Buy First, Stream Later: A Better Alternative
Last year, Spotify introduced an album countdown feature, showing audiences when their favorite artist’s new album would drop with an option to “Pre-Save” the album in your library. While Spotify’s ethics, morals and business practices are insurmountably terrible, art-crushing, dehumanizing and delusional, this feature helped expose another problem with the service. When I was on Spotify, I pre-saved every album I had even a remote interest in, as I’m eager for new music and hate missing out. No need to rely on my Release Radar or scribbled notes around my desk. The more I dug into this hole, however, I noticed that more and more albums were released earlier than their pre-save let on, they just weren’t on streaming services.
More and more artists are putting their music up early on Bandcamp/direct purchasing sites as an incentive to listen and buy it ahead of streaming services. While this may not work for every album or every artist, here are the reasons I think it could be beneficial over time:
(Note: Bandcamp isn’t the only means of directly supporting artists, there are merch/distro sites, label sites with direct purchases, similar websites to Bandcamp, etc. Some things are specific to the Bandcamp ecosystem below, but in most cases, the direct purchasing outlets are what I’m referring to.)
1. Getting people involved in the Bandcamp ecosystem who never were originally
I hate to think about a population of people who grew up solely on streaming services, but it is true regardless. It might take a while for people to flip the switch in this sense, but just getting fans directly to Bandcamp and elsewhere will at least have them aware and involved in your offerings. They might find merch on there if you have it, or other releases that haven’t been put on streaming (trust me, there are TONS of these on Bandcamp.)
2. Making streaming services feel less premiere with delayed releases
No matter what streaming service it is, they rely on their convenience and reliability to hook in their subscribers. More and more artists are leaving Spotify, but I don’t think the tides are turning just yet on listeners leaving because of this either. While I can only speak for myself, seeing albums up early on Bandcamp diminished the overall perception of Spotify, and made it feel less of a premiere service than it likes to advertise itself as. If more and more subscribers started finding their music available before the release date on streaming, I’d hope they start questioning what they’re paying that monthly fee for.
3. Finding a dedicated fanbase that supports their favorite artists
More and more independent outlets are surviving on this mantra over going for huge successes or lucking out with virality. Unless you’re the 1% who gets featured in a Spotify playlist, music can easily go undiscovered in the ocean of daily releases. Finding the select few that will support your endeavors directly, and consistently, feels more substantial of a foundation to build upon. I also think more and more people want to own things again and are trying to find their way out of this corporate dystopia we call the modern economy. As people begin to cancel their subscriptions, offer them something that they can own forever and feel good about purchasing.
4. It feels good to own things and support art (and the human beings that make it) over corporations
If where you’re working isn’t jumping head-first into AI, you’re damn lucky. Corporations have been signaling their lack of care for their employees and humanity as a concept for decades, but the AI boom is the latest nail in the coffin. As we all watch the world obscure into this mess day by day, consumers must fight back with their words, their money, and in this case, their subscriptions. Spotify isn’t helping out your top artists on your Wrapped this year, and tons of people have countlessly called out where CEO Daniel Elk puts that money into. I think a lot of people have contemplated and have made changes to support their local markets over chains, their communities over big business. Let’s bring that same energy to our music.
5. The long-term benefits of having your own library of your favorite things
I think many people are bought into the ease and convenience of any streaming site, and I get it. I am with you as well, it is the reason I jumped from my iTunes library to Spotify. Looking back, I now regret that. But the thing is, so many things are so easy and convenient now. Is this really better? Hell, that album you purchase from a band will be playable through some app on your phone regardless. There is also nothing better than looking at a bookshelf with my records, CDs, DVDs, video games, books, etc. These are tangible items that feel so much more impactful when you share them with your friends and loved ones over sending a quick message to a digital link. It is a testament to your love or appreciation of that piece of art, and the benefits last a lifetime.
I want to end this article by saying that Bandcamp has a host of issues as well, like their sellout to Epic Games, who then sold it to Songtradr, layoffs followed, etc. etc. On the other hand, they did confirm Bandcamp Fridays for 2026 (this is a day where 100% of the proceeds of album/merch sales go directly to artists.) I am not sure what kind of mission statement or future the company has, and feel weary offering it as the only place to be at the moment. Subvert, which is a musician-owned collective streaming service, is aiming at becoming the “better Bandcamp” and seems positive from my limited research on the company. As these begin to develop, I will be sure to share more on where to go and who to support.
However, I will plead for more listeners and streaming service subscribers to go to Bandcamp and elsewhere to support their favorite artists directly at this time. If you are ever considering cancelling your Spotify, Tidal, Netflix, or whatever, take that money and spend it on an album that you love. I also think more artists should try and leverage their Bandcamp space in this sense, making all releases earlier where people can buy it directly before streaming whenever possible. More importantly, I implore listeners to connect with your favorite artists outside of streaming services to see what other alternatives they are offering and ways to support them directly. It matters, now more than ever.
Written by Evan Lurie
