Survey: Bandcamp vs Beatport

Which one would you choose as your main store?

  • Beatport

  • Bandcamp

  • I don't buy music


Results are only viewable after voting.

Horizons

Member
Jul 20, 2020
185 Posts
241 Thanked
All right thanks guys for those who have submitted their opinion and/or casted their votes. Poll is still active, althogh it looks like we do have a major preference in here.

I've been collecting feedback via several areas and people across the web and it was really really good to see a few main points raised by everyone to support their Bandcamp/Beatport preference. Main points, apparently, rely on:
*UI
*Credits to the artists via royalties split
*Browsing tools offered by the two services
*Music quality downloads
*Promotions/discounts available (Beatport) or offered by the single labels/artists (Bandcamp)
*options to allow users choose amongst several music formats (ex. vinyls) or adding merchandising (Bandcamp seem to satisfy these two preferences)
*exposure (Beatport still seem to be the one to give artists 'more exposure' while Bandcamp relies on the single artist/label effort)
*chance of growth (Bandcamp gives you a tool then you as an artist or label have to do the whole job and, if you are a label, you must pay for a monthly/year fee as well while Beatport requires you to just make use of an eligible distributor to do the job for you, then you don't need to pay any fee to the online store services)


From my label point of view, I will always give the chance to the signed artists to see their music on both starting from this year (subject to label T&Cs, of course).

Even though I totally dislike Spotify in so many ways, that still is a third option available to those who will want to see their music available for streaming-only.
 

Parysatis

Member
May 9, 2024
62 Posts
51 Thanked
Forêt de Brocéliande 🌿
I love Bandcamp. While it is true that sometimes releases are not tagged in a meaningful way, it's part of the charm. It’s not a neatly sorted database - it’s more like a slightly chaotic, digital underground record store where you stumble upon something unexpected just because you followed a strange breadcrumb trail. A mislabeled genre, a random recommendation, a deep dive into someone’s collection - and suddenly, I'm listening to a track I never would have searched for. That’s what makes it great for crate digging. It’s not about efficiency - it’s about discovery and adventure. 😊 🌿
 
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Exodom

Senior Member
Oct 17, 2020
613 Posts
339 Thanked
I am in the 'don't buy music' camp. It's really a practical thing for me. I own a small macbook air that has very little storage, so where am I meant to put the music If I did choose to download it? And then same for my phone, which would also be limited.

Therefore I use Spotify, because I can have all the music in my pocket without worry. The downside is that it is a bad place to discovery the very latest music in the trance and electronic scene. That's why I use this forum as I can find stuff Spotify would never introduce me too. 25% of Trance music will not make it there anyway.
 
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Hensmon

Admin
TranceFix Crew
Jun 27, 2020
3,560 Posts
3,190 Thanked
UK
Bandcamp is terrible for browsing, and relies solely on word of mouth and then following to discover music.

Just went to their 'browse' tab on BC and applied Trance and Recency filters. 70% of the music is not trance and the self-release nature of the platform means that so much of it sounds completely amateur or low quality. There's no way I can browse though this succesfully. Lacks quality control and proper genre organization. Useless surface

Beatport in comparison is actually better than I expected. Clicking on the raw trance tab and the suggestions there are diverse and a lot more underground than I was expecting. Good names in the lists too, and the staff suggestions and top lists are good. Still some genre creep from non-trance stuff coming in, but not nearly as bad.

For whatever reason, soundcloud seems the best place to discover music, through mixes and following - but you have to already know those artists to a certain degree.
 

LostLegend

Elite Member
Dec 5, 2020
1,040 Posts
1,248 Thanked
Liverpool, UK
Website
www.beatport.com
Just went to their 'browse' tab on BC and applied Trance and Recency filters. 70% of the music is not trance and the self-release nature of the platform means that so much of it sounds completely amateur or low quality. There's no way I can browse though this succesfully. Lacks quality control and proper genre organization. Useless surface
Might be a good idea to start a thread with decent, active artists/labels worth following on Bandcamp.

Get a bit of TF network going, maybe some sort of master list of artists/labels with sub genre etc. as a starting point for people wanting to dive deeper and or better support artists via Bandcamp.

Am in work atm and hate making new threads on my phone but happy to set the thread up later myself when I get home.
 
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Subspace Jet Witch

New Member
Feb 10, 2025
12 Posts
7 Thanked
Sweden
Website
soundcloud.com
I believe pretty much all of Beatport's bad reputation stems from Robert Sillerman and SFX Entertainment, who haven't been involved for almost a decade at this point. While Beatport is still technically owned by SFX (or more precisely, its reincarnation: LiveStyle), I'd say it's still a completely different beast from what it was during the height of the EDM boom.

Meanwhile, Bandcamp's current owner, Songtradr, laid off half its staff after acquisition, and its previous owner, Epic Games, has had an infamous reputation of absolutely fumbling its assets.

As for which platform I prefer? Well, let's just say I don't really believe paywalling has any future as a reliable revenue source.
 

Recharge

Elite Member
Sep 26, 2020
1,153 Posts
673 Thanked
Age
39
Bandcamp is terrible for browsing, and relies solely on word of mouth and then following to discover music.

Just went to their 'browse' tab on BC and applied Trance and Recency filters. 70% of the music is not trance and the self-release nature of the platform means that so much of it sounds completely amateur or low quality. There's no way I can browse though this succesfully. Lacks quality control and proper genre organization. Useless surface

Beatport in comparison is actually better than I expected. Clicking on the raw trance tab and the suggestions there are diverse and a lot more underground than I was expecting. Good names in the lists too, and the staff suggestions and top lists are good. Still some genre creep from non-trance stuff coming in, but not nearly as bad.

For whatever reason, soundcloud seems the best place to discover music, through mixes and following - but you have to already know those artists to a certain degree.
On the quality of songs Beatport is not much better. During the times I recorded DJ mixes with only new trance music I had to shift through tons of trash on Beatport too. I was going thorugh every release from the week too. There is like 3 labels that are the major offenders, but even without them there is so much mislabeled stuff and music that is not worth the 5 seconds I had to listen. I am still not sure why bigger labels don't put their stuff on Bandcamp, let alone medium sized ones.
 

Spacetime

Member
Nov 6, 2021
230 Posts
147 Thanked
As for which platform I prefer? Well, let's just say I don't really believe paywalling has any future as a reliable revenue source.

Why do you say that? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't vinyl release and bandcamp digital sales increasing year on year? I was under the impression that paying for music was making a bit of a comeback.