WSW recordings now available via Bandcamp!

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21st century media

Undoubtedly you’ve noticed that we have not taken CD orders nor have distributed concert recordings since 2019. The combination of the pandemic shutdown and the decreasing use of CD’s/increasing use of streaming media made all this more complex. The board has been aware of this schism and we are very grateful to Eric Milkie for his extensive research and work in this area.

Introducing Bandcamp!

Although Apple Music (iTunes) is currently the industry standard for distributing artists’ streaming content, the service is expensive and cumbersome for artists and ensembles like WSW. Eric’s research found that Bandcamp is our best choice for an alternate streaming service. Click here to read Bandcamp’s corporate overview page.

We started with a sandbox trial of Bandcamp for the board only, which was very successful, and we have now launched our first album – the 2022 Caramoor Concert! Just click this link or the graphic above to see all details and purchase the album. After this initial offering, we will be adding additional concerts, one at a time, until we’ve offered all the concerts since our last CD. At that point, we intend to highlight past premium concerts.  Recordings will be available as ‘albums’ (entire concerts).

Payments/Options

  • The cost per concert album download is $10; individual tracks are available for $3. CD’s used to be $15, so this is a bargain!
  • Purchasers can pay with PayPal or any credit card.
  • We will be adding Bandcamp to our website, so our regular patrons will be able to access these recordings as well. (Look for a separate post soon from that site and on our social media sites to advertise this.)
  • Once you’ve visited the WSW page Bandcamp.com, we encourage you to click the “Follow” button, so you’ll get automatic announcements when we release future albums.
  • You can also purchase an album as a gift for someone else. All you need is their email address.
  • Patrons who are especially generous may also add a donation to the album purchase.

Listening options after purchase

So once you’ve downloaded a concert, how do you listen to it? You have several options:

  • Listen to it directly as streaming media in a browser on the bandcamp.com (on a laptop or mobile).
  • Listen to it on the Bandcamp app (available for both Apple iOS and Android) through earphones or by sharing to Bluetooth speakers. (It sounds great on my Sonos system at home!)
  • Download the audio files to your computer (in one of many different available formats (AIFF, MP3, M4A, and many more), and then add to your computer’s media player. If you have an iPhone and a Mac, you can upload the files to Apple Music (iTunes) and then share them as a playlist on your iPhone. If you are using a PC, a different media player, or an Android phone, we recommend listening directly via the Bandcamp app, but we have started this Bandcamp FAQ’s doc to help anyone who has technical questions for uploading/sharing files to mobile devices.

Can I still buy a CD?

The answer is Yes and No.

  • Yes – We have surplus CD supplies of selected past concert recordings. Contact me with your request and we’ll do our best to connect you with your requested recording.
  • No – Moving forward, we are no longer going to offer CD’s of concert recordings. The market has moved from hard-copy media to streaming digital media. Fewer and fewer people own CD players in their cars and connected to their home audio systems. And by changing direction, we are being environmentally-conscious by making a smart, sustainable choice to help stop adding more plastic into our landfills.

The board and I hope that you will be very excited that WSW has made this dynamic move forward. We encourage you to share the WSW Bandcamp link with family and friends, and follow WSW on Bandcamp as described above.

If you have questions, please contact me. We’ll come up with answers, reply to you, and share the questions and answers on the FAQ page.