If this hostile Covid pandemic has taught me anything it’s that people’s lives and livelihoods are so incredibly fragile. Countless lives and jobs have either been destroyed or altered in some fashion. I’m lucky that my day job is working for a very busy and popular upscale grocery store; therefore my job has been safe since the pandemic started. I’m also blessed I was not struck with the coronavirus.
Unfortunately, indie, underground bands and solo musicians took one of the biggest hits financially this past 18 months. Touring and playing live in bars and clubs came to a screaming halt in 2020, for obvious reasons. Without touring and playing live shows, musicians are shut-out financially. No live shows means zero band merch is being sold to fans that would have attended.
A tremendous way to kickstart your favorite bands bank accounts once again is to buy directly from them!
During 2020, I bought vinyl, cassettes and other merch from bands I dig a whole lot; some of these bands I supported were: Haunt, Exhumed, The Dollyrots, Pounder and King Diamond. A fabulous site to purchase music and merch from is Bandcamp. This site supports thousands of indie and underground artists.
On another note: The next time you want to buy your music or merch from the corporate conglomerate known as Amazon, check out your favorite mainstream band’s websites. I’ve bought directly from Metallica and their website is loaded with music and merch; especially live music you cannot find anywhere else.
Stone
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