Beatport vs Bandcamp for DJs: which store to use
Beatport wins on club catalog, charts and DJ metadata. Bandcamp wins on formats, direct artist support and independent labels. How to choose per track.
On this page
Use Beatport when you want a broad club catalog, genre charts and DJ details such as BPM and key at a glance. Use Bandcamp when you want to buy directly from independent artists and labels, choose from more file formats, and send most of the money to the people who made the track. In practice, most DJs use both: check each track on both stores and buy where the version, format and price suit you. The two stores are built differently, and the differences matter more than which one is "better".
Beatport vs Bandcamp at a glance
| Beatport | Bandcamp | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A download and streaming store for electronic and club music | A marketplace where artists and labels run their own pages |
| Who sets the price | The store, per track | Each artist or label, sometimes "name-your-price" |
| Download formats | MP3, WAV, AIFF; MP3 purchases can be upgraded | MP3 V0, MP3 320, FLAC, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, ALAC, WAV, AIFF |
| Format changes later | Upgrade from MP3 by paying the difference | Download in "any (or all)" formats offered |
| Re-downloads | Up to 20 per track without a streaming plan | From your collection or purchases page |
| Money to the artist | Not published on its help pages | 80 to 85 percent typically, per Bandcamp |
| Discovery | Daily sales charts, Hype charts, DJ charts | Feed of artists, labels and fans you follow |
| DJ details in lists | BPM, key, label, release date in chart rows | Depends on what the artist or label lists |
| Streaming for DJs | Streaming plans, lossless in supported DJ software | App streaming of your purchases |
All figures come from each store's help pages, as of October 2026.
Catalog: what you'll find where
Beatport is organized around club genres, from house and techno to drum and bass and beyond, with a genre page, Top 100 and Hype chart for each. Will Lynch, writing for Pioneer DJ about digging, calls it "perhaps the best existing online archive for club music".
Bandcamp's catalog is whatever artists and labels choose to put there. That makes it uneven by genre, and deep in places the big stores barely reach: small independent labels, self-released music, limited runs, older catalog reissued by the artist. Some releases are only on Bandcamp. Others never reach it.
In short: the bigger and more current the label, the more likely Beatport carries the release. The smaller and more self-run the release, the more likely it lives only on Bandcamp.
Formats and audio quality
Bandcamp gives you the most choice. Its help center lists "MP3 V0, MP3 320, FLAC, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, ALAC, WAV, AIFF", and you pick the format at download, from the checkout page, the receipt email or your collection. If you later want a different format, you download again in that format.
On Beatport, a track you bought as MP3 can be upgraded to WAV or AIFF later. In My Library › Collection, click the arrow next to Upgrade, pick the format and pay the difference: "0.70 units of your local currency".
For club playback, buy WAV or AIFF from either store if storage allows. Where do DJs buy music? covers the format trade-offs.
Price and who gets paid
Beatport sets prices per track. Bandcamp lets artists and labels set their own, often per release, and some let you pay more than the minimum.
On where the money goes, Bandcamp is transparent. It charges artists a revenue share of 15 percent on digital sales, dropping to 10 percent after $5,000 in sales, plus payment processing fees that "typically range between 4 and 6%". Its help center sums it up for fans: "80-85% of your money will still go directly to the artist". On Bandcamp Fridays, Bandcamp waives its revenue share completely, though transaction fees still apply.
Beatport doesn't publish a comparable split on its help pages. That isn't evidence either way; it means you can't compare the two from public sources.
Discovery
The two stores help you find music in opposite ways.
- Beatport is chart-led. The Top 100 and genre Top 100 charts "get updated every day, based on sales". Hype charts focus on smaller labels, and DJ charts let you follow named DJs' selections. How to use Beatport charts explains each chart type.
- Bandcamp is people-led. You follow artists, labels and other fans, and your feed shows their new releases and purchases. Lynch points out that Bandcamp shows who else bought a release, and that following a few fans with similar taste fills your feed "with juicy recommendations".
Downloads and keeping your files
Beatport's re-download rule is specific: "You can now download a track up to 20 times without a streaming subscription." After that, you need a streaming plan or a reset from support.
On Bandcamp, a purchase can be downloaded again from several places, including your collection and the purchase receipt. Bandcamp's mobile apps also let you listen to your collection offline.
