BandCamp Expands “Name-Your-Price” Model

Bandcamp, the  digital publishing platform for independent artists, announced today that its artists can now use a “name your price” model for physical products like CDs and vinyl. In a post on their blog, the site explained they decided to pursue this model after its users reported positive experiences using it with MP3s.

The concept of allowing consumers to pay what they wanted for a release was first popularized with Radiohead’s In Rainbows back in 2007. At the time, many people complained that “name your price” would put smaller bands at a disadvantage, forcing them to take in progressively smaller amounts of money to keep up with their competitors.

But the idea has caught on in some places. Sites like Omstream use it for albums whose proceeds go to charity, while others like Aralie, which has been around in various forms since 2008, use it for all their artists.

Bandcamp will allow the artists using its service to set a minimum price, which will probably be set at whatever cost is necessary to help the artists break even. Smaller artists tend to operate at a loss in plenty of other ways (touring especially) as it is.

Tagged as: bandcamp, digital music, pricing, radiohead