Why The Bandcamp App Is (now) Great(er)
It wasn't even a month ago that I went off on a long tangent about why I fancied the Bandcamp App so much… and now they've just gone and made it better. The thing I really liked about the app is still there (i.e. having everything you've bought in your pocket, and having to listen to those records the way they were meant to be listened to, front to back), but what they've just added to the app fixes a noticeably missing part of the experience: Music Discovery.
[I know, I know… I wrote that “finding new music becomes completely pointless if you don't actually stop and listen to what you've found”, but really, you can't stop and listen to what you've found if you don't find anything… plus ‘discovering’ is a vital part to maintaining a healthy music addiction]
Your 'Music Feed' is now incorporated into the app, and it's a pretty sweet addition (if you're not sure what the 'Music Feed' is, read this… and then go get yourself a fan account already). So if you're using your Bandcamp fan account like a smart kid (i.e. following your favourite artists + other people with cool taste) then your Music Feed should be a long and always updating list of great tunes, a majority of which, you'd probably otherwise never hear. And now you can listen to that stream of goodness on your phone. This is excellent news for your ears, and slightly troubling news for your PayPal account.
The best part? When you press play on one track in your feed, the next track in the feed automatically plays next. Which basically means you now have both a record player (to play your Bandcamp collection) & a radio station (that plays your Bandcamp Music Feed)… in your pocket. The future really is now.
The other best part? Bandcamp lets you know about people who have bought the same music as you —which often is like being introduced to someone who has similar, yet slightly different taste in tunes as you— and you can have a quick flick through some of the other other albums they've bought and listen to their favourite track (and the same thing applies to when someone starts following your collection). Which equals even more discovering. Which equals even more hitting of that 'Wishlist' button. Again, excellent news for your ears, and slightly troubling news for your PayPal account.
One more best part? When you reach the bottom of the feed and need to load some more… you don't get a lame spinning wheel… instead you get these killer dance moves:
My only complaint is that I now really wish the desktop version of the Music Feed functioned more like the mobile version (i.e. played tracks back to back, check out other's collections right from the feed). I mean, I've always wished that it did that, but now even more so after experiencing the Music Feed ‘radio station’ on my phone. Also, if they could apply the same 'continuous playback technology' to listening to someone's Collection, that'd be pretty ace too.
Anyway… if you don't already, go buy some music on Bandcamp so that you have a fan account and then go get the app and come participate in the quiet revolution of people who still actually buy music (and follow my Fan Account if you'd fancy seeing the stuff I buy showing up on your Music Feed / in your fancy new pocket radio).
