Music fans came out in full force to support their favourite artists on Bandcamp in 2025. The online music marketplace has reported sales for its Bandcamp Fridays initiative, closing out 2025 with $19 million directed to musicians and labels, and a year-on-year rise for 2024.
Originally launched as a single-day effort in March 2020, to help artists at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as touring revenue collapsed, the recurring event has generated more than $154 million to date. On each Bandcamp Friday, the platform waives its revenue share, so that money spent on music goes straight to the creators.
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The final Bandcamp Friday of the year, held earlier this month (Dec. 5), was the most successful of 2025, generating $3.8 million. The initiative will return in 2026 with eight scheduled dates, the first being Feb. 6.
In a statement, Dan Melnick, general manager at Bandcamp, said: “Five years on, Bandcamp Fridays continue to show just how powerful direct fan support can be. 2025 was another brilliant year for artists and labels, capped by our strongest Friday yet, and we’re incredibly excited to bring even more opportunities to the community in 2026.”
Bandcamp was established in 2008 by Ethan Diamond in Oakland, California. The platform has since become renowned for its direct-to-fan sales of digital music, merch, and vinyl, and has paid out more than $1.4bn to date to independent artists and labels, who get approximately 82% of the money made from each sale.
The site also has a community culture, where fans can curate wishlists, leave reviews of albums they have purchased, and message artists directly.
According to Bandcamp’s 2025 roundup, the year’s best-selling albums on the platform included King Gizzard and The Wizard Lizard’s Phantom Island, Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee, Westside Gunn’s Heels Have Eyes 2 and Are Playing Where??? Vol. 1, a Bandcamp-exclusive release from the Foo Fighters.
Popular merch, meanwhile, ranged from a Bikini Kill fundraiser t-shirt for trans youth charities, alongside items from the likes of Magdalena Bay, Burial, Castle Rat and more.
