How Many Bandcamp Codes Should You Give Away?
Every artist who generates their first batch of Bandcamp download codes asks the same question a minute later: how many of these should I actually hand out? Too few and the codes sit in a spreadsheet doing nothing. Too many and you wonder whether you just gave away the sales you needed. The honest answer depends on what you are trying to do with them, so this guide works through the constraints Bandcamp puts on the numbers, the trade-off you are really making, and a sizing table by goal. It ends with how the arithmetic connects to GetMusic's pricing, because that is where "how many" turns into a decision with a cost attached.
The numbers Bandcamp hands you
Three figures set the frame, and all of them come from Bandcamp's own help center.
- 200 codes per account to start. Not per release. A new album does not top you up.
- Batches come in multiples of 100, minimum 100. If you want 20 codes for reviewers, you still generate 100. The other 80 do not expire, so this is a floor on batch size, not a cost.
- 1,000 more codes for every $500 USD in sales. Codes are earned by selling, which means a release that sells well funds the giveaway for the next one.
Labels start at 3,000 and earn on the same $500 rhythm. You can also buy more through the "get more" link on the codes page; Bandcamp does not publish the price, so we will not guess at it. The mechanics of generating and exporting a batch are in our guide to Bandcamp download codes.
Two rules shape everything below. Every code is single-use, so the number of codes is the number of people. And a redeemed code is not a sale, so codes never move your sales total or your progress toward the next 1,000.
The trade-off you are actually making
The fear is that a free download replaces a purchase. Sometimes it does. The person who was about to pay $8 and instead claims a code is a real loss of $8. But that person is rare, for a reason that is easy to see once you look at your own numbers: most people who hear about your record never buy it. The realistic alternative to a code is usually not a sale; it is nothing.
So the question is not "how many sales am I giving away" but "how many listens am I buying, and what do they cost." A code costs you nothing in cash. What it costs is the small chance that this specific person would have paid. Against that you get a download in their collection, streaming in the Bandcamp app, a follow if they like it, and a person who now knows your name when the next record comes out. That is why artists who track it tend to find that codes given to strangers turn into more purchases later, not fewer.
The place codes genuinely cost you is the audience that already buys everything you make. Do not hand your superfans codes for the record they would have bought today. Hand them codes for the back catalogue, or for the friend they keep mentioning.
Sizing by goal
These ranges are what we see working on GetMusic and in the artists we talk to. Treat them as starting points.
| Goal | Codes | Why that range |
|---|---|---|
| Reviewers, radio, playlist editors | 10 to 25 | You are sending one code per person to a short list you researched. Pre-order codes unlock the full album, so this is your advance-copy channel. More than 25 usually means the list is not targeted. |
| A listening party or live event | 25 to 50 | The people in a listening party chat or at a small show have just heard the record. Give a code to everyone who stayed. Most rooms and chats are under 50 people. |
| Newsletter or community message | Match your engaged readers | Count the people who opened your last three sends, not your total list. Send one code each to that number. Bandcamp's community messaging reaches followers and buyers directly. |
| A GetMusic release | 50 to 200 | Fans who have never heard of you browse by genre and claim one code each. Fifty is enough to see whether the record travels; two hundred is a full first-release push. A GetMusic listing carries up to 100 codes per release promotion. |
| Merch inserts and show cards | Match your physical stock | One code per shirt, tape, or record you expect to move in the next few months. Print the batch with Bandcamp's template. |
Add those up for a typical first campaign and you land somewhere between 150 and 300 codes. That is why the 200-per-account start is not as generous as it sounds, and why the +1,000-per-$500 rule matters.
How the 100-batch floor changes the math
Because batches are multiples of 100, you should think in hundreds rather than in exact counts. If your plan says "20 for press, 40 for the listening party, 60 for GetMusic," that is 120 codes and two batches. Name each batch by channel when you generate it ("press", "party", "getmusic"), so that when you look at redemptions later you can see which channel actually converted. The 80 spare codes from the second batch are not waste; they are your day-after supply for people who missed a Bandcamp Friday, your contest prizes, and your "sorry, that code was already used" replacements.
How to earn more
Keep a simple tally as you go: batch name, how many went out, how many were redeemed, how many claimers followed you. Bandcamp lists your batches by the names you gave them, and GetMusic shows claims per release, so the numbers are close to hand; you only have to write them down next to each other.
The only free way to get more codes is to sell $500 worth of music or merch through Bandcamp, which adds 1,000. For most independent artists that is a milestone rather than a monthly event, so the practical loop looks like this: spend your first 200 on the channels above, convert a fraction of those listeners into buyers, cross $500, and the next 1,000 codes fund a bigger push for the following release. Codes given away well are how you earn codes.
Where GetMusic pricing comes in
On GetMusic, codes are the product. You upload a batch, we list the release, and fans claim one code each. Your first release promotion is free. After that, each release promotion is priced per listing and carries up to 100 codes, so the sizing question above becomes a concrete one: a 100-code push on one release is one credit; a 200-code push is two. The pricing page has the current numbers and how credits work.
That structure is deliberate. A hundred codes to a hundred different people, each tracked so nothing is handed out twice, is the unit that tends to produce followers and later sales. If you are unsure how many to start with, start with one release and one batch of 100, watch how fast they go and how many claimers follow you on Bandcamp, and size the next one from that.