About

"SoundCloud vs. Bandcamp" refers to a series of side-by-side image comparisons, illustrating how one music streaming service is better than the other. The juxtaposition generally indicates that on the left, standing in for SoundCloud, is effortlessly cool, while the right image, standing in for Bandcamp, is trying to hard to be cool. In music terms, however, it denotes a separation between the hip-hop community and the indie rock community.

Origin

While the debate between which streaming service musicians prefer has been waging since both sites launched, "SoundCloud vs. Bandcamp," in its meme form started on Twitter.^[4]

The first known instance appeared when Twitter user @yoyotaiyosun uploaded a visual comparison of the video games Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale under the caption "app soundcloud vs bandcamp" on March 12th, 2017.^[1]

However, it wasn't until March 30th, 2017 that the trend caught on, when Twitter user @jsmithyeet tweeted an image comparison with the caption "SoundCloud vs. Bandcamp."^[2][3] The first tweet received seven retweets and 13 likes, while the second received more than 9,000 retweets and 27,000 likes.

Spread

Following @jsmithyeet's second tweet, other Twitter users began making their own versions. Several minutes after @jsmithyeet tweeted, another user @BBWslayer666 uploaded their own version of the comparison, receiving more than 1,500 retweets and 3,400 likes.^[6]

Over the next few days, "SoundCloud vs Bandcamp" grew in popularity. On April 4th, 2017, Buzzfeed posted an article documenting the meme.^[5]

Various Examples

External References