Whatever the store, keep your own backup of every file you buy. A store account isn't a backup.
Streaming for DJs
Beatport sells streaming plans. Its Professional tier can stream lossless FLAC, but "only available via supported DJ software", not on Beatport's website or apps. Bandcamp's app streams music you've bought; it isn't a DJ streaming service. Is Beatport worth it? weighs Beatport's plans against buying.
Which store to use for a given track
| If the track is… | Start with |
|---|---|
| A current release on an established club label | Beatport |
| On a small independent label or self-released | Bandcamp |
| Something you want to support the artist directly on | Bandcamp, ideally on a Bandcamp Friday |
| Wanted in FLAC or ALAC | Bandcamp |
| Something you need BPM and key for before listening | Beatport |
| On both, same version and format | Your call: price, format, who gets paid |
Whichever store you choose, read the mix name in brackets before you pay. The track you loved may be a remix or a longer club cut, and stores list those apart from the original.
Using both stores together
Many DJs settle into a simple split. Current club releases go on Beatport, bought weekly. Independent releases and anything they want to support directly collect on a Bandcamp list and get bought in one go, ideally on a Bandcamp Friday. Whatever split you use, keep one list of what you intend to buy, not one per store, so you can check each track on both and never buy it twice. The guides to the Bandcamp wishlist and using the Beatport cart as a wishlist cover what each store's own list can and can't do.
Doing this with CatchIt!
CatchIt! doesn't sell music. It's a Mac app, with a free iOS companion, that keeps the list you take to either store.
- Both stores, one click each. Every row in the Inbox and the Wishlist has search links for Bandcamp and Beatport, plus YouTube and Google. Each searches for "artist title".
- Mark it bought. The Done flag marks a track as bought, wherever you bought it, and the Status chips filter Pending and Done.
- Paste into any store. The copy action puts a clean "Title Artist" line on the clipboard for any store's search box.
- Buy only what you kept. Tracks reach the Wishlist only after you keep them in the Inbox (Return for green, Space for red). See Core concepts.
Summary
- Beatport: broad club catalog, daily sales charts, BPM and key in chart rows, WAV or AIFF upgrades for MP3 purchases, 20 re-downloads without a streaming plan.
- Bandcamp: independent and direct, eight download formats, 80 to 85 percent typically to the artist, Bandcamp Fridays.
- Check both, buy the exact version you heard, and keep your own backups.
This guide is part of where DJs buy music. Next: how to decide which tracks to buy.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Beatport or Bandcamp better for DJs?
- Neither is better for every track. Beatport is stronger for a broad club catalog, genre charts and BPM and key at a glance. Bandcamp is stronger for independent labels, format choice and getting more money to the artist. Many DJs check both for each track.
- Does Bandcamp have WAV and AIFF?
- Yes. Bandcamp's help center lists MP3 V0, MP3 320, FLAC, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, ALAC, WAV and AIFF, and says you can download in "any (or all)" of them.
- Does more money go to artists on Bandcamp?
- Bandcamp says 80 to 85 percent of a purchase typically goes to the artist or label, and it waives its revenue share on Bandcamp Fridays. Beatport doesn't publish a comparable figure on its help pages, so a direct comparison isn't possible from public sources.
- How many times can you re-download from Beatport?
- Twenty times per track, unless you have a Beatport streaming subscription, according to its support center. After that you need a plan or help from support, so keep your own backups.
- Can you upgrade a Beatport MP3 to WAV?
- Yes. In My Library › Collection, choose Upgrade on a track and pick WAV or AIFF, then pay the difference, which Beatport gives as 0.70 units of your local currency.
Sources
- Bandcamp Help: In which formats can I download my purchases?
- Bandcamp Help: Where do I download my purchase?
- Bandcamp Help: Bandcamp Friday
- Bandcamp Help: What are Bandcamp's fees?
- Beatport Support: Upgrading purchased tracks from MP3 to lossless
- Beatport Support: How do I re-download my tracks?
- Beatport Support: How often do the Beatport Top 100 and Genre Top 100 charts get updated?
- Beatport Support: Enabling lossless streaming
- Pioneer DJ: How to find music you love, in a way that you love