Not that long ago, I “discovered” Bandcamp and what it can do for me. It’s the single greatest discovery I made in 2011, even though I’ve been aware of it for a couple of years since following Andrew Dubber and Steve Lawson on Twitter. I can put my music up there and frankly let it stew with nobody looking at it, but more importantly I can find music I’m not even aware of and buy it there and then.
For example, type in the web address http://bandcamp.com/tag/ and add your choice of tag word. It goes and fetches things based on the tags attached to each album or track. You can browse tags if you like, and find similar tags in the results page. I have had some interesting results following tags for dubstep, fanfare, acoustic, and even bouzouki.
Some of the people I follow on Twitter have bandcamp accounts and sell their music through them. I’m buying Sleep Sound, Bad Passenger and have already purchased Believe in Peace following recommendations from other people or clicking through one site to find other material. With that last one, it’s bought through Bandcamp but the URL belongs to the artist. This level of considered integration and thoughtfulness about how the whole thing works is just amazing.
If you want to hear more of my tracks, read the page on this blog about my music, but for goodness’ sake don’t think this is an advert for me. This is about finding and appreciating great music.
The best of all of this is these artists are doing their own thing here and you can take it or leave it. No Simon Cowell, just real musicians and real punters.
Andrew Clayton 