Looking for an Alternative to Spotify? Consider Hopping on the band(camp) Wagon

If you’re a JME newsletter subscriber, you might be familiar with the notion that top streaming platforms like Spotify aren’t great for artists and often fall short of their commitment to promoting music discovery. Instead, digital streaming platforms, particularly Spotify, push users toward songs they already listen to via “personalized” playlists. There are perks to premium subscriptions, like access to almost any song you could possibly think of, a plethora of podcasts, shared playlists and offline listening.

Sometimes those perks aren’t enough though, especially if you care about your favorite artists earning enough money from their music to continue making that music (according to some estimates, Spotify’s royalty payouts are as low as $0.005 per stream). Say your favorite underground or local artist finally reaches 1,000 streams on a single, that’s still only $5; barely enough to get a latte at the local cafe, let alone pay a bill or fill a tank of gas. What’s more, given Spotify’s pro-rata model for royalties, artists are paid out based on their overall share of streams, not their total streams. So even if you listened exclusively to your favorite band, if Beyoncé (or Bad Bunny or Billie Eilish or Drake)’s streams were 5% of all streams on the platform, Beyoncé would get 5% of your money even if you never streamed her music (no shade if you did, of course). The reality is that the instant gratification offered by on-demand listening has created an inequitable system, one that has made it increasingly more difficult for independent artists to make a living.

There are other options, though. One of the changes I wanted to make in my life going into 2025 was taking a step away from Spotify. Through the month of January, I’ve been listening more to my CDs and vinyl, tuning into the radio, whether that’s through FM stations or online streams like The Independent 89.9 HD4 or Seattle’s KEXP. I’ve also taken a deeper dive into a platform I hadn’t yet utilized to the best of its abilities: Bandcamp.

For those unfamiliar, Bandcamp is kind of like an online record store meets digital music community forum, with features for users to create an account, purchase physical or digital copies of music from the artists they love, and discover new music by genre or through curated radio stations.

According to their website, “When a fan buys something on Bandcamp, an average of 82% of the money goes to the artist or their label — typically in 24-48 hours — and the remainder covers our revenue share and payment processor fees.” Users can follow their favorite artists to stay updated on new releases, add music to their “wishlist” which acts as a library where users can stream digital copies of the songs, and even send copies of digital downloads as a gift to friends on the platform. Some artists have community pages where fans can comment and interact with one another and their favorite musicians.

Within the last couple weeks, I’ve found myself listening to some of my favorite artists’ available discography on repeat — The Marías and Orion Sun to name just a couple. I’ve added a few items to my wishlist, patiently awaiting Caroline Rose’s newest album, Year of the Slug (which they leaked a Bandcamp exclusive link to already), and Japanese Breakfast’s For Melancholy Brunettes (and Sad Women). I still haven’t spent as much time as I want to on their discovery page or radio, but I was able to find an extremely niche industrial folk band, Leucotome, from Manchester, UK (think witchy British Ethel Cain) while scrolling through the experimental section. Overall, my shift away from Spotify has made me appreciate the album format again.

Another notable Bandcamp feature is the platform’s popular Bandcamp Friday initiative, wherein on specific Fridays throughout the year, Bandcamp doesn’t take a cut of purchases, instead directing 100% of revenue directly to artists and their labels. If there’s a record you’ve had your eye on, mark your calendar for the following dates: