Has Anyone Here Sold Any Stuff on Bandcamp?

[happyrat1]

And if so, what do I need to know before I sign up?

I've been sitting on the sidelines so long the bench has started to take root in my asscrack

I'm thinking it's time to take the plunge, remix a dozen or so of my better songs and put out a CD on Bandcamp so I can laughingly call myself a "professional musician."

It would be greatly beneficial if I could hear from other musicians who have tried this route and find out what's the real deal and what sort of obstacles I can expect. Some realistic numbers about payments and sales would also be helpful.

I've already looked into some of the platforms out there like spotify and itunes and have already decided that I would be dead of old age before I even collected 10 bux from any of those guys so Bandcamp is starting to look like the only website where I'd have a hope in hell of making any real folding money.

Anyway, let's hear what you have to say about it.

Any suggestions about production values and self promotion would also be welcome. Likewise if there are any alternatives out there who would work as well as or better please let me know.

Partying like it's 1899!!!

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

Seriously? 112 views and nobody has any opinions?

Gary

 

[Rayblewit]

I wish I could offer an opinion for you but I know absolutely nothing about bandcamp. I looked at it to see how it works. I am not sure if it will give you a decent profile. Not sure if there is a market for you.
To answer your question . . NO!
Sorry mate.
Ray.

 

[CowboyNQ]

I know absolutely nothing about bandcamp.

+1.

I sold a keyboard on Gumtree (which Ray will have heard of) earlier this year. It was not an enjoyable experience, but only because the guy who bought it off me was most unpleasant to deal with post the sale. Didn't do his research on the 'board then got all snarky when it couldn't do the things he wanted it to.

Then it "wasn't working properly". Interesting, as it worked 100% for me and I keep all my gear in immaculate condition. So I asked for video or sound evidence of the issue. Funny, never heard from him again.

Rant over. Sorry I can't help Gary.

 

[Rayblewit]

I had a major issue with ebay a few years ago. I pulled the pin on them since they imposed harsh penalties on me as a seller when an item went missing which I posted to France. It was 3 lp records which i combined into one delivery. Having given the buyer a full refund I still got 3 strikes against me.(one transaction but 3 strikes) go figure! and 12 months of nasty restrictions. Not even my fault. I had 695 positives as 100% positive feedback.
They would not listen to reason so I told them to get F***ed!
I went over to gumtree and found out that it is operated from Holland and is owned by ebay. I bet you didn't know that Paul.
Anyway, I had over 2000 lp and 45 records which I wanted to sell so I ended up creating a new ebay account.
All's good now.

About your keyboard transaction, all I can say is that there are all kinds of people in this world and sometimes we have to toletate the dickheads amongst them.
ray
ps. Sorry I used up your space Gary. Just responding to Paul.

 

[happyrat1]

I guess I gotta be the test monkey who fires himself off into orbit here.

I mean, who was the first guy to look at the snails in his garden and figure out "Those would be scrumptious with some garlic butter?"

I'm planning to spend the next month or so remixing some of my more popular tunes and putting them up on Bandcamp available as paid downloads and a physical CD.

Wish me luck guys.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Gary

 

[Rayblewit]

Best of luck man!
As long as a paid download can be copied to a SD card.
Just be aware that cd's are slowly being phased out.
In a few years no one will want cd's.
I just bought a new SUV and it does not have a cd player in it.
Ray

 

[CowboyNQ]

I guess I gotta be the test monkey who fires himself off into orbit here.

Best of luck mate, looking forward to hearing how it all goes.

I mean, who was the first guy to look at the snails in his garden and figure out "Those would be scrumptious with some garlic butter?"

You know, I often think things like that! Especially in relation to the discovery of things like coffee, tobacco, opium etc.

 

[CowboyNQ]

About your keyboard transaction, all I can say is that there are all kinds of people in this world and sometimes we have to tolerate the dickheads amongst them.

True Ray,

It's just disappointing when a keys playing brother behaves in such a way. There's not that many of us running around the country doing what we do compared to, say, guitarists, therefore you hope for a bit of "honour among thieves". Alas, not to be.

 

[happyrat1]

Paul >>> Anecdotally speaking, I've sold off tons of gear on Craigslist and Kijiji without a snag or a hassle but you have to be explicit about what you are offering.

"Cash and Carry Only Available for Pickup @ ******** All sales are Final."

I make no warranties of suitability or functionality once it's out the door and I make that clear to the buyers. I encourage them to test the boards out thoroughly at my home before any cash changes hands and they all seem quite willing and able to do so to their own satisfaction.

Mind you I've seen all kinds of lowballing scum who want to buy a $500 board for the price of a carton of smokes but another line I add to my adverts is..

"This IS my best price. Lowballers will be laughed at..."

Gary

 

[CowboyNQ]

Paul >>> Anecdotally speaking, I've sold off tons of gear on Craigslist and Kijiji without a snag or a hassle but you have to be explicit about what you are offering.

I agree mate, and don't worry, I was. I offered a personal demo of the board to any buyer and made no representations for it to be anything over and above what it was. But this chap was interstate so took it on sight unseen.

The issue wasn't lowballing. I didn't really want much for it so there was very little issue around the price. The issue was all the carry-on afterwards.

Not to worry, 'tis all done now. I'm not in the keyboard buying and selling business, I'm in the music making business, so next time I want to offload a 'board it will go to someone I know and trust.

 

[soot29]

And if so, what do I need to know before I sign up?

I've been sitting on the sidelines so long the bench has started to take root in my asscrack

I'm thinking it's time to take the plunge, remix a dozen or so of my better songs and put out a CD on Bandcamp so I can laughingly call myself a "professional musician."

