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Bandcamp 101

Bandcamp Friday: The Complete Artist Checklist

The 2026 Bandcamp Friday dates and a checklist for two weeks out, one week out, the Pacific-time day itself, and the day after.

Bandcamp Friday is the one day a month when Bandcamp waives its revenue share and the whole platform's audience shows up ready to buy. For an independent artist it is the closest thing to a scheduled payday, and most artists still treat it as a same-morning tweet. This checklist is built to be worked backwards from the date: two weeks out, one week out, the day itself, and the day after. Each section is short on purpose. Print it, or copy it into a note, and tick things off.

The 2026 dates

Next Bandcamp Friday: October 2, 2026.

Bandcamp scheduled eight Bandcamp Fridays for 2026, more than in previous years. The full list:

  • February 6 (past)
  • March 6 (past)
  • May 1 (past)
  • August 7 (past)
  • September 4 (past)
  • October 2
  • November 6
  • December 4

Each one runs from 12:00am to 11:59pm Pacific Time. That window is the source of most Bandcamp Friday confusion, so it gets its own section below. We update the "next date" line above before each one; if you are reading this in a new year, check Bandcamp's own announcement for the current schedule.

What actually changes on the day

Bandcamp waives its revenue share on sales made inside the window. Payment-processor fees still apply, so you do not receive 100% of the sale price; you receive the sale minus the processor's cut. On a normal day Bandcamp's help page describes your payout as roughly 80 to 85% of proceeds, and Bandcamp Friday removes Bandcamp's slice of the remainder. Bandcamp's help page does not spell out which product types are included beyond "sales in the window," so we will not claim specifics about merch, vinyl, or subscriptions here; assume digital and physical sales through your page count and check the help page if a particular product matters to you.

Payouts arrive by PayPal, typically within 24 to 48 hours. The other thing that changes is attention: fans who hold purchases all month release them on this one day, and Bandcamp's front page, social accounts, and editorial all point at it. You are not buying visibility; you are showing up where it already is.

Two weeks out

  • Decide what you are selling. A new single, a reissue, a live recording, a merch restock. Bandcamp Friday rewards having something specific to point at. "Everything on my page" is a weaker pitch than "the new EP, out today."
  • Put anything new into pre-order now. A pre-order page gives you something to link to for two weeks instead of one morning, and it is the page fans will land on when the day comes.
  • Generate your download codes. You will want them for reviewers, for the day-after follow-up, and for anyone who missed the window. Codes for a release still in pre-order unlock the full album, which is how you get it to writers ahead of the day. If you have not done this before, our guide to Bandcamp download codes covers the whole process.
  • Send codes to reviewers and radio now. Two weeks is the minimum lead for anyone to listen and write something before the day.
  • Check your merch stock and shipping settings. A sold-out shirt on the day is fine; a shirt that is listed but not actually in the box is not.
  • Schedule a listening party for the following week. Bandcamp only lets you create one once the album is published, and a listening party the week after Bandcamp Friday gives everyone who bought the record a reason to come back and talk about it.

One week out

  • Send a Bandcamp community message. It goes to everyone who follows you or has bought from you, which is exactly the list that will buy again. Say what is coming, say the date, and say it is Bandcamp Friday. Our guide to Bandcamp messaging has a template list if you want one.
  • Send your newsletter, if you have one separate from Bandcamp. Same content, different list. Include the pre-order link.
  • Post once on each social channel. Not a countdown. One clear post with the date, the release, and the link.
  • Prepare the day-of posts in advance. Write them now, with the links already in. On the day you want to be replying to people, not composing.
  • Line up any collaborators. Anyone featured on the record, the label, the person who did the artwork. Ask them to post on the day and give them the link and an image so it costs them nothing.
  • Decide your code plan for the day after. How many codes go to people who missed the window, and how you will get them out. Listing the release on GetMusic in advance means the link is ready when you need it.

The day itself

  • Know when it starts and ends for you. 12:00am Pacific is 3:00am Eastern, 8:00am in London, 5:00pm in Sydney. The window closes at 11:59pm Pacific. If you are not in California, write your local start and end times on the checklist.
  • Post early in the Pacific morning. That catches Europe's afternoon and the US East Coast before lunch.
  • Post again mid-afternoon Pacific and once more in the evening. Three posts, each a little different: the release, a track, a thank-you with a number in it.
  • Reply to every purchase you notice. Bandcamp notifies you of each sale. A thank-you on the day does more than any pre-day promotion.
  • Watch the clock, not the notifications. Bandcamp's Payments Summary and its "cha-ching" notifications show times in UTC, which is seven hours ahead of Pacific during Bandcamp Friday season. A sale stamped 06:30 UTC on Saturday happened at 11:30pm Pacific on Friday and counts. Do not panic when the timestamps look wrong.

The day after

  • Check your Payments Summary, remembering the UTC offset. Sales that look like Saturday morning were probably Friday night Pacific. If a sale genuinely fell outside the window, it was still a sale; it just carries Bandcamp's normal share.
  • Send a thank-you message with a real number. "You bought 43 copies yesterday" is a message people reply to.
  • Give codes to the people who missed it. This is the step almost nobody does, and it is the highest-return one. Post your GetMusic release link with a short "if you missed Friday, here is the record, free, one per person." The people who claim are the ones who wanted it and could not buy on the day; they are next month's buyers. List the release on GetMusic and the codes go out one at a time with every claim tracked.
  • Thank collaborators publicly. Tag them with the number.
  • Write down what worked. Which post got clicks, what time the sales came in, which channel did nothing. The next Bandcamp Friday is a month away and you will forget.

A one-page version

  1. T-14: pick the release, open pre-order, generate codes, send codes to press, check merch, schedule the listening party.
  2. T-7: community message, newsletter, one social post, draft day-of posts, brief collaborators, prepare the day-after code plan.
  3. Day: local start and end times written down, three posts across the Pacific day, reply to buyers, ignore UTC timestamps.
  4. T+1: read the Payments Summary with the offset in mind, thank-you with a number, codes for people who missed it, thank collaborators, write notes.