Bandcamp is a robust platform for musicians looking to sell their music online. Everything is customizable, and the interface is also user friendly for the bands and fans. It’s one of the few online distributors who makes a living off of letting fans name the price of how much they’re willing to spend on a song. (I do love the Amie Street platform as well – but their model is based on prices increasing as the popularity increases). Bandcamp does also allow bands to set the price of their songs, but I’m not sure what the split is between fans who set the price and bands who set the price.

Part of Bandcamp’s FAQ’s since the beginning included the question: Free!? Then how are you going to stay in business? In your answer, please use the non-word “monetization” at least twice.

Here’s their answer: Our monetization strategy boils down to the simple belief that we should only make money if you make money. So, at some point in the not-too-distant future, we’ll begin taking a modest cut from download and merchandise revenue. We’ll of course give everyone plenty of notice, and the cut will be very competitive with iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and the like (we want to provide you with every reason to direct your fans here first!). In the meantime, we’ve got plenty of cash in the bank (we’re modestly venture funded by the fine folks at True), a low burn rate (we’re all engineers and designers — no HR VPs just yet), and a proud history of succeeding in the midst of a recession. (Past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Monetization strategy subject to metamorphosis. Teamocil may cause numbness of the extremities.)

Untitled. Poor Musicians | http://www.salvador-dali.org

Basically, if you signed up with Bandcamp when they started, you probably should have read the not-so-fine print. It was there for all to see from the very beginning. In bold. Everyone in the music industry wants things for free, but business simply doesn’t work that way. Hey – it’s a heck of a better deal to give up 15% to BandCamp than 25% of your sales to CD Baby for either digital OR physical sales. Plus, CD Baby and other distributors take a cut ON TOP of the cut that Amazon, iTunes, eMusic, etc. are taking. Even Amie Street takes up to a 30% cut from the sales on their website, AFTER the $5.00 listing fee per unit of Content.

One of the things that is so broken in the music industry right now is how everyone gets paid. We are seeing a growing number of musicians that are middle class and making a living at playing, writing and recording music, even as the majors are closing in on bankruptcy. Check out one of the groups dedicated here in Nashville, RestoringMusic, to restoring the balance and making sure everyone can survive doing what they love.

So get over it and unless you are going to start building your own platform to sell music on, quit complaining.