Your music deserves more than
$0.003 per stream.
VeloCMS is a publishing platform for independent musicians that handles audio on release posts (MP3, M4A, and AAC with a native player), paid digital releases and beat licenses via BYOK Stripe, tour date posts, and a fan email list — all in one place with zero platform fee on sales. The Podcast theme — audio-first design, native player, episode-archive pattern — ships free on every plan and fits a music release catalogue out of the box.
Why independent musicians keep hitting the same walls
Three different platforms, three different revenue cuts, one root cause — none of them were built for musicians who want to own their audience, their catalogue, and their income.
Spotify pays $0.003 per stream — you need 333,000 streams to make $1,000
Run the actual math. A song streamed 10,000 times in a month earns you roughly $30 in royalties. On Bandcamp, 100 album sales at $10 a pop brings in $850 after fees — from a fraction of the audience. The economics aren't even close. Spotify's payout rate has barely moved in a decade, and "playlist placement" is a lottery you don't control. Building your primary revenue strategy around a platform that pays less than a fraction of a cent per play means you need millions of streams just to cover rent, let alone studio time, gear, or touring costs. The artists winning on Spotify are either on major labels with marketing budgets, or they've already built their own audience elsewhere first.
Bandcamp takes 15% per sale and you're at their mercy every time it changes hands
Bandcamp was the indie musician's safe harbour for years — fair fees, direct fan connection, Bandcamp Fridays where they waived their cut. Then Epic Games acquired them. Then Epic sold them to Songtradr. Then Songtradr laid off most of the staff. Three ownership changes in four years, each one shifting the product priorities away from the artists who built the platform's reputation. Your back catalogue, your release pages, your fan comments, your subscriber emails — all of it lives inside infrastructure someone else owns and can sell again tomorrow. The 15% commission isn't the only cost. The real cost is building your entire music business on land you don't own and can't take with you.
Linktree is your homepage but you don't own it
Most independent musicians' "website" is a Linktree bio: Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music, SoundCloud, merch store, mailing list signup — all rented real estate on a link-in-bio platform that decides what features you get and charges a subscription for the privilege of a slightly more customised page. You have no SEO. You have no content archive. You have no domain that builds authority over time. When a journalist, booking agent, or label rep looks you up and lands on your Linktree, they see a list of other platforms' links, not your story. You need a home that belongs to you — not a forwarding address for platforms that will all eventually change their terms.
What a musician-first platform gives you
MP3, M4A, and AAC audio on release posts, paid releases via BYOK Stripe, tour dates as Events or posts, a fan email list, and the Podcast theme — bundled in one platform with no plugin stack and nobody taking a cut of every sale you make.
Audio on every release post — MP3, M4A, and AAC with a native player
Attach an MP3, M4A, or AAC file (up to 500 MB) to a release post from the editor's Podcast panel. It is hosted on Cloudflare R2 and plays in the native audio player on your release page. No SoundCloud embed and no Bandcamp widget required, though the /embed command can add Spotify or SoundCloud tracks if you want them too. Lossless FLAC and WAV masters don't play in the post player; sell them as digital product downloads with signed, short-lived download links. Your sound files on your infrastructure.
Tour dates as Events or posts, with an .ics invite on ticket confirmations
Publish tour dates as Events (venue, address, date and time, ticket tiers) or as posts with a ticket link. Ticket buyers get an .ics calendar invite attached to their confirmation email, so the show lands in their calendar. One-off shows and recurring residencies both work. Tag posts by city or region so local fans can filter for dates near them. The tour archive stays on your domain and accretes SEO over time. Past shows contribute to your authority as a touring artist, rather than disappearing from a third-party listings site when the show is over.
Paid digital releases and beat licenses via BYOK Stripe — 0% platform fee
Connect your own Stripe account in Admin → Settings → Membership. Mark any release, beat pack, or sample library as members-only or one-time purchase. When a fan or producer lands on your paid content, they check out on your domain via your Stripe account. Revenue goes directly to your bank. VeloCMS charges zero platform fee — Stripe's standard 2.9% + 30¢ processing is the only cut anyone takes. A $20 beat license sold 50 times a month is $970 in your pocket, not $850 after someone else's platform fee.
