Because of the digital revolution, civilization is careening toward an era filled with obsolete signatures and Microsoft-built sexual companions. But luckily, there’s at least one company out there that’s still pushing back against our increasingly dominant CPU overlords.
Bandcamp started out as (and remains, principally) an online marketplace for artists and labels to sell music directly to listeners, but their unequivocal venture into the physical world with their brand new Oakland record store surprised by way of seeming contrary to the overarching trend. Now, they’re taking the logical next step and…offering their own crowdsourcing service for vinyl manufacturing?! Wait, whaaaaaaaaaat?
The service is actually pretty easy to understand. If an artist or label raises enough money through a Bandcamp-based vinyl campaign, Bandcamp will then “press the records, print the packaging,” and ship the records to fans who’ve placed orders. Bandcamp itself has no ownership stake in the vinyl that they ultimately manufacture, and supposedly the driver of this new service is both the ongoing demand for vinyl (relatively small though it may be) combined with the general difficulties that come with creating vinyl records in the first place.
Say it with me now: “riiiiicola”… I mean, “streeeeeeamlined!” Bandcamp is currently testing its new vinyl service with four pilot campaigns, which you can check out here. The service will be available to all artists and labels “later this year.”