The next Bandcamp Friday is Friday 6 November 2026, and the last one this year is Friday 4 December 2026. On each date Bandcamp waives its revenue share on sales made between 12:00am and 11:59pm Pacific Time, so artists and labels receive more of every purchase. Payment processing fees still apply, which means artists do not keep literally 100%.
Those are the only two left of the eight Bandcamp Fridays scheduled for 2026. Both dates come from Bandcamp's Bandcamp Friday help page and its Bandcamp Daily announcement, checked on 29 October 2026, when no 2027 dates had been announced. Below: the full calendar, the time window in other time zones, what is and is not waived, and how artists can plan for the day.
Key takeaways
- Two left in 2026: Friday 6 November and Friday 4 December.
- Midnight to 11:59pm Pacific Time. US clocks go back on 1 November, so both dates run from 08:00 UTC Friday to 07:59 UTC Saturday.
- Bandcamp waives its revenue share, nothing else. Payment processor fees still apply.
- Timing decides it. A sale outside the window does not get the waiver after the fact.
- Eight dates in 2026, each on the first Friday of its month, with none in January, April, June or July.
- 2027 is not announced yet. The 2026 calendar was announced on 3 December 2025.
Bandcamp Friday 2026 dates
Bandcamp announced eight dates for 2026 in a blog post on 3 December 2025, saying it was adding more Bandcamp Fridays than the year before. Every one falls on the first Friday of its month, but there is not one every month.
| Date | Status (checked 29 October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Friday 6 February 2026 | Passed |
| Friday 6 March 2026 | Passed |
| Friday 1 May 2026 | Passed |
| Friday 7 August 2026 | Passed |
| Friday 4 September 2026 | Passed |
| Friday 2 October 2026 | Passed |
| Friday 6 November 2026 | Next |
| Friday 4 December 2026 | Last of 2026 |
When is the next Bandcamp Friday in your time zone?
Bandcamp runs each fundraiser on Pacific Time. Its help page says “midnight to midnight PDT”, but US daylight saving time ends on the first Sunday of November (NIST), which is 1 November 2026. Both remaining dates therefore fall in Pacific Standard Time, eight hours behind UTC. Bandcamp's own countdown site, isitbandcampfriday.com, agrees: it starts the 6 November and 4 December events at 08:00 UTC.
| Where | Starts | Ends |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific Time (Los Angeles) | Friday 12:00am | Friday 11:59pm |
| Eastern Time (New York) | Friday 3:00am | Saturday 2:59am |
| UTC | Friday 08:00 | Saturday 07:59 |
| UK (London) | Friday 08:00 | Saturday 07:59 |
The same times apply to both 6 November and 4 December. UK clocks go back on 25 October 2026 (GOV.UK), which is why London matches UTC on both dates. If you are elsewhere, the countdown site shows how long is left.
One note for sellers. Bandcamp's Payments Summary page and Cha-Ching sale notifications show times in UTC, which its help page describes as “PT +7”. That is only true while Pacific daylight time is in force; in November and December the gap is eight hours. If a sale shows a revenue share deduction, check its UTC timestamp before assuming a mistake.
How Bandcamp Friday works
On a normal day Bandcamp keeps a revenue share on each sale. On a Bandcamp Friday it waives that share for sales made inside the window, which its help page defines as “between 12:00am to 11:59pm Pacific Time on Bandcamp Fridays.” The waiver is Bandcamp's, not a discount: fans pay whatever price the artist has set, and more of it goes to the artist or label.
Three details from the same help page matter if you sell there:
- No retroactive credit. Sales made outside the window cannot be added to the fundraiser later.
- Payout timing. Bandcamp says there is a 24 to 48 hour window before a payout reaches your PayPal account, and Bandcamp Friday sales may arrive in a payout that also includes sales from outside the window.
- Busy servers. Bandcamp warns of slow page loads and download errors on fundraiser days. Its advice is to wait and try again, and to stream purchases from the Bandcamp app in the meantime.
What artists keep, and what still comes off
Bandcamp waives its own revenue share and nothing else. Its help page says plainly that “payment processor fees still apply”, adding that while it can waive its revenue share, it is not able to do the same for processor fees. Bandcamp's fees page says processing varies by transaction size and typically ranges between 4% and 6%.
A worked example using Bandcamp's published rates: a $10 digital album paid by credit card normally leaves the artist $7.98 after the standard 15% digital revenue share and the 2.2% + $0.30 card fee. On a Bandcamp Friday the same sale leaves $9.48. Both figures are before payout fees, tax and any collection society deduction. The full breakdown, including the reduced tier and physical goods, is in how much Bandcamp takes.
Bandcamp's Friday page mentions only the revenue share and processing fees. It says nothing about the PayPal payout fee or the collection society share that can apply to covered works, so plan as if both still apply.
Which sales count?
Bandcamp's current help page does not break the waiver down by item type. It ties the waiver to when a sale happens, not what was sold. Bandcamp charges its revenue share on physical items as well as digital ones, and when the fundraisers began in 2020 it described the waiver as covering “all sales on Bandcamp”, with fans spending on “music and merch” (Bandcamp Daily, July 2020).
What we could not confirm from a current Bandcamp source is how fan subscriptions, gift card purchases and pre-orders are treated. If your plan depends on one of those, ask Bandcamp support before the day, not after it.
A short history of Bandcamp Friday
- 20 March 2020. Bandcamp waived its revenue share for the first time, to help artists who had lost touring income to the Covid-19 pandemic. Fans spent $4.3 million on music and merch that day, which Bandcamp said was 15 times a normal Friday.
- The rest of 2020. It repeated the waiver on 1 May, when fans paid artists $7.1 million, on 5 June ($4.8 million) and on 3 July. Bandcamp has continued the Fridays since, even as the pandemic waned.
- 2026. Bandcamp expanded the schedule to eight dates. Its own running totals differ between posts: more than $150 million in its December 2025 blog post, and over $120 million in a September 2026 Bandcamp Daily post. Either way, fans have paid well over $100 million to artists and labels on these days.
How artists can plan for a Bandcamp Friday
None of this guarantees a sale. The waiver raises what you keep per purchase, not how many people buy. These are practical options, not a formula.
- Put the date in your release plan. A release, or an album pre-order opened in the run-up, gives fans something new to buy on the day. Bandcamp pre-orders can give fans one or more tracks straight away, but they must be released manually, so do not plan an unattended midnight drop.
- Have something worth buying now. After the first three Bandcamp Fridays in 2020, Bandcamp reported that limited-edition T-shirts, 7-inch and 12-inch singles, charity releases, re-releases and tote-bag bundles were popular with fans. That list is six years old, but the idea holds: a limited or bundled item gives fans a reason to buy on the day rather than later.
- Get physical stock ready early. If you sell vinyl, CDs or shirts, have inventory counted and shipping prices set before the window opens, not during it.
- Tell fans early, then again on the day. In 2020 Bandcamp wrote that artists who “communicated with their fans regularly and repeatedly enjoyed the most success.” Ahead of the October 2026 date it also published downloadable social assets for sharing. Use your mailing list as well as social posts.
- Post when your fans are awake. In London the window opens at 08:00 on Friday and closes at 07:59 on Saturday. On the US East Coast it opens at 3am. Time your reminders for each audience.
- Leave your prices alone unless you mean it. The waiver already sends more of each sale to you. A discount gives some of that back, which is fine as a deliberate choice and wasteful as a reflex.
What fans should know
- Buy inside the window. A purchase a few hours early or late, in Pacific Time, is an ordinary sale and cannot be counted afterwards.
- Other days still help. Bandcamp says that outside the fundraisers, 80 to 85% of what a fan pays still goes directly to the artist.
- Expect slow downloads at peak times. Purchases stay in your collection, and you can stream them in the Bandcamp app while the site is busy.
- It is not a sale. Prices are whatever the artist sets. What changes is how much of that price the artist receives.
Will there be Bandcamp Fridays in 2027?
Bandcamp had not announced any 2027 dates when we checked on 29 October 2026. For reference, it announced the 2026 calendar on 3 December 2025, two days before the final Bandcamp Friday of 2025. We will update this page when Bandcamp publishes the 2027 dates.
Bandcamp Friday covers eight days a year. If you are weighing where to sell for the rest of the year, our guide to Bandcamp alternatives compares the options, and Played, for one, takes 0% platform commission every day on a paid monthly plan, with payment provider fees applying (how selling on Played works).
Frequently asked questions
When is the next Bandcamp Friday?
Friday 6 November 2026, followed by Friday 4 December 2026, the last of the year. Both run from 12:00am to 11:59pm Pacific Time, which is 08:00 UTC on Friday to 07:59 UTC on Saturday because US clocks go back on 1 November.
What time does Bandcamp Friday start?
At midnight Pacific Time on the Friday, ending at 11:59pm Pacific. For the November and December 2026 dates that is 3am Friday to 2:59am Saturday in New York, and 08:00 Friday to 07:59 Saturday in London and UTC.
Is Bandcamp Friday every month?
No. There are eight in 2026: 6 February, 6 March, 1 May, 7 August, 4 September, 2 October, 6 November and 4 December. Each is the first Friday of its month, but January, April, June and July have none.
Do artists keep 100% on Bandcamp Friday?
Not quite. Bandcamp waives its revenue share, but payment processor fees still apply. On a $10 digital album paid by card, Bandcamp’s published rates leave $9.48 on a Bandcamp Friday against $7.98 on a normal day, before payout fees, tax or collection society deductions.
Does merch count on Bandcamp Friday?
Bandcamp’s current help page does not list item types. It waives the revenue share on sales made inside the window, and Bandcamp charges that share on physical items as well as digital ones. When the fundraisers began in 2020, Bandcamp described the waiver as covering all sales, with fans buying music and merch.
Will there be Bandcamp Fridays in 2027?
None had been announced as of 29 October 2026. Bandcamp announced the 2026 dates on 3 December 2025, so an announcement late in the year would fit that pattern, but it is not confirmed.
The bottom line
Two Bandcamp Fridays remain in 2026: 6 November and 4 December, each from midnight to 11:59pm Pacific Time, or 08:00 UTC Friday to 07:59 UTC Saturday. Bandcamp waives its revenue share in that window and payment processing fees still apply.
If you sell on Bandcamp, have something ready to buy, tell fans early and in their own time zone, and check with Bandcamp support before relying on subscriptions, gift cards or pre-orders counting towards the waiver.