Fan email list — you own it, Spotify algorithm changes don't touch it
When Spotify's algorithm stops promoting you — because it decided to push a different genre, or because a playlist curator moved on, or because you released on a Tuesday instead of a Friday — the fans who signed up for your newsletter still get the email. An email list is the only distribution channel that doesn't have a feed algorithm between you and your audience. VeloCMS captures fan emails at signup, lets you blast to your full list from the admin, and keeps your subscriber data in your account, not inside a platform's CRM you can't export from.
Audio-first Podcast theme — episode archive pattern fits release archives
The Podcast theme was designed for audio-first publishing: a native audio player, episode archive grid, streaming-optimised type scale. That same architecture maps perfectly onto a music release catalogue — albums and singles instead of episodes, tracklist instead of show notes, release date instead of air date. The distinction is semantic; the design intent is identical. Ships free on every plan, zero configuration required, and it makes your music page look like it was designed specifically for how musicians actually publish.
Features musicians actually need
Audio on release posts, BYOK Stripe paid releases, tour dates as Events with .ics ticket confirmations, beat licenses as per-tier digital products, a fan newsletter, and merch links — all in one place without a plugin in sight.
Audio on release posts — MP3, M4A, AAC; lossless masters as downloads
In the post editor's Podcast panel, upload an MP3, M4A, or AAC file (up to 500 MB) direct to Cloudflare R2. The release page plays it with a native audio control. FLAC and WAV aren't accepted in the post player; for the lossless version, create a digital product and attach the file as its download, delivered with a signed, short-lived link after purchase. Each post carries one audio file, so an album is a post per track, or one post with a Spotify or SoundCloud embed.
Paid digital releases — BYOK Stripe checkout, instant access
Connect your Stripe account once. From then on, any post, download, or audio file marked as paid routes fans to your Stripe checkout on payment and returns them with access granted. No Gumroad middleman, no Bandcamp widget, no manual fulfilment email. Beat licenses, sample packs, album downloads, and Stem files all handled the same way. Zero platform fee. You set the price, you receive the money, you keep the customer email.
Tour dates: venue + date + ticket tiers, with an .ics invite on confirmation
Create an Event for each date with venue name, address, start time, capacity, and ticket tiers, or a post with a ticket URL if you sell tickets elsewhere. Ticket buyers get an .ics calendar invite in their confirmation email. There is no site-wide tour calendar feed to subscribe to yet. Posts about past shows stay indexed on your domain with their original dates, building a touring history archive that feeds your artist profile SEO for years after the show.
Beat licenses — one digital product per tier, signed download delivery
Publish a beat as a digital product with one variant per licence tier: for example a tagged MP3 lease, a WAV licence, and exclusive rights, each priced separately and each carrying its own download file. Put the licence terms in the product description. On purchase, the buyer receives a signed, short-lived download link by email, with no manual follow-up. No separate Dropbox folder to manage, no Gumroad account with its own fees on top of Stripe.
Fan newsletter — release announcements, tour previews, exclusive tracks
Send HTML newsletters to your full fan email list from Admin → Newsletter. Announce new releases, share tour date bundles, drop an exclusive acoustic version as a thank-you to subscribers. The newsletter blast uses your Resend or SMTP credentials — your sender reputation, not a platform's shared IP. Every subscriber opted in on your domain, not a third-party platform's signup flow, which means import and export are always available without special requests.
Merch link integration — one post, every storefront
Add a styled button block to any release post that links to your Printful, Shopify, or Bandcamp merch store. It is a styled link, not an iframe or an embed, so it loads with the page. Add several buttons per post (physical album, tee, poster) with custom label text. No plugin required, no API key setup: paste the URL and pick the button label.
VeloCMS vs Bandcamp vs Linktree vs Spotify+Artist
| Feature | VeloCMS | Bandcamp | Linktree | Spotify+Artist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custom domain | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Platform fee on sales | 0% | 15% | N/A | 30% via distributor |
| Native audio player | Yes | Yes | Embed only | Yes |
| Tour date posts | Yes | Yes | Manual links | Limited |
| Fan email list | Yes | Limited | No | No |
| Time to first release (mins) | 10 | 30 | 5 | Days via distributor |
| Cost per year ($) | 0–348 | Free + 15% | 108 | 0 + distribution |
From Bandcamp to your own music platform in five steps
No developer, no multi-tool stack, no ongoing platform commission. Get your releases, tour dates, and fan signup live in an afternoon.
