Bandcamp Fridays are great and all, don’t get me wrong, but let’s be real–they don’t have the same sway as they did when they first emerged in the early pandemic days. Since bands were unable to play shows or make any money touring, there was more of an impetus to buy their music and merch back then than there is now that things are “back to normal.” I don’t really care to go down memory lane and relive those miserable times, but the reason why I bring up that shitty era is because, through its shittiness, some praiseworthy sentiments arose that I think should continue indefinitely regardless if we’re enduring a plague or not. 

The main takeaway: Paying artists directly should always be the way. We shouldn’t feel the need to wait until some random Friday to support the bands we love. (Another takeaway from COVID times is that all vocalists should always bring their own mics–house mics, caked with the spittle from the multitude of randos, are absolutely disgusting–but I digress.)

While the idea of Bandcamp Fridays is admirable and altruistic, the concept behind it kind of undermines the necessity of the platform itself. In other words, by even presenting these opportunities to support bands with little mediation, Bandcamp is sort of shooting itself in the foot by illuminating the question, “Why should there ever even be a middleman at all?” In contrast to Spotify and all the other evil overlord music platforms, Bandcamp is the most supportive of artists, so they deserve their cut. But with that said, I do think that fans should consider communicating with bands directly–especially lesser known DIY bands–to see if they’d be open to accepting Venmo/Zelle/CashApp, or ideally cash, in exchange for music or merch. Even if you buy music/merch on a Bandcamp Friday, there will still be sales tax and a processing fee that needlessly undercut the artist’s earnings. Sorry, PayPal, but given a choice, I’d rather bypass the obvious cash-grabby processing fee (how about processing this knuckle sandwich, bozo?).

My proposed solution: Bands could (and should) make a zip folder with all the songs on an album, as well as the cover art image(s), and just email that over to fans after they’ve received payment. That’s literally what you get when you buy a digital download through Bandcamp anyway, just without the unnecessary fees. And for fans buying merch, you can communicate about what item you want–what size shirt you’d like, for example–where to mail it to, and include an additional $10+ for shipping. To those of you thinking, “But what about taxes?” I say, “What are you, a narc?” Keep it vague and send an egg emoji with the Venmo payment–you know the drill.

Maybe a more fitting title would be “Any Day Could Be Bandcamp Friday! (If You Want It to Be),” but that doesn’t really have the same ring to it. While you’d be supporting good causes, you’d surely go broke if you were to buy music and merch every single day. Whatever, close enough, you know what I mean.

I thought it might be helpful to create a tiered list of the best ways to support artists. This may seem obvious and intuitive, but sometimes it helps to express somewhat nebulous concepts through clear visuals.

Best Ways to Support Artists

AWESOME: Go to shows and buy music/merch right from the bands.

GREAT: Buy music/merch through a direct cash or Venmo/Zelle/CashApp payment, and the band can then email you the digital album assets or mail you the merch.

GOOD: Buy music/merch through Bandcamp.

EHH, OKAY: Streaming music definitely helps, but streams are drops in the bucket compared to buying music/merch. (I’ve seen shows where bands with hundreds of thousands of Spotify streams and monthly listeners play to maybe 10 people–the numbers aren’t as significant in reality as they may seem online.)

To clarify, I am by no means anti-Bandcamp–I’m actually a big fan of it. It just strikes me as a little odd that the direct support method I’m suggesting isn’t utilized more often. In my view, it should be common practice. And hey, I get the appeal of Bandcamp Fridays–they’re like little holidays, special occasions that remind us to express gratitude for those we love. For those who celebrate, here are the remaining Bandcamp Fridays for the year: September 4th, October 2nd, November 6th, and December 4th. And for those who understand how arbitrary these dates really are, remember: Any day is a good day to directly support DIY musicians.

-Article written by James Kwapisz