Losing Bandcamp albums

[GaryG]

Anyone know how Bandcamp is meant to work regarding deleted albums etc?

I went to stream an album I bought a while back and it's not in my collection anymore. I believe the artist deleted their account so does that mean it's gone for everyone else too? Couldn't see this addressed in the BC Help anywhere. It's not an issue really as I download all my purchases anyway but would be good to know the answer for future reference...

Cheers.

[synkrotron]

Sounds a little bit naughty that...

I had assumed that, when BC say "unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app" that it would mean forever. Well, as long as BC keep going anyway. I'd have thought that once an artist sells an album or track then they shouldn't be allowed to delete it.

Having said all that, I'm like you, and once I have purchased an album I instantly download it to my hard drive.

[GaryG]

I doubled checked the payment emails etc and sure I've got this right so I've contacted BC support, will report back...

[Makrotulpa]

If the artist has deleted themselves from Bandcamp then I think you lose the files. About a year ago I was looking at moving a bunch of albums into another account and received a warning that customers would lose access to their purchases.

[GaryG]

That could be the case. Not sure I agree with it, if you've paid for something then it should be available. I can see the artist dropping the album so no future sales are possible but already purchased, eh, copies shouldn't be. It's a 'release' after all, when you release your baby into the wide world, giving up control etc etc...

Meh, discuss.

[Tuonela]

If your music was a paying concern, you'd be mad to take it down. Still, it's the internet, the Land of Broken Links. The buyer should download asap. Bandcamp should (probably) have a separate server for commercial (paid-for) streamable tracks, especially when download codes have been issued, so that buyers always have access - after all, they make money out of the tracks as well (which is probably why they issue that warning). Still, it's the internet. A lot of artists don't or won't stream everything, choosing only to make a couple of tracks on an album playable and the rest provided on purchase, especially where a merch copy is available, so it's not always an issue.

[aoVI]

My first thought was:

While I certainly agree with having paid for something you deserve access, I'd still have to side with the artist still being able to remove their work should they choose to; as long as the files were downloadable to begin with.

I believe losing the right to remove one's work ever would inhibit me from putting up on such a site. I get that removal would more than likely hurt a fanbase's trust in the artist and it wouldn't be something I'd consider doing lightly--if ever. Not that I have a fanbase to consider anyhow...

I do sympathize with you though--perhaps Bandcamp should rephrase that promise to be more accurate; making it clear that an artist still has the right to remove material without notice and the streaming access might end.


Then I thought some more before hitting reply

:hmmm:


Crap, thinking about it as a consumer of music...if you are going to accept cash for your work, perhaps it wouldn't be too unreasonable for Bandcamp to still give streaming access to the album for those who paid, even if further downloads were stopped. Sell a CD--you no longer control the customer's access to your work, you exchanged that for cash.


Final answer; I guess I do agree with continued streaming access for a work you paid for.

[synkrotron]

It's a 'release' after all, when you release your baby into the wide world, giving up control etc etc...

I totally agree...

[Makrotulpa]

It's not like George Lucas comes into your home and confiscates those old copies of Star Wars. :razz:
Yeah I think it's really inconvenient that I can't move my albums around but i'm not going to deny people copies because of it.

Another perspective - some digital marketplaces give you three download limits or your download expires after 48hrs.

[GaryG]

The 'sensible' option would be for Bandcamp to advise customers to download their purchases as they might not always be available to stream. But: that goes against their streaming schtick and could make people wary...

I dunno, I don't want to sound like an entitled KvRian or anything ("improve the GUI of your free plugin and I might consider downloading it"), just want to flag this so no one loses anything they value.

Maybe I can do a deal with George, he's welcome to my prequel DVDs...

[GaryG]

Ok, reply from Keisha at Bandcamp:

Sorry for the confusion! As you mentioned, I'm afraid the artist has since deleted their page, so any albums you purchased from them disappeared from your public web Collection. However, they will continue to show up in the Bandcamp App version of your Collection. You will be able to stream the album from the app no problem, though you still won't be able to download it, unfortunately.

I've looked in the app and, yep, the 'missing' album is there still so only missing from the web version. And not downloadable.

So, all good I guess, don't understand the logic of this but at least not gone for good as feared.

[windspace]

In response to this thread I am downloading furiously :nervous:

Seriously, it sparked me to review my storage of downloaded music and consolidate the files, delete duplicates, etc. When I get it all cleaned up & on one drive...then I duplicate that for safe keeping. Been intending to do this for a long, long time.

...and keep on downloading from BC for as long as it takes...

[Maharg]

I don't always download my purchases because of storage issues. If I keep external hard drives I will either forget about them or where I stored them, or would more than likely throw them out in a crazy clean up.
But this thread has made me think a little. I can't see myself changing old habits. Maybe I will, don't know. I download maybe 1 in 4 purchases. I always stream to listen, so having a copy on a hard drive somewhere has never been a priority and just a storage problem.

I don't even keep my own music for more than a year at most. I delete my music files after a couple of months to make way for the new. Keeps my hard drive clear of junk. These days I am producing more music, so my available space is filling up quicker, therefore I am deleting things much earlier because of it.

Another odd quirk of mine is that when I have finished a piece I may listen to it once, if I like it, but never again. When I finish a piece or an album I consider my part done. I then move onto the next project. I have not listened to any of my own albums, not one.

[aoVI]

Oh man, I keep everything. Even test mixes. I was out of work for 10 days ending last week with an injury and spent some of the time backing up the 6 hard drives on my PC.

I have an external HD just for outdated test mixes with almost 10K files on it. My active music folder was purged of test mixes and the sort (about 1K files) but still hovers around 78K songs. [EDIT: this is not all my own work--this includes my entire music library]

Under my work desk is a storage space with maybe 1200 cdr/dvd-r from the last 17-18 years. I have all that data backed up on external drives too.

In a closet reside around 60 zip disks, several hundred 3.5 floppies, a few dozen 5.25 floppies and even 2 8" floppies. most of that data is duplicated on the externals too, some I let go.

None of this includes the over 100 cassettes of 4 track.




I then wrap the external drives in anti-static material and place them into a safe with 8" lead walls, which I keep it in a climate-controlled cave nearly a mile below the earth's surface. Okay, maybe I am making that part up. Maybe.

[GaryG]

In a closet reside around 60 zip disks, several hundred 3.5 floppies, a few dozen 5.25 floppies and even 2 8" floppies.

Wow, do you still have the hardware to read all those? (I started in IT nearly 30 years ago and 8" disks were just about still in use then...)

I think I have everything backed up. I did have a purge a while back, got rid of loads of CDRs that were either just duplicates or contained stuff I'd never want (all these saved web pages from when I first got on the web...) My music collection is a mess though; I started ripping my CDs (thousands...) ages ago then lost track and didn't start again till recently. Then realised I'd ripped everything to 192k mp3 in the first phase and 320 this time (I'm happy with 320 mp3s, ears can't hear a difference in most cases) so now feel I should re-rip the older ones... Then should I keep downloads and my rips separate or just tag my rips... so many decisions...