Bandcamp Reviews

Order placed march 2.3 weeks later not arrived so complained to be told that due to VAT new rules they dont know when said package could be Delivered. Surely a warning before I bought would be nice. Ruined wifes 20th wedding anniversary now so wont be buying again from bandcamp

The business model of Bandcamp.com is, in my opinion as a consumer of music and someone who believes in purchasing music, an excellent one to ensure that artists get most of the revenue for their work and consumers get a fair price. The work required to create a music sharing platform is significant so I believe that 10%-15% of the revenue is a fair price for the middleman who makes all of this possible. The artists have complete control to put a price on their music they feel is fair market value, and to offer bulk purchasing deals for consumers who really dig their music and would like to own it all. I can't think of a better way to compensate artists fairly and treat customers fairly as well.

In terms of how the site works it is very simple to use. The terms and conditions are clear as are the instructions for use. I have purchased many original works on this site and I have never had an issue with the payment process or any significant technical problems with the site itself. I have found that Firefox seems to work better than Chrome but other than that I have not observed any technical, payment or process issues.

I hope this helps anyone who is considering using the application. In summary the reason I support it so strongly is the knowledge that the artists are receiving 85% of the revenues. We cannot as a consumer base expect artists to create fabulous content and then not compensate them fairly for their work. That's why I chose Bandcamp.com over other sites such as YouTube Music Spotify and Amazon where there is controversy over whether the artists are being fairly compensated and in some cases have claimed they cannot make a living wage.

BandCamp service can be a great option especially if one prefers downloads to physical media. Hat said it can be a rather poor option for physical media as many musicians shift to a pre-order model. Significant delays do occur, damaged media is provided, or none at all. BandCamp does not resolve issues but refers you to the musician's label. For the most part requests to resolve problems are met with total silence. Another side to this is it is rather difficult to contact the record label or musician through the BandCamp website or app. As they say Caveat Emptor. I no longer use or support their service.

Bandcamp has a lot going for it - pays out a reasonable share of the profits to the artists and offers a reasonably fast platform that is easy on the eyes.

But there are things that I'm somewhat sure haven't always been this bad:
- Instead of being able to easily browse one's library, they use one of those idiotic neverending lists. Really great if you've purchased hundreds of things and are looking for something that you bought a few years ago and can't remember its precise name.
- No ability to download albums straight from the album page. Instead, you have to go to your library and use the tiny "download" link. They obviously want people to stream more. Why is beyond me, since they don't even offer a player that can repeat or queue things.
- No way to contact customer support.
- Bad discoverability - there should be a "radio" feature but there isn't one.

My account was deleted (i think for a picture, never received a message saying why) in end of june/july of this year, i've contacted support several times and never had an answer since. I lost hundred of euros on mp3 bought on this site and some of my work in mp3.

Order a CD from metal music austria off of band camp. Never received CD. E mailed them 3 times no response. E mailed band camp they sent e mail to label and guess what? No response. I WILL NEVER BUY OFF BAND CAMP AGAIN!
DO NOT TRUST METAL MUSIC AUSTRIA LABEL!

Like many of the other one-star reviews. Repeated messages to their helpdesk being ignored.
Update: helpdesk replied to my request after five days. Problem sorted out.
Still, five days...?

I have had both good and bad experiences with Bandcamp, but in general, I think they are a force for good in the music industry.