The Cides Statement Concerning BandCamp
We loved the original ethos of Bandcamp: to give a low cost distribution platform to independent artists and labels struggling to get their music heard and fairly paid.
Bandcamp was part of the rebellion against the music giants whose business model, unless you were the likes of Ed Sheeran, meant you were ripped off and earned a pittance from your songs.
Sadly, Bandcamp went the way of Green and Blacks Chocolate, selling out to the very corporate models they originally set out to challenge. First sold to Epic Games and then on to Songtrdr.
This left a bitter taste in the mouth for The Cides who orinally used Bandcamp as their primary distribution platform. But the final straw came in February 2022. The Cides had raised around £800 to support the Canadian Truckers Freedom Convoy but in an act of fascism PayPal blocked payment of our donation to them for 'political reasons'. We now wanted nothing to do with PayPal and repeatedly asked Bandcamp if we could use an alternative payment method. Initially we got a message from Bandcamp support saying 'we are looking into it' but our subsequent chasers were ignored. So we took the decision to quit Bandcamp and develop our own website as the primary distribution platform.
You can download all our music for FREE but if you fancy supporting us and standing us a beer that would be much appreciated. This will help us to continue to highlight social injustice and corruption.