When comparing Youtube vs Bandcamp, the Slant community recommends Bandcamp for most people. In the question“What are the best music streaming services?” Bandcamp is ranked 6th while Youtube is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose Bandcamp is:
Once you buy (or support) a song/album from an artist on Bandcamp, you get to open a fan account and unlimited streaming and downloads from your purchases.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Large catalog of music
Huge variety of music to pick from including rare recordings, covers, mixes, etc.
Pro Community created mixes and remixes
Because anybody can upload to YouTube, it has content from remixes of popular songs to hour long mixes and everything in-between. Much of this content can't be found on other music streaming services.
Pro Really good suggestions
YouTube has some of the best suggestions around. Almost all of the suggestions are similar to the song you're currently playing, and allow for an endless music streaming service.
Pro Multiple frontends available
There are Chrome extensions (UpNext, Streamus), webapps (The Parade) and even native desktop apps (Atraci) that are all powered by Youtube. They provide additional functionality and convenience on top of what Youtube already offers.
Pro No "Monthly or Yearly" subscription plans
Once you buy (or support) a song/album from an artist on Bandcamp, you get to open a fan account and unlimited streaming and downloads from your purchases.
Pro Multiple filters
The Bandcamp discovery site has multiple filters making it easy to find exactly what you want. If you're looking for Best-Selling Electronic albums on vinyl from 3 weeks ago, Discover has you covered.
Pro Search or browse by tags
When artists upload their music, the can add their own tags to their albums or songs. This leads to some very unique finds and allows you to find interesting music.
Pro Audio fidelity is Bandcamp's name
Downloading songs (you bought) lets you download in multiple choices of codecs/formats, like MP3, FLAC, AIFF, AAC and many more to make sure you get to hear what you want to hear.
Pro Unlimited streaming
Listen to songs as many times as you want.
Pro "Fair Trade Music Policy"
Bandcamp's share is 15% on digital items, and 10% on physical goods. Payment processor fees are separate and vary depending on the size of the transaction, but for an average size purchase, amount to an additional 4-7%. The remainder, usually 80-85%, goes directly to the artist, and they pay out daily. Since they only make money when artists make a lot more money, their interests remain aligned with those of the community they serve. It’s a straightforward approach, and it works well.
Cons
Con Confusing service for music
There is a Youtube Music app, which allows one to stream music videos as well as just the studio audio versions of songs. This feature is not accessible on the Youtube website, or the regular Youtube app.
In order to get ad free service on the site as well as the music app, ones needs to subscribe to Youtube Red for $9.99 a month. This nets the user features, such as Youtube (Google) created movies and videos as well as a way to save musical playlists for offline use, but only in the Youtube Music app. This makes for a confusing and fragmented service that requires using multiple apps, a website, and a subscription to a paid service that encompasses much more than just music, in order to get the full use out of music on Youtube.
Con Lots of ads unless you buy a subscription
There are lots of ads on YouTube, even in the middle of long songs. Some of them can be skipped, however others cannot. Most of the time ads are only displayed between songs.
Con Rips artists off
YouTube pays artists $0.0007 / play, which is less than 6 times what Spotify pays ($0.0044), and Spotify itself is criticized for ripping artists off.
Con Ambient music monetization denied
YouTube doesn't allow the monetization of the ambient musical tracks.
