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Comment by Syonyk | Hacker News Reader

Buy a vinyl album from artists who sell such things, which will get them far more, per album sold, than just about anything else. Your ability to play vinyl is irrelevant here, and all I'll ask is that you store it reasonably (upright, in a cool place, sealed if you're not going to play it) for future use, since they last "about forever" when well taken care of.

Then obtain the music in some lossless form. FLAC download from the usual sources, used CD on eBay into the ripper, etc.

Though I've also debated just starting to mail checks in envelopes to artists I want to directly support.

It's certainly more annoying than something like BandCamp. But given how "literally everything useful on the internet" either turns into a behavioral surplus vampire or dies (gets killed off), I don't have any better ideas either.

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The issue of course is Bandcamp is the method most artists use to sell vinyl to fans who can’t make it to their live shows. I assume the pandemic led many to support their favorite artists through Bandcamp, but Bandcamp planned for a new reality that was really just pandemic-induced. The issue is Bandcamp enables smaller artists to sell like bigger artists and anything like your “mail a check” solution is so far from the kind of support Bandcamp could provide. I’m more interested in thinking about what “sustainable business model Bandcamp is” than going back to 1990s music industry.

There's nothing unsustainable about bandcamp, it was bought by a company that immediately sold it to another company that was a competitor. It being run into the ground after such a transaction is quite unsurprising.

> The following year, after massively bigging up the business, they sold it to Songtradr

Does 'bigging up the business' here mean loading it up with technical debt and real debt? Enquiring minds would like to know etc.

I want a comprehensive directory of all indie/underground music where I can buy physical or digital copies of the music directly from the artist. I need to know that 80%+ of the money goes to the artist.

Is there any other platform than bandcamp that offers this?

You can also find artists that do live streams and directly pay them.

Buy merch, see shows, etc.

sure but not every artist offers this and its much harder to find the individual channels vs having one big index.

But if worst comes to worst that will be the alternative for the time being I guess

Vinyl won't get the most to the artist per dollar spent though. Most of the revenue from vinyl goes to people involved in the production and distribution of the physical record.

> I've also debated just starting to mail checks in envelopes

What about downloading music normally and buying merch?

On...Bandcamp? Which is what most indie artists use to sell?

Most of the CDs I've bought online in the last few years have been through Bandcamp. It was convenient to get the FLAC immediately after ordering, and the CD soon after.

Usually, if you buy a vinyl, the artist will include a download link for digital files of your choice - I like buying music this way because the vinyl helps the artist, and in turn the artist usually will give you lossless compressed files direct from mastering.

There is no universe in which I "mail checks" (sic) to anyone. I wouldn't even know how to obtain a chequebook, I doubt my bank issues them. It's not 1995 anymore.

55% of Americans wrote a check last year.[0]

I get being adamant, and I couldn't agree more -- i'd have to be really convinced to mail a check, but let's not act like it's unheard of.

[0]:https://finance.yahoo.com/news/almost-half-americans-not-wri...

I write checks a couple times monthly to a housekeeper and other service people and my bank writes a few more. Writing a check is higher friction than other payment schemes but it’s pretty routine in the US.

But it's absolutely plummeting:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/15/paper-che...

Rates of check-writing have been falling relatively linearly since 1995, and at the current rate it will drop to zero by around 2030.

Want to make a bet that it's not zero by 2030?

I dunno... I mean, a lot of things decrease but don't go completely extinct, like writing with fountain pens.

But check-writing requires institutions to support it. At some point they're going to pull the plug. Kind of how analog broadcast TV ended in 2009.

2030 is certainly too soon, as the decrease will slow at some point, but I'd absolutely bet money that physical writing of personal checks is no longer supported in the US by 2040. With a decline of usage, the costs of fraud are going to outweigh their benefits. (And we can finally go back to sidewalk mailboxes with normal-size openings that you can drop small packages in, since mailbox-fishing won't have a target anymore.)

Cashier's checks will stick around though, since they fulfill a different purpose. And printed business checks for things like account refunds will persist as well. But printed checks like these aren't subject to the levels of fraud personal ones are, and can easily be made even more secure.

In general, the first paycheck from a new employer is usually an actual paper check, because they want you to get your 1st payment before the direct deposit is set up.

I've even been given a pro-rated paper check from the accounting department on the first day (as part of onboarding), for 1st day wages, as soon as I get into the office and shown to my desk/work area.

It's an act of good will because they are paying you for work you did on your first day (instead of cheating you to say "we'll pay you when everything gets set up", they are upfront with the "day worked deserves fair wage" principle)

Your spelling of the word “chequebook” makes me think you aren’t American, so it could be a cultural thing but checks are readily available and still somewhat commonly used for large purchases and rent payments in my experience.

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