Wow!

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

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.

⸸ commander ░ nova ⸸ :~$

@benpate search and discovery is definitely important, and one of the biggest things that Bandcamp has as an advantage. Definitely a good idea to keep that as the top priority

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@cmdr_nova

Yup. Startups are a chicken-and-egg problem, where each new thing depends on something else already existing.

I didn't want to build "discovery" until there was something there to discover. Same with digital sales.

That's why the 99 band milestone was so important. It's enough to build out the next set of features.

There's a lot to do. If you know any #HTML or #Golang developers with too much free time, and a chip on their shoulder, tell them to consider joining the effort.

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@pynk

Sorry this isn't on the website, because it's a common question.

Online sales is absolutely important. It's on my radar, and I'm hoping I can start working on it before the end of the year.

When it's done, it will likely use musicians' own payment accounts (like PayPal or Venmo) so that 100% of the money goes to them.

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@pynk

Re: privacy policy -- this is one of many legal aspects that I don't have worked out yet.

The principle is that anything uploaded to my server is wholly owned by the artist, under their total control, and would not be used for any kind of spam.

I should definitely write that out more completely and add it to the website.

Is there a privacy policy that you'd recommend that I model for this?

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@vick21 @Tamasg

I hope so too. #Accessibility is important -- especially for an app based on music

I've talked to a couple of screen reader users, who have bravely volunteered to test out early versions of this code

They've told me that it works well (mostly) and I'm still running through their feedback to make things better

So I won't say Bandwagon is 100% WCAG compliant, but please try it out and let me know if you have any trouble. I jump on accessibility issues as quick as possible

🩷💜 PYNK 💜🩷

@[email protected] @[email protected]
You keep harping on covering your "hosting costs"
There are people who host services that literally stream FHD (or higher!) videos downlink and operate wholly off of donations.

Do you realize how this makes you look in comparison? If you care so much about the artists then why is this entire thing predicated on you collecting digital toll from them?

Papa

@[email protected] I used Chromium to register (successfully) and then Vivaldi (my gui accnt.) Again, success. I have not made my new accnt. public at this time. So, everything appears to be working correctly.

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

Hey @pynk

You're obviously looking for a fight, but I won't give you that.

I've been open about Bandwagon, what it does, and where it still needs work. Nobody is forced to beta test my software. And anyone can use my work for free.

So I'll work on a privacy policy, along with the countless other ways that Bandwagon should still be better.

The Fediverse is better when we work together. So let's work together to build great things, and not just tear them down because they aren't yet perfect.

Ben Pate 🤘🏻

@Papa Okay, that's great. Please let me know if you have any more trouble.

Randulo.com

@benpate Excellent initiative, I'm in!

hairylarry

@benpate

I'm on Bandwagon but I lost track during my fall festival season. I do have some more albums I want to post.

Thanks