Bandcamp lets artists press their own vinyl records through crowdfunding

Bandcamp has announced a service that allows artists to start a crowdfunding campaign to release their music on vinyl. The online music store, aimed at independent artists, takes care of the financing, pressing and distribution of the records.

With the new service, the artist retains full control over the artwork of the record, the amount of the campaign and the proposed profit margin. Once the campaign goal is reached, the album will be pressed by Bandcamp and shipped directly to the fans.

The service offers several advantages, according to Bandcamp. For example, the artist himself does not have to invest money in his project; it’s the fans who pay for the record. Bandcamp also guarantees a high-quality product, both in terms of vinyl and printing, by cooperating with a production partner with over sixty years of experience in the industry. Artists could already release digital versions of their work via Bandcamp.

The new vinyl service kicked off this week with campaigns for four albums: Christian Scott’s Ancestral Recall aTunde Adjuah, Juliette Jade’s Constellation, Mesarthim’s Ghost Condensate and Jim Guthrie’s Below. These are pilot projects; other artists will not be able to use the service until later this year.

Bandcamp has said its sales of vinyl have increased by 600 percent in the past five years. Every month, 3500 vinyl albums would be added to the catalog of the online music store.