Early Bandcamp sales converted from 'torrent' and 'free MP3' search queries
Ethan Diamond · How I Built Resilience: Ethan Diamond of Bandcamp · Apr 8, 2021 · at 12:44
Ethan Diamond, co-founder and CEO of Bandcamp, describes how early search traffic data proved listeners looking for pirated music would pay if money went to artists.
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“And we found again, 2008, 2009. So we, what we were competing with, right, as you said, was like LimeWire. Right. Hook share and stuff like that. So we looked at those search terms and it was the name of an album plus the word torrent or the name of an artist plus, you know, free MP three or something like that. And so, you know, I don't know that the people who were using those search terms were necessarily thinking to themselves, I want to get this music for free or steal this music. But when they got to a place, Bandcamp, where it was clear that they, if they bought here, they were directly supporting an artist, that actually led to a sale.”
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