Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

TuneCore VS Bandcamp

Compare TuneCore VS Bandcamp and see what are their differences

TuneCore logo TuneCore

Music distribution platform for artists to sell their content worldwide

Bandcamp logo Bandcamp

Discover amazing music and directly support the artists who make it.
  • TuneCore Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-08-02
  • Bandcamp Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-13

TuneCore features and specs

  • Global Distribution
    TuneCore distributes your music to a wide array of streaming services, including major platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and many more. This extensive reach maximizes your audience potential.
  • 100% Revenue Retention
    Artists retain 100% of their revenue from sales and streams, allowing them to fully benefit from their musical creations without sharing a percentage with TuneCore.
  • Artist Control
    TuneCore offers musicians full control over their music, including the ability to choose release dates, control pricing on some platforms, and manage multiple releases easily.
  • Comprehensive Royalty Collection
    TuneCore also provides services to collect various royalty streams, including mechanical royalties, performance royalties, and sync licensing fees, helping artists to maximize their income.
  • Analytics and Reporting
    TuneCore offers detailed analytics and reporting tools, giving artists valuable insights into their music's performance, audience demographics, and trends.
  • Additional Services
    Beyond distribution, TuneCore offers additional services such as music publishing administration, YouTube monetization, and playlist promotion to further support artists' careers.

Possible disadvantages of TuneCore

  • Initial and Annual Fees
    TuneCore requires upfront and recurring annual fees for each release, which can add up over time, particularly for independent artists with multiple releases.
  • Customer Support
    Some users have reported issues with customer support, including slow response times and difficulty in resolving issues promptly.
  • Lack of Marketing Support
    While TuneCore offers distribution services, it does not provide substantial marketing support or resources, which can be challenging for artists who need help with promotion.
  • Complexity for Beginners
    The platform may be overwhelming for beginners due to its range of services and the need to understand various aspects of music distribution, royalties, and marketing.
  • Competitive Alternatives
    The market for music distribution has become more competitive, and there are other platforms that might offer different pricing structures or additional features that could be more beneficial for some artists.

Bandcamp features and specs

  • Direct-to-Artist Payment
    Bandcamp allows fans to purchase music and merchandise directly from artists, ensuring that a higher percentage of profits go directly to the creators themselves.
  • High-Quality Downloads
    Offers a range of high-quality audio formats for download, including FLAC, WAV, and more, ensuring the best listening experience.
  • Artist-Friendly Terms
    Bandcamp takes a relatively low commission on sales (usually around 10-15%), making it one of the more artist-friendly platforms.
  • Flexible Pricing
    Artists have full control over pricing and can even allow fans to pay what they want or offer music for free.
  • Discovery Features
    Bandcamp has an effective recommendation system and regularly features artists on its homepage, helping with music discovery for both fans and musicians.
  • Community Support
    Artists can directly communicate with their fans and build a more engaged and loyal following.

Possible disadvantages of Bandcamp

  • Limited Streaming
    Bandcamp is primarily a platform for purchases and downloads, and its streaming capabilities are not as comprehensive or robust as other music streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music.
  • Less Established Mainstream Presence
    While Bandcamp is popular among independent artists, it does not have the same level of mainstream recognition or user base as larger streaming platforms.
  • Interface and Usability
    The user interface, while functional, is not as polished or user-friendly as some other platforms.
  • Sales-Based Income
    Artists primarily earn through direct sales, which can be less consistent than streaming revenue from platforms with more users.
  • Limited Marketing Tools
    Although Bandcamp offers some promotional tools, it lacks the extensive marketing capabilities that other platforms might offer artists.
  • No Free Tier
    Bandcamp does not offer a free ad-supported tier for streaming, which could limit the ability to attract casual listeners who are not ready to purchase music.

Analysis of TuneCore

Overall verdict

  • Overall, TuneCore is a reliable and well-regarded service for independent musicians looking to maintain control over their music revenue while reaching a broad audience. It is particularly beneficial for those who value complete ownership of their music and require robust distribution and support services.

Why this product is good

  • TuneCore is considered a good option for artists and musicians who want to distribute their music across a wide array of digital platforms. It offers a comprehensive service including distribution to major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. TuneCore allows artists to retain 100% of their royalties, offers additional services such as publishing administration and sync licensing, and provides detailed sales reports and analytics.

Recommended for

  • Independent musicians seeking broad digital distribution
  • Artists prioritizing royalty retention
  • Musicians looking for additional services like publishing and sync licensing
  • Artists who value detailed sales and analytics reports

Analysis of Bandcamp

Overall verdict

  • Bandcamp is an excellent platform for both artists and music lovers. It empowers independent musicians by offering fair compensation while providing fans with easy access to a vast array of music across multiple genres. Its direct support model strengthens the bond between creators and their audience.

Why this product is good

  • Bandcamp is widely regarded as good due to its artist-friendly revenue model, which allows musicians to earn a higher percentage of sales compared to other platforms. It supports a diverse range of independent artists, providing a user-friendly interface for discovering and purchasing music. Bandcamp also offers a variety of digital downloads, physical merchandise, and the option for artists to set their own prices or allow fans to pay what they want.

