Bandcamp just cruised onto my radar and I am extremely excited about it. The site allows artists to easily create an online presence for themselves and sell their music without limitations. Bandcamp sets itself apart from other similar sites by trimming the crap and simply included features most important to artists and listeners.The site is built for both artists and listeners so here’s two lists (because we all love lists!) highlighting features that are most interesting to each group. If you want the full rundown check out the Bandcamp folk’s excellent screencast.

For Artists

• looks professional and your music is the focus
• upload a lossless file and Bandcamp automagically pumps it out in 9 formats (including Ogg!)
• choose your own prices for each song and complete albums. No restrictions.
• option for letting customers pay what they want for downloads (because that’s hot right now)
• all the cash goes straight to you (minus paypal fees)
• an entire analytics suite at your fingertips. you can track playcounts and downloads for each song. You can also see when and where people are talking about you or embedding your mp3s

For Listeners

• website design is clean and organized. It will not attack your eyes.
• easy to access info on musicians and their music (like release dates, lyrics and individual song info)
• When buying music you get to choose from a slew of formats and qualities
• each song has the proper info encoded (including artwork)
• You can stream full songs and albums before buying
• Sharing music is easy, the embeddable mp3 widget is boss.
• all the cash goes straight to artists (minus paypal fees)

See how slick this little mp3 player is?