories showing such correspondence, we are sure that many self-releasing artists of a similar nature will massively benefit from this service.
How this service is broken down is easy, all the risk of pressing is taken away from the label and artist and the whole campaign is more or less handled by Bandcamp. From the design of the sleeves, the colour of the vinyl, and the initial marketing via the Bandcamp platform all this is taken care of. All you the artist need to think about is producing the vinyl-ready masters and the actual artwork design and the rest will be taken care of.
Perhaps what some vinyl consumers are not aware of is the time and effort that goes into getting a vinyl release to market. Bandcamp has all but demystified this process and laid it bear for any newcomers to the industry with their blow by blow account. Typically, a vinyl campaign from start to finish and the customer slapping your record on their turntable the whole process should take 3-4 months. This may seem like a long process but this is fairly standard practice for a vinyl pressing and distribution. The good thing is that Bandcamp handles all the other issues that may crop up along the way.
As well as this groundbreaking initiative Bandcamp will also be again waiving their fees on the first Friday of the month. The dates for this will be February 5, March 5, April 2, and May 7, and with millions of dollars already being paid directly to artists and labels this is just one of the many ways that Bandcamp gives back to the music industry during these exceptionally tough times. Spotify take note.
For more information on Bandcamp’s vinyl pressing service click here.