Recommended for

  • Independent musicians looking for a platform that offers fair revenue sharing and control over pricing.
  • Music enthusiasts who enjoy supporting artists directly and discovering new, diverse music.
  • Fans interested in purchasing both digital and physical music formats, such as vinyl, CDs, and cassettes.

TuneCore videos

Tunecore Review - 2020: Digital Distribution

More videos:

  • Review - Should you use Tunecore? Digital Music distribution
  • Review - DISTROKID VS TUNECORE VS CD BABY VS ASCAP VS BMI VS SOUNDEXCHANGE VS SONGTRUST

Bandcamp videos

Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Use Bandcamp

More videos:

  • Review - Why Indie Artists Should STILL Use Bandcamp
  • Review - QUAND PEUT-ON CÉLEBRER LA RÉUSSITE D'UNE CHORALE? [CANAAN-GOSPEL2021]

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to TuneCore and Bandcamp)
Music
32 32%
68% 68
Audio & Music
39 39%
61% 61
Music Streaming
15 15%
85% 85
Musician Tools
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare TuneCore and Bandcamp

TuneCore Reviews

  1. Sigurður Már Gestsson
    Use distrokid insteas

    They charge you $10 per single, per year to keep it uploaded and 50 for an album (30 for the first year), so lets say you have 2 albums and 5 singles up, that's $110 for the first year and $150 every year after that, compared to distrokids $20 and unlimited uploads. And if you want to retrieve your files, they charge you a support fee. Distrokid is a flat rate of $20 per year and let's you upload as much as you want, and has a vault where they store all your album covers, audio files and metadata and any other extra details and they let you get them for free

    🏁 Competitors: DistroKid
    👍 Pros:    Good support
    👎 Cons:    Expensive

Bandcamp Reviews

Spotify Vs. Others 29 Music Apps-which One is The Better?
Bandcamp is a platform that allows artists to sell their music directly to fans. It focuses on independent musicians and offers a unique way for users to discover new music while supporting artists. Bandcamp allows users to stream music and purchase digital downloads or physical merchandise.
The Best Spotify Alternatives In Music[Top 10]
Bandcamp is a music streaming platform that focuses on supporting independent artists and labels. Unlike traditional streaming services, Bandcamp allows artists to upload their music directly to the platform, giving them more control over their work and a larger share of the revenue. Fans can discover new music, purchase albums and tracks, and support their favorite artists...
Best Spotify Alternatives In The World [Top 10] 2024
Bandcamp is an online record store and music community supporting independent musicians and pod-casters. With Band camp, listeners can explore various music genres, attend live listening parties, and purchase digital or physical albums to support their favorite artists directly.
Top 10 Spotify Alternatives (Free/Paid) – 2024
If you are an artist yourself, then Bandcamp is a good play to showcase your music as it pays well.
The 5 Best FREE Spotify Alternatives (2018) | PROS AND CONS
This one time….at BandCamp…you discovered amazing indie artists and supported them directly just like they were your court minstrel! BandCamp is a service for fans, musicians, and labels.
Source: www.sodapdf.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Bandcamp seems to be a lot more popular than TuneCore. While we know about 190 links to Bandcamp, we've tracked only 1 mention of TuneCore. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

TuneCore mentions (1)

  • Music Distributors (My Experience / Review)
    Tunecore ($9.99/year per single and $29.99/year per album). Source: over 3 years ago

Bandcamp mentions (190)

  • Imagine telling 2010 devs that in 2025, collapsing a div would require $8M
    Watch the sales scroll past on https://bandcamp.com/ - a lot of people want to support artists and buy music. - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • I Don't Have Spotify
    I use a mix of Qobuz and Bandcamp and have been happy with them. https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/shop https://bandcamp.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Spotify moves lyrics behind a paywall
    > And that makes them irrelevant? Negligible? Insubstantial? The context? Did you pay attention? The prices are rising, the service is getting worse. You know...the topic. > You're more than welcome to try and start your own music service on those terms and see how far you can get with free/cheap offering. There are alternatives which somehow manage not only to provide a proper service, they even offer FLAC... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • BandCamp Browser Player
    ! 2022-05-09 https://bandcamp.com Block Ads Bandcamp Adblock uBlock Origin.txt !bandcamp.com##li.df.story > .track_play_hilite.collection-item-container.story-innards > .story-body !bandcamp.com##li.fp.story > .track_play_hilite.collection-item-container.story-innards > .story-body Bandcamp.com##li.fp.story > .track_play_hilite.collection-item-container.story-innards Bandcamp.com##li.df.story >... Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Available on US Bandcamp now!
    On their little ticker at the bottom of the homepage you can see this sucker is sellin like hot cakes https://bandcamp.com/. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing TuneCore and Bandcamp, you can also consider the following products

DistroKid - Unlimited uploads to iTunes and more. Keep 80-100% of your royalties.

SoundCloud - Enjoy music & follow favourite artists

Ditto Music - Release your music online, set up a record label and keep 100% of royalties

Spotify - Map shows when two people play same song at same time

LANDR - LANDR is online music software for creators: music mastering, digital music distribution, free sample packs, collaboration tools, music promotion, and more. Try it free.

Deezer - Deezer is a music streaming app created in France. It is available in 180 counties and gets 16 million users a month. 6 million of the users have paid subscriptions. Read more about Deezer.