The entertainment industry has all but ground to a halt. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, concerts have been cancelled or postponed, venues have closed their doors and countless industry professionals have watched their main sources of income dry up overnight.

Some of those hit hardest are the musicians themselves. Bands found their tours shut down mid-run, leaving them with travel expenses and piles of merch without an audience to sell to every night. 

The industry has scrambled to right the ship in the last few days, with bands hawking their merch online, artists offering to livestream sets and plenty of creatives selling their wares on any platform they can find. In the spirit of this, Bandcamp- a public platform for music sharing and sales- has announced that they’ll be waiving their own revenue share for the entirety of Friday, March 20. 

Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond released a lengthy statement on the company’s website, adding that they’re “rallying the Bandcamp community to put much needed money directly into artists’ pockets.” The full statement can be found here.

Bandcamp has long been a hub for indie artists to spread their music to a wide audience on a platform that doesn’t gouge them for a portion of their revenue. Bands can set prices for their songs and albums, as well as offer physical items like shirts and limited vinyl or CD releases. 

As Diamond noted in his statement, one day of solid revenue could make a large difference in the lives of many musicians. We here at Atlas are behind this idea and encourage our readers to support their favorites with a purchase this Friday. It’s up to the community to boost each other up, and this is a great way to start. Currently, artists like La Dispute have set up pages where fans can pay what they want for music.

Head to Bandcamp’s website for a complete catalog of music available to the public and consider purchasing some new tunes this Friday, March 20. 

Story by Olivia Khiel
Images courtesy of Bandcamp