Wow!

🩷💜 PYNK 💜🩷

We are still testing and refining Bandwagon, and will be hosting all accounts on bandwagon.fm for be free through the end of this year. Our current plan is to begin charging a small hosting fee beginning in 2025 to pay for server space and bandwidth.

So you're planning on charging artists starting next year. Do you have any mechanisms in place for paying out artists? The main draw of Bandcamp for artists is not just exposure, but payout (regardless of how meager it is). The way you have it set up right now, you're guaranteed to make money off of artists while they have to individually figure out monetization totally removed from number of plays.

Where and what is your privacy policy? If it's not accessible from the front page, I don't want to browse your site, let alone recommend it to others.

Mr. Meadows

@[email protected] this presumes a lot of value in being part of the fediverse that I really don't see a lot of musicians getting behind. And then if you're not monetizing from payment fees and instead charging artists upfront costs, I think you're DoA.

The fediverse is only going to be appealing when appealing stuff happens on it, this just seems to treat the fediverse like the blockchain.

:iiko_boy: chatBBT AI assistant ▌▖▘▘▌▌▌▘▌

@[email protected] see a lot of NFT icon people on there :hakaselaughing:

Erion

@benpate I have been looking for a simple but comprehensive self-hosted alternative to Bandcamp, and I have to say this is very nice so far.

I also love the Emissary default template, everything so far works great with screen reading software and it's lightweight to run on a Raspberry Pi. Thank you

AJ Sadauskas

@benpate Does Bandwagon support artists selling MP3s of their music on the platform?

One of the main reasons I visit Bandcamp is to support local artists I like by buying their music. Does Bandwagon allow this?

If not, will it be rolled out in a future update?

Papa

@benpate Please start with a account validation system that does NOT rely on a GUI browser to complete.

Light

@benpate What makes this different from #Funkwhale?

Erlend Sogge Heggen

@benpate I hope you can find a way to collaborate with these people: https://subvert.fm/blog/a-collectively-owned-bandcamp-successor/

Both of your projects look awesome, and would work even better together!

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@light Great question. There are lots of superficial similarities, but big fundamental differences

#Funkwhale is aimed at listeners, and Bandwagon at creators

#Bandwagon is a unique profile page that showcases each musician’s branding, with artist info, colors, and graphics. They can post show dates and band news, too

In the near future, music discovery and digital sales will also set them apart

So maybe think of it as a better #Bandcamp or #MySpace on the #Fediverse

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@erlend

Yeah, thanks for this! I just learned about them yesterday. Don’t know much about this project, yet, so I’m still catching up.

From their web page, it seems more like a plan (possibly a really good one) than a technology stack. So there’s lots of potential room to work together.

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@Papa

Hey Papa. Accessibility is super important to me - especially for an app focused on music - so I’m eager to learn more about what you mean here.

What browser are you using?

I have been testing Bandwagon with VoiceOver on my Mac. But, I did just have to make some changes to the signup process (darned script kiddie spammers) so I might have broken something in the process.

Thanks for your insights, and for helping me do better.

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@ajsadauskas

Not now, but in the near future.

Right now, there’s links to other online stores (like Bandcamp) where you can sell stuff online.

But online sales is one of the two major feature requests (along with better music discovery) that I know I’ll need to add soon.

When we do, it will likely use artists’ own payment accounts (like PayPal, Venmo, etc) so that all of the money goes directly to them and so the hosting company doesn’t take a cut.

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@erion

Really? It runs on a Rasberry Pi??Thats awesome. You made my day!

If you’re self-hosting, lots of things are changing rapidly with Bandwagon, so we should connect somewhere (email, Mastodon, GitHub) so I can make sure I don’t break your site.

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@dispencer Probably, though I haven’t been filtering people based on their avatars.

I *did* just delete several hundred spambot signups, so that’s going to be an ongoing arms race. Welcome to the Fediverse, I guess..

I hope to create something anyone can self-host, and to make a flagship instance as an easy on-ramp for non-technical musicians.

That’ll certainly attract music and content that aren’t my taste, but if they’re not stealing music or being abusive, everyone is welcome.

⸸ commander ░ nova ⸸ :~$

@benpate I put a couple albums up on a Bandwagon page, and am wondering if in the future there'll be a way for people to pay to download a copy, even if it's just a paypal button that unlocks the download

Papa

@[email protected] Thanks for reaching out. When I attempted to sign up I gave a valid email, received it (in a CLI only BSD/Linux shell environment, SDF.org) When I "clicked' the button in the text based lynx browser the system attempted to process but never finished. When I forwarded the intake email to a GUI email account, the button did not "translate" and wasn't there.

I attempted again with a GUI email and browser. As I feared my original choice for a nic (pa2) was already taken, suggesting that at least part of the CLI attempt was processed but not to completion. This is not a deal breaker, I can work with a different nic.

Please let me know if I can follow-up on this, if you need more information. Again, thanks for touching base,

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@mrmeadows

Fortunately, I’m a reclusive billionaire, splitting my Bandwagon development time between my Mediterranean yacht and a secret “nucular” bunker in Wyoming, so monetization is not a top priority

But to be serious, online album sales are an important feature to add in the near future. Though I think that money will go 100% to artists.

Bandwagon itself is open source, so anyone can self-host. My server, bandwagon.fm will eventually be paid, which will cover my hosting costs

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@mrmeadows

I should add that you’re right: “the Fediverse” is not the killer feature. I think personal control, and independence from big companies like EA is the real issue.

The Fediverse needs more/better content. I see Bandwagon (and other apps like it) as an easy way for indie creatives to own their online identities while growing the content library of the Fediverse.

Hopefully, it’s a win/win.

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@Papa

Thanks for the info. It looks like Lynx doesn't support Javascript, which is going to be a deal-breaker with Bandwagon. It's not a heavy react app like Mastodon, but it does use Javascript for lots of things.

Are there text-based browsers that DO support Javascript?

I'm happy to see if this is possible, but you might be better off using a GUI browser in the meantime.

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@cmdr_nova

This is one of two big features (along with better music discovery) I know I'll need to add. But for right now, Bandwagon doesn't support online sales.

It will probably be exactly what you mentioned, a PayPal button (among others) that unlocks additional download privileges.

This is straightforward to describe, but hard to build. I'm working on search and discovery right now, and aiming to start on payments before the end of the year.