Export your Bandcamp or SoundCloud track metadata
From Bandcamp, go to Fan Account → Account Settings → Data Export to download your releases and fan data as CSV. Your track audio files are accessible from each release's edit page — download each one individually. SoundCloud doesn't offer a bulk download for your own tracks; use a download-your-tracks browser tool or download each track from your profile's track settings. Neither platform gives you your follower emails — you'll need to manually export any mailing list you've built through Bandcamp's fan messaging or a separate email tool.
Attach your audio to each release post
Create a post in VeloCMS for each release — album, EP, or single. In the editor's Podcast panel, upload your MP3 (or M4A or AAC) so the release page plays it with the native player. Add your album art with the image command, write your release notes, tag with genre and release year. Hit publish. If you sell the lossless version, create a digital product for it and link to it from the post. The release is live with native audio playback on your domain.
Set up your first paid release via BYOK Stripe
In Admin → Settings → Membership, paste your Stripe secret key — copied from your own Stripe dashboard. VeloCMS never sees the key in plaintext; it's encrypted at rest. Post visibility has three settings: public, members, and paid; a paid post is readable by members on a paid tier, which you set up in Admin → Members → Plans. For a one-off download, create a digital product with its own price and link to it from the post. A fan landing on a gated post sees a paywall prompt and a Stripe checkout.
Activate tour dates
In Admin → Events, create an Event for each date with venue name, city, date and time, and ticket tiers, then publish; the dates appear on your public /events page. If you sell tickets elsewhere, write a post tagged `tour-date` with the venue, city, date, and ticket URL instead. There is no /feed.ics calendar feed, but ticket buyers get an .ics invite in their confirmation email. Posts about past tour dates stay on your site and are indexed by Google, building your touring profile for booking agents and press who look you up.
Activate Podcast theme and open fan mailing list signup
In Admin → Themes, click Podcast → Apply. Your site instantly switches to the audio-first layout — episode archive grid, large player, streaming-optimised typography. In Admin → Settings → Newsletter, enable the fan email signup form. Add a Newsletter Signup block to your home page and release pages. Fans enter their email, you capture it in your subscriber list, and you're set to send your first release announcement newsletter from Admin → Newsletter. Custom domain CNAME is one DNS change away when you're ready to fully leave Bandcamp as your homepage.
Start a 14-day free trial with audio on posts, the Podcast theme and tour dates. Pro ($9/mo) gives you unlimited releases, a custom domain and paid releases.
Pro
$9
per month
- Unlimited releases + audio files
- Custom domain + SSL
- BYOK Stripe paid releases (0% fee)
- Beat licenses + sample packs
- Member-gated audio + downloads
- AI writing assistant
Business
$29
per month
- Unlimited releases + audio
- Multi-artist or band team accounts
- Custom sender domain (email)
- Priority support
- Advanced fan analytics
- Team collaboration
Questions musicians ask before switching
Honest answers — no Bandcamp upsell.
Can I upload FLAC and WAV audio files, not just MP3?
Not in the post audio player. The audio you attach from the editor's Podcast panel accepts MP3, M4A, and AAC (up to 500 MB each), hosted on Cloudflare R2. FLAC and WAV masters can't play inline, but you can sell or give them away as digital product downloads, delivered with signed, short-lived download links. A common setup is an MP3 preview on the release post and a digital product for the lossless download. You can also embed Spotify or SoundCloud tracks with the /embed command.
How does BYOK Stripe work for paid digital releases or beat licenses?
In Admin → Settings → Membership, connect your own Stripe account by pasting your secret key. Once connected, mark any release post as members-only or paid-tier, or sell downloads as digital products with a one-time price. When a fan or producer lands on your gated content or product page, they pay through Stripe on your own account, not through VeloCMS billing. On successful payment, VeloCMS grants access or delivers the download automatically. For beat licenses, create a digital product with one variant per tier — tagged MP3 lease, WAV license, exclusive rights — each at its own price, each with its own download file. VeloCMS takes 0% platform fee. Stripe charges its standard 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.
