Bandcamp began Bandcamp Fridays back in March as a way to help artists through the pandemic. Every Bandcamp Friday took place on the first Friday of every month, and was a day where Bandcamp waived all their fees. This meant artists would receive 100% of their revenue.
Now Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond has announced Bandcamp will extend Bandcamp Fridays into 2021, with the events taking place from February to May. It should be noted there will not be a Bandcamp Friday in January.
"On the first Friday of every month since March, we’ve waived our revenue share to help support the many artists who have seen their livelihoods disrupted by the pandemic," said Diamond. "Over the course of these nine days, fans paid artists and labels $40 million dollars, helping cover rents, mortgages, groceries, medications, and much more. If you’re among the nearly 800,000 fans who participated, thank you.
"Although vaccines are starting to roll out, it will likely be several months before live performance revenue starts to return. So we’re going to continue doing Bandcamp Fridays in 2021, on February 5th, March 5th, April 2nd, and May 7th. As always, isitbandcampfriday.com has the details.
"If you’ve started to feel guilty about buying music on any day other than Bandcamp Friday, here’s something to keep in mind: on Bandcamp Fridays, an average of 93% of your money reaches the artist/label (after payment processor fees). When you make a purchase on any other day of the month (as 2.5 million of you have since March, buying an additional $145 million worth of music and merch) an average of 82% reaches the artist/label. Every day is a good day to directly support artists on Bandcamp!"
