I haven’t read the whole thing, but this is a deep dive with some great stats and tables (whoo!) so far.
I’m a Bandcamp stan anyway so have to share 
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As I am not a user of either (beyond what I do on MB), so I don’t really know if there is more to either place than what little I use.
But, comparing the two would be like asking why a grocery store is profitable but a restaurant is not. It’s just unfair to compare the two. They do two totally different things.
They are two very different models (and ethos’) of doing the same thing (enabling artists/labels to sell music online, and allowing consumers to consume music online).
Anyway, the headline of the article isn’t very important. The body and in-depth statistics within the article are interesting no matter which kettle of fish you prefer.
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Thank you for the link.
I’m not so impressed with the article. It’s a bit big on assumptions and it seems to be written mostly from the perspective of the authors biases. At least it’s nice to know Bandcamp is doing well.
Bandcamp is in a way very “web 1.0”. No doubt a big investor will buy it in a few years and ruin it, but that’s just the way of things I guess.
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I I just read the rest, and wow it does really wear its bias on its sleeve!
However it feeds nicely into my personal echo chamber so I even liked the Spotify part/hitpiece. Where we don’t even get fun graphs 
Though to be fair, I’m not sure Spotify is releasing detailed data to dig into?
Anyway. The BC graphs re buyer generosity and popular tags etc are my main takeaway, good to look at for anyone releasing music who wants a peek behind the curtain.
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I can see them. Running current Chrome with Adblock Plus (I know, I should change to something else…) + Privacy Badger, no other blockers that I can remember.
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Vivaldi (PC) (UBlock Origin\Privacy Badger) - really slow to load up. Some fancy script slowly fades the images as they are scrolled into place.
Firefox (PC)(Ublock Origin\No Script) - no problems. instant images. (Oh - now it is back to really painfully slow this morning…)
Brave (PC)(UBlock Origin \ Privacy Badger \ default script block) - again instant images.
Vivaldi (Android) + Firefox (Android) - really annoyingly slowly loading due to the script on those images.
Brave reports 39 scripts on that page. When they are fully blocked there are normal images. When not blocked it has a stupid slow fade. I guess you have something in the middle with some scripts blocked?
I see you are on a phone - so it is will be something script based your phone is rejecting as silly \ waste of time \ too slow
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Bandcamp offers more than just a platform for musicians to sell music online — it also provides tools for artists to grow their audience and generate revenue from merchandise sales. This includes social networking tools such as Facebook integration and Twitter feeds, as well as for analytics that allows musicians to track how people are interacting with their music.
In addition, Bandcamp offers services such as digital distribution and sales reporting through its proprietary system called DSP (digital sales platform). This allows artists to sell their music on other websites like iTunes or Amazon without having to create an account with those companies individually.
Spotify has none of these features, which makes it much harder for artists who want to grow their fan base organically through social media or email marketing campaigns — they need another way to reach out to new listeners outside of Spotify’s promotional channels.