The final Bandcamp Friday of the year arrives December 2. I’ve made a habit of rounding up music recommendations from recent Reader stories for each Bandcamp Friday, and since this is the 26th one, I hope it’s redundant to explain that for a 24-hour period, Bandcamp passes along its usual share of sales revenue to […]
Tag: Bandcamp
Bandcamp Friday, concerts, Babes with Blades, and more
It’s Bandcamp Friday, and Reader senior writer Leor Galil has regularly compiled lists for us of Reader-recommended music available for download on Bandcamp—check out one of the latest lists here. Bandcamp Fridays allow the artists and labels on the platform to receive a larger percentage of the money earned through sales, so it’s a great […]
Halloween is over, but we still have Bandcamp Friday
If you perk up when you hear the phrase “Bandcamp Friday,” then you probably already know that its 25th iteration arrives November 4. For 24 hours, the digital retailer passes along its usual share of sales revenue to the independent artists and labels whose work has made the platform such a success. (Epic Games purchased […]
Indigenous culture, Nnamdï’s Pancake Haus, Refuge, and more
Today kicks off the American Indian Center’s 69th Annual Chicago Powwow, which runs through Sunday (10/9). From 10 AM-6 PM each day, thousands will gather at Schiller Woods (events in Groves 12 and 13, entrance on Irving Park west of Cumberland) to share and reflect on Indigenous culture, preserving its heritage while contemplating its future. […]
Bandcamp Friday meets the World Music Festival
Over the past two and a half years, I’ve assembled a lot of lists for Bandcamp Friday. I like sharing music that’s unfamiliar to people, and the occasion of a Bandcamp Friday—a 24-hour period when the platform passes along its usual cut of sales revenue to the artists and labels who made it a success—seems […]
Bandcamp Fridays are back again—at least for the rest of 2022
It’s been four months since we’ve had a Bandcamp Friday. In case you’ve somehow forgotten, Bandcamp introduced them shortly after COVID-19 eliminated stateside touring in March 2020, and they’ve since become something of a tradition, helping countless musicians make ends meet without their usual road money. For the 24 hours of each Bandcamp Friday, the […]
Forty-two Reader-recommended releases for your Bandcamp Friday
Friday, May 6, is the 22nd Bandcamp Friday—a 24-hour period where the retailer passes its usual cut of sales revenue along to the independent labels and artists who sell their music and merchandise through the site. Bandcamp typically announces forthcoming Bandcamp Fridays in three-month chunks, and this Friday is the last one that’s been made […]
Bandcamp Fridays enter their third year
I still can’t do anything but guess about the long-term significance of last month’s news that Bandcamp has been acquired by Epic Games. Or maybe I should say “worry,” not “guess.” I cherish Bandcamp because it caters to artists who have little to no interest in the mainstream music business, and I don’t want that […]
The second-biggest news about Bandcamp this week
Friday, March 4, is the 20th installment of what’s become known as Bandcamp Friday, when Bandcamp passes along its usual share of revenue to the independent artists and labels selling music through the site. But that occasion was overshadowed somewhat this morning, when Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond announced that the company is “joining” Epic Games. […]
The year’s last Bandcamp Friday arrives
Since the start of the pandemic, Bandcamp has passed along its usual share of sales revenue to artists and labels 17 times, usually on the first Friday of the month. You probably already knew that, since you clicked on a story about the 18th such Bandcamp Friday—but you might not be aware that the site […]
Damián Antón Ojeda lets it all out in Sadness
In the last week of October, one of the most popular releases on Bandcamp was made by a 24-year-old who works at a theme park outside Saint Louis and records as Sadness. Damián Antón Ojeda’s dramatic, grandly atmospheric music mixes black metal and postrock, and on Sunday, October 24, he put out a two-track EP […]
Bandcamp Friday returns just in time to save you from holiday shipping delays
I’ve already begun to miss Halloween, because I’m not looking forward to being bombarded by Christmas every time I walk outside for two straight months. But I suppose it can’t hurt to remind any of y’all who celebrate some form of gift-giving holiday to get presents for your loved ones early, and not just because […]
Spooky season begins with another Bandcamp Friday
Since the pandemic arrived in the U.S. in March 2020, Bandcamp has declared 15 Bandcamp Fridays, so forgive me if I truncate my usual spiel. If you’ve somehow found this post without being aware of Bandcamp Friday, I’ll just say this: for 24 hours, the digital retailer passes along its usual share of revenue to […]
Bandcamp Friday can help you say goodbye to summer
Bandcamp’s daylong inducement to music-shopping sprees, rebooted yet again last month, returns for its latest iteration on September 3. On the first Friday of the month for the rest of the year, the online music store will pass along its usual cut of sales to independent musicians and labels—a practice it began almost a year […]
After 15 years, Chicago hip-hop duo Abstract Mindstate reunite—thanks to Kanye West
I routinely scroll through all the new music people have uploaded to Bandcamp using the “Chicago” tag, and in January I noticed something curious: Still Paying, the previously unreleased second album by local hip-hop duo Abstract Mindstate. The group recorded it in 2004 and planned to release it in ’05, but the material got shelved […]