Bandcamp has expanded its vinyl pressing service to make it available to the platform’s wider user base.
Having initially been piloted with a select group of artists and labels in 2019, the crowdfunded scheme allows sellers to raise money from customers via pre-orders to cover the vinyl manufacturing process without any upfront costs. The expansion of the initiative means it’s now available to 10,000 more Bandcamp sellers, while it will continue to be made available to more users throughout the year.
Under the scheme, users can select one of their Bandcamp releases to be pressed to vinyl, before designing the record and its sleeve, establishing an amount needed to cover expenses, and, finally, setting up different pledge levels to cover costs. A minimum run of 250 records is required for Bandcamp to approve a campaign.
Since its launch in 2019, the vinyl pressing service has enabled the manufacture and shipping of 13,000 records to 65 countries. You can find more information on how it works here.
The rollout of Bandcamp’s vinyl pressing service follows on from the continuation of the platform’s monthly fee-waive days into 2021, as well as the launch of a new live-streaming initiative for artists.