BandLab unveils new tool for artists to sell their music

By Emmanuel Legrand

Singapore-based social music platform BandLab has rolled out its self-publishing tool BandLab Albums, allowing artists and musicians to release and sell unlimited singles, EPs and albums freely and on their own terms. The 'Albums' feature proposes a user-friendly and intuitive interface that creators can use to reach out to their customers. Creators can choose to set a fee to download their album or release it free, without BandLab taking a cut on the transaction. 

  BandLab allows artists to keep complete ownership of their creative output, their rights and control their own pricing. BandLab’s cloud-based music production platform integrates music making, mastering and collaboration tools, and with Albums, now offers professional tools to help artists sell their music as well. "There are no hidden fees or subscription charges for listeners or creators, beyond payment gateway fees, powered by Stripe," according to the company.

Control and ownership

  “Our users are at the heart of our product," said BandLab CEO Meng Ru Kuok. "Beyond the continued development of our next-generation solution for the music creation process, we’re incredibly committed to supporting our growing base of creators at each stage of their creative journey. We want that journey to last a lifetime, and releasing Albums is an important step in allowing our artists and independent labels to create sustainable revenue streams for themselves whilst keeping them completely in control and ownership of their own content.”

  BandLab launched in 2015 and counted 20 million registered users in 180 countries in May 2020. The company said it has been experiencing "significant growth" in 2020, with on average one million monthly downloads, and 10 million tracks saved on the platform monthly. BandLab is available as a web version, iOS, and Android app.

  If offers users several customisable features such as the design of the album, and the option to attach bonus content in a wide variety of formats, such as lyric sheets, images, videos, or behind-the-scenes content.