Bandcamp - Online Music Store of the Future

So, one of our musical ventures "Method Label" has just relaunched. Previously it was called something different, and used Paypal to accept people's money. We're a "pay what you like" label - which made any sort of online shop very difficult to set up. Not many support this method of payment. And neither did Bandcamp, until this month...

Yes, as if by magic, I was trawling the internet looking for an outlet for Method Label's tunes when I heard the news that Bandcamp had just started letting their stores charge what they like to download (if they choose), and not just this, they've started supporting shops for Labels as well. Perfectomundo!

"Well good for you" you might be thinking, "but why bother us with your tales of Ecommerce?". Well I wanted to make sure nobody else ended up settling for mere paypal buttons as I used to, or the STUPID shop that your web provider think is a good idea to include in your package which you CANT EVEN DECIDE ON A DESIGN YOURSELF!

Ok, deep breath, I'm back...

Bandcamp provides an accessible, thorough and FREE service, which I'll wager would rival any paid service you could find. You get your own .bandcamp domain, or you can host your store on your own website. The store is customisable, flexible, and detailed, and allows you to both track and promote your sales with some brilliant features, such as embedding your tunes on blogs and sites, and statistics on plays, downloads and purchases. What's more, the guys that run it are helpful, and have a sense of humour about the way they run their site, which is always refreshing to see.

Am I biased? No, I'm not getting anything out of mentioning this, no freebies from Bandcamp, nothing. I had such a frustrating time trying to find somewhere to sell our music - if I can save one person that effort from writing this article, it really will be worth it. Also, a music resource that's run so well deserves a mention here and there. Check them out!