Hello there 👋

I am following the path of decreasing dependency on US products myself, and I was wondering if there is any real alternative for bandcamp? Meaning, the one that would be a proper marketplace for niche music creators, that would allow DRM-free downloads and streaming at the same time.

Bottom line: I do want to pay for music I like to support musicians, though I want to do it in a way that would allow me to listen to their work in a way I like the most.

  • cabbage@piefed.socialEnglish
    0·
    2 days ago

    Bandwagon is an attempt to make a federated social media for artists. Who knows if it’ll succeed, but checking out the artists on the platform would be a first step. :)

    The artists link whatever services they like, which in a way I think is nice. Personally I don’t like paying for digital files, so my music expenses are mostly spent on vinyl records. The artists are probably not left with much after all the shipping, the vinyl, the cellophane lining, the high gloss, the tape, and the gear, but at least I end up with something that’s mine.

    As others have mentioned, Qobuz is a French company running a DRM-free music store.

    • alexcleac@szmer.infoOPEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      Totally with you on vinyl, though some music is not available in vinyl at all. So, I’d prefer to have an alternative if possible :)

    • MouldyCat@feddit.ukEnglish
      0·
      1 day ago

      Someone mentioned funkwhale on a different thread - full disclosure, I’ve not actually used it. It seems to also be federated, although it looks more like a way for artists to publish their music without the need for record companies?

      • cabbage@piefed.socialEnglish
        1·
        1 day ago

        Yeah, Funkwhale is more of a defederated music/audio publishing platform. It’s good, but I find it somewhat challenging to discover music there.

        For those who remember Grooveshark, Funkwhale is a bit of a spiritual successor.

    • Dyskolos@lemmy.zip
      0·
      2 days ago

      Bandwagon looks cool, but do they have a feature to pay artists like bandcamp? Or even a “name your price (aka quasi free)”?

      • cabbage@piefed.socialEnglish
        0·
        2 days ago

        Under the “coming soon” section, they state the following:

        We’re deep into building the Bandwagon Roadmap, including even better music discovery and publishing tools And online album sales are close behind.

        So it seems the idea is to provide a way for artists to sell their albums. I’m curious what it’ll look like in practice - I guess they’re still trying to work that out themselves as well. :)