Bandcamp has confirmed plans to continue its monthly fee-waive initiative in 2021.
The online music marketplace begun waiving its cut of sales once a month in March, with eight more fee-waive days taking place on the first Friday of each month from May onwards. The initiative came about as a response to the sudden loss of live music revenue on which many artists rely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Although vaccines are starting to roll out, it will likely be several months before live performance revenue starts to return," Bandcamp’s Ethan Diamond said, announcing the return of the fee-waive days. "So we’re going to continue doing Bandcamp Fridays in 2021, on February 5th, March 5th, April 2nd and May 7th."
Reminding people that they should still support artists and labels throughout the month rather than restricting sales to each fee-waive day, Bandcamp said "an average of 82% [of your money] reaches the artist/label" after payment processor fees on a normal day.
Over the course of nine Bandcamp Fridays in 2020, artists and labels sold $40 million in records, tapes, downloads and merchandise. 2.5 million customers have used the site since March, adding up to $145 million in purchases being made through Bandcamp.
