New, still-in-beta competitor to Bandcamp. Trying to be more artist-friendly, claim to be fully DIY and say they are basically a response to Bandcamp being sold to corporations twice in recent years. Thoughts?

The endgame of all of this is that bands are going to get sick of migrating to the next thing every several years so we'll all just end up settling for Spotify, etc. Unfortunately. "Keeping it small", when it comes to tech, basically amounts to doing charitable work, and after a certain point no-one will wish to continue dealing with all the bullshit for low(er) pay. So they'll either shut down or sell out.

Yeah. Let's be honest: a bunch of indie releases that sell an average of 15 copies is probably not gonna keep the lights on. Maybe there's a way to combine it with podcasting/other 'content' in a way that doesn't become douchey? Dunno.

Yeah, I tend to agree. Hearts in the right place and such, but with the scale that they would potentially have to grow to, it's sort of inevitable. That Infinite Growth thing sure ruins pretty much everything.

I wonder if Spotify will get so bad they start charging monthly fees to artists for hosting and streaming their music? That may be the actual breaking point.

twelvepoint wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2024 10:42 am I wonder if Spotify will get so bad they start charging monthly fees to artists for hosting and streaming their music? That may be the actual breaking point.

I've only made my money back on Spotify with one band (more accurately, one release from that band). Digital distro services have different payment schemes (up front vs subscription) but they all charge to get your music up there. If it's an active band making money at shows or other ways, you may justify that as a promotional expense but if it's just to host a bunch of music most people don't want? It'll lose money.

I will say, after actually looking into it, that adding membership fees for bands ($10/year) is a good idea. It bothers me that so many people shit up Bandcamp/SoundCloud with hours of band practice recordings or whatever. Weed that shit out. (Though that is still cheap enough to afford someone's self indulgence)