# Bandcamp 132 Hacker News commenters recommended Bandcamp and 17 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 13 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 10 years (3 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** People buy music on Bandcamp to pay artists directly and get DRM-free, high-quality downloads, though many find its search, app and recommendations poor. ## Why people recommend it - Money goes directly to artists (11 comments): "Bandcamp makes money from people who consciously avoided the streaming shitfest in favor of directly supporting the artists" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46608223)) "Yeah or even better I buy the album on Bandcamp, then they get either 85% of the price, or 100% on "Bandcamp Friday"." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46537526)) "I made 90 Euros on Bandcamp in December and 0.08 Eurocent on all other streaming platforms together!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46614488)) - DRM-free high-quality FLAC downloads (5 comments): "Albums are usually ~$10 for high-fidelity digital downloads, and ~$25 gets you a vinyl record + the digital download." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48312946)) "It's delightful to be able to just listen to something then hand the artist money and download the flac files." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48720857)) "the process of buying high-quality, DRM-free MP3 music is as simple and straightforward as it can be" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46343750)) - Free listening before buying (3 comments): "I went to her Bandcamp page and was able to listen to some tracks for free with zero friction." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48940460)) "i can usually find it on bandcamp or youtube without having to pay for a stream or two" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48237937)) "Mostly I listen to new albums on Bandcamp, and if I like them enough, I buy them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46520072)) - Genre browsing and curated discovery (4 comments): "their trending charts which seem to be unpopular enough that it's not entirely controlled by marketing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47803534)) "I wander around bandcamp and find stuff that isn't heavy metal, but enjoyable, so I buy it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48847744)) "It's artist focused and they have shows with DJs that focus on highlighting new releases." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49006227)) ## What people warn about - Weak discovery and recommendations (4 comments): "I absolutely don't agree that Bandcamp does recommendations well. To me, it seems like they don't personalize at all." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46615442)) "that is better than the front page, but still it takes a lot of effort" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46616985)) "Discoverability and usability in general is godawful on bandcamp." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48933927)) - Clunky search, app and site (4 comments): "The app and site are awful, and even finding stuff you've bought to play or download can be a nightmare" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48948583)) "It's often completely impossible to find an artist or album or song even when you type the exact name." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49448230)) "the free/preview player doesn't have a volume control but the library player does" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47468799)) - Worries since Epic, Songtradr sales (4 comments): "have slowly felt more and more uncomfortable with it ever since the initial Epic acquisition" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48729147)) "bandcamp laid off virtually all of their engineers a month or so back" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518908)) "I'm still sad about the company's sale to Epic and then Songtradr" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46613087)) - Not all music available there (2 comments): "I wish more musicians were on Bandcamp, and more authors sold e-books directly from their website." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48710314)) "I buy everything on Bandcamp... when it's available there, which is increasingly not the case." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45806495)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [iTunes Store](https://hackerapproved.com/p/itunes-store.md): 18 recommend - [7digital](https://hackerapproved.com/p/7digital.md): 8 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://bandcamp.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Bandcamp", https://hackerapproved.com/p/bandcamp/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).