The music streaming platform Bandcamp has announced that they will be waiving their revenue shares for 24 hours on March 20th, so that they can support artists affected by the coronavirus outbreak. This means that the performers will be able to receive all the revenue from streams, downloads and other purchases made through the site to help “put much needed money directly into artists’ pockets.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic is in full force, and artists have been hit especially hard as tours and shows are being canceled for the foreseeable future,” Bandcamp co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond wrote in a statement on the platform’s website. Diamond added, “For many artists, a single day of boosted sales can mean the difference between being able to pay rent or not.”
The platform has been very prominent for upcoming independent music producers, artists and bands, who have hosted a plethora of content available for streaming and paid downloads on the site. Bancamp recently offered plans for a vinyl pressing site, which would help its users purchase physical music products from the company.
The massive amount of tour and festival postponements and cancellations have already had a major financial impact across the music industry at large. LiveNation stock dropped by 50 percent after the pandemic, as the concert promoter and organizers were forced to shut down multiple tours and events as result of the pandemic. SXSW was forced to lay off a third of its employees after its cancellation, and may have to pay tens of millions of dollars.
Check out Bandcamp’s full statement below:
Leave a Comment