It took them quite a while. But if there’s also anyone else that’s still decided to build an actual music library, independent of streaming platforms, instead, here are a bunch of popular bands/artists that have some or all of their music on Bandcamp, among those that I listen to:
- Radiohead
- The Prodigy
- Molchat Doma
- Korn
- Bush
- Nirvana
- Foo Fighters
- Evanescence
- Gojira (music released under their label page)
- Arch Enemy
- Paradise Lost
- Killswitch Engage
- Rise Against
- Porcupine Tree
- P.O.D.
- Knocked Loose
- Mastodon (music released under their label page)
- Opeth - check the pages of Candlelight Records and Peaceville
- Alcest
- Insomnium - check the pages of Century Media Records and Candlelight Records
- Lacuna Coil (music released under their label page)
- Dream Theater (music released under their label page)
- Geese
- Cindy Lee
There are plenty of other indie bands that I recommend choosing from, but most people that stay on the streaming platforms stay for the big names - that’s why I wanted to create a list with names that are sure to be instantly recognizable for anyone who’s been listening to music in general, to a certain genre of music or who is looking for something more popular from the latest years. As a disclaimer, this is also why you might find some controversial names - I didn’t take my time to check all of these artists’ controversies; if there are any, let me know.
Remember, you can also support them by buying their albums on physical media (CDs, vinyls, cassettes etc.) or by going to their live shows whenever you have the chance.
Even if you decide to pay them something like $4 you have secured them more revenue than they gained by listening any of their songs for 1000 times, but if you buy their music on Bandcamp Friday, artists get a bigger share of the price you pay.
Hmmm, for buying automatically, you might be looking into Bandcamp Clubs. You pick one of such “clubs” and you get one album into your library each month that you can keep forever.
For downloading, there’s Batchcamp.
I personally don’t mind visiting the website whenever I have some spare time each month to get something. I also have a task that reminds me of Bandcamp Friday (spoiler: it’s the 1st Friday of almost each month). In the months when there’s no Bandcamp Friday, I just mark the task as complete and move on.