Bandcamp Fridays are back, at least for the rest of 2021

Though live shows are returning, there’s no safer way to support artists and labels than buying music online.

For most of the pandemic, I’ve been making sure to spend some time and money on Bandcamp every time a Bandcamp Friday rolls around. On the first Friday of most months since March 2020, the platform has passed along its usual cut of sales, in the process earning itself tons of positive exposure and incentivizing fans to help artists and labels offset revenue losses due to COVID-related venue shutdowns. According to a recent blog post by Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond, the 13 Bandcamp Fridays so far have resulted in a total of $56 million in sales.

Bandcamp Fridays appeared to end this spring—until this past weekend, May 7 was the final date announced. Fortunately, this turns out to have been just a pause, rather than a full stop, and beginning with Friday, August 6, Bandcamp Fridays will continue through the end of 2021. Even if it turns out that December really is the last one this time, though, Bandcamp will remain a good choice for supporting artists and labels—as Diamond points out, during Bandcamp Fridays an average of 93 percent of the money spent reaches the artist or label (after processing fees), and on an ordinary day that number is 82 percent.

As I always do, I’ve tried to round up everything the Reader has published that covers a release available on Bandcamp. Since this time my search would have to span three months, not just one, it would’ve resulted in a pretty huge list if I’d been as exhaustive as possible—so for your sanity (and mine), I restricted myself to album reviews and feature-length stories. If you were actually hoping for a huge list, well, you can always dig into our archives for more coverage of Bandcamp releases. And of course we’ve published 13 Bandcamp roundups already—four from this year plus nine from 2020 (all linked in the December 2020 post). Wherever you get your ideas, make sure you carve out a little time on Friday to find something new.

Arthhur, Occult Fractures

Astrachan, Astrachan

Bachelor, Doomin’ Sun

Angel Bat Dawid, Hush Harbor Mixtape Vol. 1: Doxology

Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die, Fly or Die Live

Anthony Braxton, 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017

Canal Irreal, Canal Irreal

Chord, Imperfect Authentic Cadence

Colleen, The Tunnel and the Clearing

Thomas Comerford, Introverts

Cumbie, EP

Lucy Dacus, Home Video