Bandcamp says musicians made more than £3m in a single day after coronavirus initiative

Music platform said it wanted to help support artists suffering financially amid the Covid-19 outbreak

Musicians earnt more than $4m (£3.47m) via music platform Bandcamp in a single day, after the website pledged to donate 100 per cent of its revenue to artists.

The initiative, which lasted all of Friday 20 March, followed reports of how the coronavirus has caused serious financial losses for thousands of people working in the music industry.

The majority of gigs, tours and festivals that were scheduled to take place in the UK over the next three months have been cancelled or postponed.

This includes Eurovision Song Contest, The Great Escape Festival, and the 50 anniversary of Glastonbury Festival.

In a statement acknowledging Friday’s success, Bandcamp said: “We want to thank everyone who joined us last Friday in supporting artists and raising awareness about the impact of Covid-19 on the music community.

“The numbers tell a remarkable story: on a typical Friday, fans buy about 47,000 items on Bandcamp, but this past Friday, fans bought nearly 800,000, or $4.3 million worth of music and merch. That’s more than 15 times our normal Friday, and at the peak, fans were buying 11 items per second.”

“We don’t yet know the long-term impact of Covid-19, but we know that we all need music—to uplift and inspire us, to heal us, and to give us hope,” the message concludes. “We’ll continue working to make Bandcamp the best place for fans and artists to come together and sustain each other in the challenging times ahead. Thank you again, and we wish you all good health!”