It would be greatly beneficial if I could hear from other musicians who have tried this route and find out what's the real deal and what sort of obstacles I can expect. Some realistic numbers about payments and sales would also be helpful.

I've already looked into some of the platforms out there like spotify and itunes and have already decided that I would be dead of old age before I even collected 10 bux from any of those guys so Bandcamp is starting to look like the only website where I'd have a hope in hell of making any real folding money.

Anyway, let's hear what you have to say about it.

Any suggestions about production values and self promotion would also be welcome. Likewise if there are any alternatives out there who would work as well as or better please let me know.

Partying like it's 1899!!!

Gary

I have been on Bandcamp for a couple years and have had about 23 sales. I think Bandcamp is fantastic. Why?

You set the price (if any) for your music. You also determine the number of streams

You can customize your page to a degree Soundcloud doesn't even come near

Bandcamp requires you to upload no-loss file formats rather than MP3s. So your music sounds great. However, they allow buyers to pick from a variety of file formats for downloading.

Payment process has been simple and efficient

Bandcamp, unlike Spotify and (apparently) Soundcloud is profitable. It's also growing, at least according to the nice annual report they provide to members.

They provide nice metrics that allow you to see how many people are visiting your stuff, how many plays things are getting, whether those plays were partial or full, etc.

I'm probably forgetting a few things, but I have nothing but good things to say about Bandcamp. Feel free to hit me up with questions. (Sorry, I've been away from this forum for a while.)

Rick

 

[happyrat1]

A million thanks Rick. That's exactly the sort of user testimonial I was hoping for.

Here's a few more quick questions for you if you don't mind.

1) What do you mean by set the number of streams?

2) What percentages do they take for paid downloads and CD orders?

3) Have you sold any physical CDs on the site or has it all been individual song downloads?

Gary

 

[soot29]

A million thanks Rick. That's exactly the sort of user testimonial I was hoping for.

Here's a few more quick questions for you if you don't mind.

1) What do you mean by set the number of streams?

2) What percentages do they take for paid downloads and CD orders?

3) Have you sold any physical CDs on the site or has it all been individual song downloads?

Gary

Hey Gary -

What I meant by streams is Bandcamp allows you to determine how many free listens potential customers can have for a particular piece. You can make it zero - no free spins - which seems stupid. Or whatever number you want (1,2,3,4, etc.). Or unlimited free spins. Your call.

I don't have the Bandcamp fee handy, as I'm at work. But my recollection is that if I sell a piece for $1, after Bandcamp and Paypal take their cuts, I get about 73 cents. I don't think Bandcamp takes that big a cut. I think Paypal is responsible for most of that cut.

I have not sold any CDs...yet. I just haven't felt that I had enough truly A + material for a full CD but I'm getting there. So it's only been individual tracks so far.

Bandcamp also offers customers a nice discount (which you can veto or adjust) if they purchase all of your tracks at once.

Rick

 

[happyrat1]

Thanks Rick...

Now I can go ahead and remaster my A material with confidence

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

On further thought, limiting the number of free plays a person can stream can be easily defeated by simply erasing one's cookies Then again if anyone is willing to go to all that trouble just to rip and steal my music I suppose I should feel flattered instead of ripped off

I mean the Grateful Dead encourages people to bootleg their concerts and it really hasn't hurt their bottom line at all

Gary

 

[soot29]

Yes, I have been through this thought-experiment too. I used to get anxious about it until I remembered that bootlegging (stealing) music has been going on forever. (I remember reading through vast lists of bootleg albums in the '70s.) In the days before recordings, people illegally copied and distributed sheet music. Heck, even if someone pays for your music, they can still illegally use it and claim it for their own. So, at some point, you just have to accept it. For what it's worth, Bandcamp provides you with the ability to apply ISRC codes to the music you post, which allegedly helps with tracking and verification. And your posts are time-stamped.

https://www.usisrc.org/

Beyond that, as you said, if someone wants to rip you off, that's pretty flattering.

Rick

 

[happyrat1]

Well today I put a huge dent in the herculean task of remixing and remastering some of my songs for Bandcamp.

I'll also have to look into creating some original cover art for the album just so I don't run into any copyright issues. Much as I dearly love my avatar I've shamelessly lifted it from an anonymous source on the internet and I won't be Happyrat on Bandcamp anyway. Who knows? Is it worth my while to build a giant papier mache rat head to wear a la Daft Punk?

I'll go with my signature name of Gary G. as my stage name and who knows? Maybe I'll even have to join the union. That's assuming of course that I sell more songs than the price of a carton of smokes

Wish me luck and I'll keep you guys posted on breaking news

Gary

 

[soot29]

Well today I put a huge dent in the herculean task of remixing and remastering some of my songs for Bandcamp.

I'll also have to look into creating some original cover art for the album just so I don't run into any copyright issues. Much as I dearly love my avatar I've shamelessly lifted it from an anonymous source on the internet and I won't be Happyrat on Bandcamp anyway. Who knows? Is it worth my while to build a giant papier mache rat head to wear a la Daft Punk?

I'll go with my signature name of Gary G. as my stage name and who knows? Maybe I'll even have to join the union. That's assuming of course that I sell more songs than the price of a carton of smokes

Wish me luck and I'll keep you guys posted on breaking news

Gary

Good luck, Gary. Looking forward to hear what you think of it.

Rick

 

[Marten Richens]

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party Gary, but I wish you all the success with your Bandcamp endeavour. I look forward to hearing about your experience of it.