Why is Podcast the recommended theme for musicians?
The Podcast theme was designed around audio-first publishing: a prominent native player, an episode archive grid layout, streaming-optimised type scale, and clean whitespace that puts the audio front and centre. A music release catalogue maps directly onto this architecture — albums and singles instead of podcast episodes, tracklists instead of show notes, release dates instead of air dates. The visual design intent is identical. You get a professional-looking music site without any custom CSS or theme modifications, and it ships free on every VeloCMS plan.
How do I publish tour dates and let fans add them to their calendar?
Create an Event for each tour date (venue, address, date and time, ticket tiers) and publish it; it appears on your public /events page. Fans who buy a ticket get an .ics calendar invite attached to their confirmation email, so the show lands in their Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook with one click. There is no site-wide calendar feed (/feed.ics) to subscribe to yet. If you would rather link to an outside ticket seller, write a post per date, tagged `tour-date`, with the venue, city, date, and ticket URL in the post body. Posts about past tour dates stay on your site, indexed by Google, building your touring history archive which feeds your artist authority for booking agents and press.
Can I migrate my Bandcamp archive to VeloCMS?
Partially. Bandcamp's Data Export tool (Fan Account → Account Settings) gives you release metadata and fan data in CSV format. Your audio files are downloadable per-release from each release's edit page. Fan emails are accessible if you've been collecting them via Bandcamp's built-in fan messaging or a linked email provider. The practical migration path: download your audio files and release metadata from Bandcamp, create posts in VeloCMS's editor for each release, attach the audio from the Podcast panel, set up digital products for any paid downloads, and publish. Your existing Bandcamp page can remain live during the transition — you're not forced to delete it immediately. Use a free download or exclusive track as a lead magnet to move your Bandcamp followers to your own email list before you reduce your Bandcamp presence.
How do I capture fan emails — a replacement for Bandcamp follow and Spotify follow?
Enable the fan newsletter signup form in Admin → Settings → Newsletter. Add a Newsletter Signup block to your home page, release pages, and tour date posts. When a fan enters their email, they're added to your VeloCMS subscriber list — a list you own and can export at any time. Unlike Bandcamp follow (which stores fan contact in Bandcamp's database, not yours) or Spotify follow (which gives you zero fan contact data), VeloCMS subscriber emails belong to your account. From Admin → Newsletter, you can blast release announcements, pre-save links, exclusive tracks, and tour previews to your entire list at any time.
Does VeloCMS take a cut of my paid music releases or beat sales?
No. VeloCMS takes 0% platform fee on all digital sales made through your connected Stripe account. The only fee is Stripe's standard processing rate: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction in the US (rates vary slightly by country). On a $20 beat license, you receive $19.12 after Stripe's cut — compared to $17 after Bandcamp's 15% cut. On a $10 album, you receive $9.41 versus $8.50 on Bandcamp. At volume, that difference adds up. And unlike Bandcamp's commission model, your VeloCMS subscription fee is flat — a fixed $9 or $29 per month regardless of how many sales you make.
Can I still distribute to Spotify and Apple Music while running my own site here?
Yes, and running both in parallel is actually the recommended approach. Use a distributor (DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby) to get your music on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music as you do today. Use VeloCMS as your actual homepage — the place where fans buy directly, sign up for your email list, find tour dates, and access exclusive content. The streaming platforms are discovery channels that funnel people to your owned properties. Your VeloCMS site is where the economics work in your favour: direct sales at 0% platform fee, email list you own, merch links, beat licenses. The two coexist — you're not choosing one over the other, you're adding a direct revenue channel to supplement the streaming income.
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Stop renting your music's homepage. Start your free trial with Podcast.
MP3, M4A, and AAC audio on release posts, paid digital releases, tour dates with ticketed Events, a fan email list, and the audio-first aesthetic your music deserves — all on a platform where you own the audience, not Bandcamp or Spotify.