Survey: Bandcamp vs Beatport

[Horizons]

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]

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.

 

[Exodom]

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.

 

[Hensmon]

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]

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.

 

[Hensmon]

Might be a good idea to start a thread with decent, active artists/labels worth following on Bandcamp.

I think one was started a while back, will have a dig to see if I can find.

 

[Subspace Jet Witch]

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]

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]

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.

 

[Haize]

One thing I hate about bandcamp is the fucking emails or site directs I get telling me of a new release, only to click in and its just some pre-order with 0 previews and a release date far into the distant future. Post the content when it's ready to share, or don't post it at all. I get over 20 bandcamp notifications each day from new releases so if you're gonna waste the one opportunity you had to bring me to your page and not show me a single second of music then you've blown it.

Unless you are an artist I actively follow and remind myself to look up, you're probably never get seen again. That's the reality of it. I barely have time to find music as it is, so this drawn out process, which I gaurantee doesn't increase sales at all, is just detrimental.

 

[Sleepy Robot]

@Haize , you can unsubscribe to those emails. As for the notifications in the app you can't as far as i know. All you can do is unfollow the artist/label, something i do when it gets to much. I'll just look them up myself to see if there is anything new and interessting.

 

[Tievb21]

... I may have selected that last option. Spotify is the only money I spend.

Many people from USA and Europe can't gasp the fact that if you are getting 650 euros monthly income on foreign currency, you better do not spend your few money on music where if you buy 4 tracks on platforms you need around 15 euros after taxes etc. So I totally get it. And this is why I wasn't buying anything before starting working myself, I was pirating everything back then asa student, what could I do.

Back to topic, Bandcamp for sure, for many many reasons! I hope more and more artist will start releasing on Bandcamp on day one. Blackhole already started for physical releases too for years now, and I prefer it ordering from there since I am getting the FLAC as well instantly.

Bandcamp.

We collected around 6000 followers there and have already started to make a continuous income that puts Beatport revenue in shame.

What is your page though? I didn't find it by searching and you haven't included your Bandcamp link anywhere in your sites/profiles.

 

[Horizons]

One thing I hate about bandcamp is the fucking emails or site directs I get telling me of a new release, only to click in and its just some pre-order with 0 previews and a release date far into the distant future. Post the content when it's ready to share, or don't post it at all. I get over 20 bandcamp notifications each day from new releases so if you're gonna waste the one opportunity you had to bring me to your page and not show me a single second of music then you've blown it.

Unless you are an artist I actively follow and remind myself to look up, you're probably never get seen again. That's the reality of it. I barely have time to find music as it is, so this drawn out process, which I gaurantee doesn't increase sales at all, is just detrimental.

totally get that, at least I speak for my own BC page, I'll try always keeping it down to the minimum necessary in terms of notifications. Few but always straight to the point alert-news when a new track is out or when it's about BandCamp Friday.

@Haize , you can unsubscribe to those emails. As for the notifications in the app you can't as far as i know. All you can do is unfollow the artist/label, something i do when it gets to much. I'll just look them up myself to see if there is anything new and interessting.

Exactly this.

 

[tranceking26]

I can't vote, but my pick is also Bandcamp.

For some reason the beatport iOS app won't let me play the full songs that I purchased!?

 

[Jetflag]

Bandcamp won already?

 

[marcopm]

crates.co & bandcamp

 

[TRANCEBLASTER]

Why is Bandcamp so important to underground music?

 

[badass]

Let's hope Bandcamp can surpass Beatport one day in terms of literally anything and everything

 

[tranceissomewhatalive]

Let's hope Bandcamp can surpass Beatport one day in terms of literally anything and everything

not sure if this is possible or even necessary. Bandcamp music catalog is still times smaller than Beatport's, to compete with Beatport in this they would need to have deals with major distributors like Beatport does, which goes against Bandcamp's initial idea and advantage - taking out the middle entity, the supplier, direct artist-fan/label-fan interaction

 

[badass]

not sure if this is possible or even necessary. Bandcamp music catalog is still times smaller than Beatport's, to compete with Beatport in this they would need to have deals with major distributors like Beatport does, which goes against Bandcamp's initial idea and advantage - taking out the middle entity, the supplier, direct artist-fan/label-fan interaction

I'm not saying it's necessary BUT it is possible. Growth and evolution is part of the process. All great companies in existence started small and over time evolved into larger than life entities. And some of those once larger than life companies have been wiped out of existence.

What I'm trying to say is that they have a lot of room for growth and with tech constantly evolving, it's totally possible for Bandcamp to surpass Beatport in many areas like revenues, customers, the choice for electronic music, a favorable platform for indie artists, etc.

A lot of companies fail to keep up with the times and they fall from once being giants. Some small companies come along with a vision and evolve to become the big Dawgs on the block by innovation. Now we are in the midst of a new revolution and literally anything and everything is possible. History is filled with stories of such examples and the don't forget the rule of impermanence.