It's Bandcamp Day, does anyone buy music anymore?
Last remaining copies of Green City available now, discounts across all our catalogue, Bandcamp day insights, FREE Genius Loci vinyl on every purchase, vinyl is the ideal Christmas gift!
Running a record label has been an interesting challenge this year. I’ll be writing a full year 1 report very soon, which will go into more detail on the successes and failures we’ve had, with the aim of offering a ‘how to’ (or ‘how not to) guide for anyone else trying to self release or run a small label.
As it’s ‘Bandcamp Day’ today, I thought I’d write a few thoughts. Firstly, Bandcamp remains the best platform for independent musicians and labels to monetise their music. It is far from revolutionary as a platform, but has done a great job of becoming THE shop for independent music around the world, with most labels selling their music on there with the promise of a much greater return than selling through a traditional distributor (over 50% goes to the record store/distributor), direct to shops (time consuming, postage is crazily expensive and hardly profitable) or on streaming sites (micro payments so small you need a magnifying glass).
Just a reminder, on Bandcamp Day, the Bandcamp platform itself doesn’t take a cut of any sales so more goes to the label and artist. With the cost of production going up, the ability to cover costs (or even make a profit) is close to zero. So it is a noble gesture and one that throughout the pandemic and until now has been welcomed by the music industry. Bandcamp themselves report that over $120 million has been paid on the various Bandcamp Days since 2020, far more than they do on the 29/30 non-Bandcamp Days each month!
The downside is that because every label and artist is desperate to make the most of this opportunity, Bandcamp day becomes like a feeding frenzy - a fire sale of gloriously crafted music, minimised to the discounted bargain bin…
But what of the so-called ‘vinyl resurgence’ that we keep hearing about? What about all the people investing in high end music hi-fi systems that the BBC was talking about the other day? In much the same way as Record Store Day has been cannabalised by the major labels re-issuing classics from their catalogue, Bandcamp Day has become a victim of its own success: too much music to choose from, not enough customers with disposable income to go around. It’s tough out there!
Despite all this, we persevere. So for our A State Of Flo Bandcamp Day, this is what we’ve got:
GREEN CITY
We've just unearthed 10 FINAL COPIES of the Green City 12" from the distributor. Once they are gone, they are gone. Go grab em!
"Track Of the Year - A spine tingling spiritual Balearic bomb - this is very special, magical, beautiful - it’s just outrageously good" Luke Una
auntieflo.bandcamp.com/album/green-city
IN MY DREAMS (I’M A BIRD AND I’M FREE)
In My Dreams (I'm A Bird and I'm Free) by Auntie Flo - we have 50 copies remaining with the limited edition poster and bird sticker pack.
"Global Album Of The Month" - The Guardian
"This music is so important - amazing record" - Gilles Peterson
"Essential Record of 2024" - Tina Edwards
"Breaking new ground in sound and storytelling" - Mixmag
auntieflo.bandcamp.com/album/in-my-dreams-im-a-bird-and-im-free
MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI
In case you missed it, we were featured in BBC 6Music's Sustainability in Sound with our mushroom music project.
We have copies of the beautiful Mycorrhizal Fungi EP featuring 4 bioelectrical pieces made from different fungi and a ambient harp piece by Or:La and RóisÃn Berkeley. The vinyl has artwork by award winning Jananicole, a scratch n sniff scent component (so you can smell the forest) and a bioluminescent UV paint so the fungi glow under ultraviolet light.
We've knocked 25% off the vinyl here - astateofflo.bandcamp.com/album/mycorrhizal-fungi
GENIUS LOCI
Finally, the ambient drone record Genius Loci is available for only a fiver (we pressed too many). And we'll include it for FREE in any orders from now till Xmas!
astateofflo.bandcamp.com/album/genius-loci
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Thank you for your support this year. Selling music has been an interesting challenge and as a new label we've learned a lot. Next year we'll be experimenting with some new, exciting formats...
Remember 10% goes to Earth Percent, we’ve donated well over £1500 this year from sales to environmental charities.
Please consider converting to a paid supporter - you’ll get the entire label digital back catalogue for free and a bunch of freebies too.