Start today with an early figure from Bandcamp’s second day of waiving its revenue share (with a number of labels following suit) last Friday (1 May). The first day on 20 March had seen fans spend $4.3m on music and merch – 15 times the usual Friday total. Last Friday’s event beat it. “Today: $4.3m+ in 14 hours, BANANAS!” tweeted Bandcamp, noting that there were still 10 hours to go. We’re expecting a final figure to emerge later today.
Another positive story is the launch of Music With Meaning, a new online series where musicians can post videos of themselves performing and talking about their favourite songs, but also mental health, then nominate one established and one emerging artist to continue the chain.
More good news: this morning the UK’s Music Venue Trust has announced that its #saveourvenues campaign has raised more than £1m since its launch last week, with Beggars Group, Amazon Music and the BPI, Sony Music SJM and Kilimanjaro Live among the donators.
Finally, something that might be good for artists and managers: music analytics firm Soundcharts is giving people eight weeks’ free access to track 10 artists using its platform. Instructions on how to do it are here.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…