This week's Bandcamp finds: Box and the Twins, Mint Green, Nothing, Camp Cope, Mothers, and more

I have been doing extensive Bandcamp discovery over the last week or so, and below are my finds. I have been digging through 2016 releases trying to find the best of the best.

First of all though, if you are new to my blog, Bandcamp is bar none the best way to support independent artists. Best way to find them to start (their music discovery tools are outstanding), and then the best way to buy their music.

For one, when an artist sells an album or track on Bandcamp, they get to keep 85%. That is far and away the highest percentage in an industry in which the percentages are usually single digits, or even tenths or hundredths of percents.

Secondly, artists have many options when putting their music up for discovery and purchase. For example, when an artist puts an album up on Bandcamp, they can decide how many tracks stream for free (most of the time all, but sometimes only two or three). They can also decide how many times a listener is allowed to stream it (sometimes unlimited, but often times after two or three streams there will be a pop up window requesting or requiring purchase). I have bought many albums on Bandcamp in this manner: I was streaming, the pop-up appeared, told me I had streamed 3 times, and then asked me to purchase. My reply? "Yes!"

This is the problem with other streaming music services and why artists get so little. For a monthly subscription fee you can listen to all the artists you want, as many times as you want, and you never pay more than your flat fee. This is helpful for a personal budget, but not helpful for the longetivity of the career of an independent musician. So even if you use mainstream streaming services, maybe come up with your personal formula for how many times you will stream a song or album before you support the artist in some way directly (buying a digital album, CD, cassette, or vinyl record, buying a t-shirt, or going to their concert).

Now, on to the bands I have discovered this week and their awesome 2016 releases. Been streaming these all week and already purchased a few: