🔵 RIP Nina: a shame, but sadly not a shock

Nina's demise is a sharp reminder of the commercials around digital services

I was saddened to learn last night that Nina, the music download store that was started back in 2021, is to close.

When it launched, Nina was certainly a breath of fresh air. Granted, with the benefit of hindsight, the web3 aspects may be perceived now as a potential liability rather than a strength, but underlying everything was a logic that perhaps web3 could be used to ensure artists keep more of the sales amount without so much going to the platform or payment provider. In that respect, it was arguably one of the most grounded and sensible deployments of a Web3 structure that I have ever seen.

As the team admit in their email however, “While our work created meaningful connections and helped foster listeners’ love for new music, we were unable to find a revenue strategy that would give Nina a path to sustainability at its current size.”

At a time where many alternatives to platforms like Bandcamp are popping up, I would argue this should give pause for thought. I look around at many of the Bandcamp alternatives (as they often present themselves) and my immediate concern is their means to generate meaningful revenue that would provide sustainability, and/or that they are bloated with VC capital, which will ultimately sow the seeds of their demise.

Zooming out a little further, I wonder if there is a troubling reality here in which getting any store to a sustainable level is simply impossible without adopting the Silicon Valley VC funding approach, which is, I increasingly feel, painfully at odds with what the independent music space actually needs.

VC investment is often portrayed as a beneficial thing. Where the problems creep in is in the expectations of those investors for these platforms to grow to a scale that is fundamentally unworkable or unlikely to ever be met. Generally, it involves a philosophy in which a startup must grow to be not a small-to-medium business with high profit, but a global multi-billion-dollar empire of Spotify-like proportions.

That is simply not the space these independent stores should be operating in.

I also note that Subvert, the cooperative download store being very much marketed as a Bandcamp alternative, is now live and accepting submissions from artists and labels. Before saying anything further, let me be clear on one point: I genuinely wish Subvert all the best and would love nothing more than to see them grow and flourish into another formidable player in this marketplace. Having said that, I do have concerns as to how its revenues will balance against the costs of doing business in general. After all, hosting masses of music, handling the software stack, payment gateways, sales data tracking etc, all involves significant costs, and that in turn requires a cast-iron P&L for sustainability. When a cornerstone of your platform is giving 100% of a sale amount back to the artist, I worry that it might back them into a corner as it grows and costs escalate accordingly.

(If somebody from Subvert would like to comment and put me straight on how they planned for that kind of scaling, then I’d be most grateful to see it.)

I have commented in the past that I find it a little tiresome when new businesses in particular bash Bandcamp as if it is pure evil by virtue of the fact that a multi-million dollar company now owns it. I am fairly sure there are periods where Bandcamp has been challenged financially, and at those points its owners (and there have been a few over the years) have continued to invest and back it so that it may navigate those troubled waters. Would a VC-backed startup get such favour from its investors? It’s possible, but I suspect their patience would be more limited. So yes, the owner of Bandcamp might be a large corporation, but equally that allows it a stability that has ensured its long-term survival, given it launched in 2008.

All of which is to say that setting up these kinds of stores is very difficult. Maintaining profitability is extremely hard. I would argue it is even harder if one has taken VC investment where a 10x return is expected within five years or whatever.

Ultimately, I’ll confess that it left me wondering whether these kinds of approaches are the path forwards that artists need in 2026. I will stop short of advocating for going back to selling physical media, however, I do feel the realities of creating digital stores and having them last meaningfully, to grow and become a significant player in this industry, are tougher than ever.

Perhaps Nina’s demise might give the other players in this space cause to stop and genuinely ask whether the business plans they are executing are demonstrably sustainable, as right now, I will confess that I have concerns.

Have a great evening,

D.

🎧 listening to “The Wave” by Jungle. Let’s cut to it: Jungle have now tempered a sound that so resolutely drips with summer vibes and joy that it feels like they should be mandated to be played in public spaces by law whenever the sun is out. Their latest track is no exception. With the UK’s heatwave providing no end of sun, this is simply the perfect match. (Disclosure: Jungle are an MU client, but frankly that’s got nothing to do with it; I’d be writing this anyway.)

🎧 also listening to “Wirikuta” by Lagartijeando. More great music for the sunny days - this time manifesting as mellow guitar tracks and languid beats that has been quite the mood as I’ve worked today. Picture this, playing from inside your house as you sit in a garden or on a balcony, beer in hand, watching the sun set, feeling gloriously good about life. That’ll be me in about… *checks watch*… three hours. 😁 For fans of Hermanos Gutierrez (which I’m 99% sure I have spelled wrongly, sorry)

📺 watching the Kylie Minogue doc on Netflix. I like Kylie. I don’t play her music much because my tastes drift elsewhere, but I have long appreciated Kylie’s vibe and attitude. I mean - what’s not to like, honestly? Anyway, this documentary is quite the revelation, with our favourite Aussie pop legend opening up about her career and relationships (not something I believe she’s ever really talked candidly about) and generally providing a frank, honest insight that is disarmingly upfront and bullshit-free. Three hours flew by. Highly recommended, and you can only come out of it respecting the lady all the more. All power to her. (Disclosure… again: we work with Kylie and Netflix, but per Jungle I’d have been watching this anyway, so haters, form an orderly queue.)

🎨 rather jealous of whoever the lucky 50 people were that grabbed the limited edition Mark Vessey x Daupe! Records prints that appear to have sold out in about 10 minutes flat over on Bandcamp (of all places - Bandcamp is an art dealer now? Love that!). More of this kind of thing please!

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Job hunting?

• Our friends at Planet Fans are hiring for a Senior Commercial Manager. Great company, great job, so well worth a look. At a point where sadly via so many redundancies are happening, I’d imagine there’s a good few people looking for work. Full details here!

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Gleefully accepting music recommendations!

I do really enjoy getting suggestions for either existing music or forthcoming releases to check out. So, if there’s something you think I might like, do feel free to get in touch. Always keen to hear the weird and wonderful things going on out there. And, with 6000+ subscribers, I’m happy to spread word on things I’m loving too.

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