Yeah that’s fair. I suppose I haven’t really considered that because I treat Bandcamp as a storefront only, and download + maintain my library locally. So if the servers died tomorrow the only thing I’d lose is the ability to purchase. In some ways the great fracturing of online platforms is bound to be a net positive for most communities.
It is, but if you only purchase on Bandcamp Friday then the platform doesn’t take a cut of the sales.
I know many people feel entrapped by streaming services, but I switched to Bandcamp like 10 years ago and have never been happier with my music habits. I buy music I like on Bandcamp Friday and store it locally on my PC/phone. Load up and take away as needed.
Sure, it’s a bit more effort to purposefully seek new music, but I love that process. Makes it a very deliberate listening experience.
Say W really slowly out loud and count the syllables. Where do you live that W isn’t three syllables?
I do listen to music for several hours every day, and tend to buy an album about once every 3-4 weeks. But my pool of music now is very deep with albums, probably not as wide as most algorithm/streaming services could provide. Its a slow build though, I’ve been accumulating albums at about $10-20/month since COVID (and had a bunch of pirated stuff before then). On Bandcamp that amount can get you 1 or 30 albums depending on the artist.
As a a critic though you definitely are under different circumstances and I understand why streaming is probably hard to escape from. I still prefer when artists have their own websites but that comes with its own set of challenges! Luckily my national radio (Triple J, Australia) has it’s own artist platform for up and comers (Unearthed).