Bandcamp Fridays returns on 2 September

The promotion will see Bandcamp waive its share of any money spent purchasing music from artists or their labels on the platform.

Bandcamp announced the news last week. The promotion, which runs on the first Friday of every month, will also take place on 7 October, 4 November and 2 December.

The music marketplace says that on average 93% of purchases made during the campaign go to the artist or label after the deduction of processing fees, compared to the usual average of 82%. Bandcamp Fridays began in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on tours and concerts.

“On the first Friday of the month since March of 2020, we’ve waived our revenue share to help support the many artists who have seen their livelihoods disrupted by the pandemic,” Bandcamp said. “Over the course of 21 days, fans have paid artists and labels more than $78m helping cover rents, mortgages, groceries, medications, and much more.”

This is the second extension of Bandcamp Fridays this year. The promotion last took place on 6 May after the company unveiled four dates for the initiative, which began on 4 February.

The promotion’s return could continue to benefit adversely impacted artists as live performances gradually come into full swing.

Meanwhile, Epic Games announced in March that it would acquire the marketplace, citing its significance in Epic’s plans to “build out a creator marketplace ecosystem for content, technology, games, art, music and more.” However, Bandcamp is expected to remain operating as a standalone marketplace and music community, and the company’s co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond said it would be business as usual.

As of August 2020, about 50% of Bandcamp’s turnover came from physical sales. In November that year, the platform launched Bandcamp Live, a ticketed live-streaming service for artists that is integrated with the Bandcamp website.