Do you remember myspace???
Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a wonderful place called the cyberspace that was like an Eldorado for artists, except you didn’t have to kill its inhabitants to steal their property and land. .
In reality it was more about sharing resources freely, but I won’t tell you the full story of the Internet. Just know that there was a certain idea of a free world that emerged, it was a bit like a second chance for humanity to do not reproduce in virtual reality the errors of the real world. Unfortunately, we can date the death of this utopia with the arrival of Facebook and the massive invasion of settlers that followed. Myspace was therefore a sort of social network for artists and art lovers, to share, discover and collaborate, the ancestor of Soundcloud, and Bandcamp… At one point a horrible mobster called Rupert Murdoch decided to buy it. The artists were surprised to say the least, because as soon as he arrived he decided to show how powerful he was, for him since he owned it, he could do what he wanted with his new toy. He changed everything and removed, among other things, free downloading and triggered a real exodus. Myspace was dead, the website may have continued for a few years as a ghost ship, but nothing more. Today, in theory we should be talking about cicadas, but it doesn’t matter, it’s as if the colony of musical ants had gone crazy. After a first sale to Epic Games with the basic promise of respecting the spirit of Bandcamp, (promises only work for those who believe in them) Bandcamp is sold again, but this time no more promises and the buyer wants to fire the team that has been working for Bandcamp for years. What will the new buyer do with his toy? For him, is Bandcamp anything other than a brand with a huge customer base?
I could also talk about Free Music Archives, it was another very cool place for Creative Commons enthusiasts before it was sold.
Will the community of artists who broadcast their music on Bandcamp wait patiently for the next episode?
Or, following the example of Wire magazine, as many of us use Bandcamp,
Wouldn’t it be really cool to make it a sort of cooperative? Each artist contributing a little money to buy Bandcamp and then it could become a common resource for musicians and music lovers across the planet?
It would be a nice resurrection for the free world utopia ?

Well, I say that… but you will no doubt have noticed the explicit title of this album : No Sales Allowed. We don’t sell our music, both because we don’t want it becomes a merchandise and because we want to show what could be the world if everyone share its best. And for us this resource, this alternative to Bandcamp already exists, it’s called Internet Archive.

Dedicated to those who fight against colonization by commercial society by sharing their creations freely.