On March 02, 2022, Epic Games disclosed that it had bought Bandcamp, a well-known marketplace for independent music. Epic Games may be known for Rocket League, Fortnite and its other video games. However, the company said that it wishes to keep expanding its ecosystem for content creator marketplace with art, technology and music.
Steve Allison of Epic Games stated that the company is very eager and enthusiastic to welcome team Bandcamp to it. As for Allison, Bandcamp has developed an astounding business and community that allows promising artists to succeed because of the support of fans. The business and community have top terms and a quality revenue model in the music industry. It closely falls in line with the approach of Epic Games to backing creators from all media types and allowing them to interact directly with fans.
There is worry in the indie music community over the acquisition of Bandcamp, as artists express concern about what it possibly means for them. Electronic musician Vektroid tweeted that she does not know what the angle of Epic Games is in this regard. As for Vektroid, maybe it is only about Epic Games expanding beyond games or maybe it wants to become a fine steward here, albeit for the sake of PR only. Vektroid told Twitter users to think that she is suspicious about the move until the results become noticeable for them.
Vektroid stated that she is thinking about taking her work from the Bandcamp platform and that there is a campaign on social media to boycott it. There is an opposing viewpoint for 2 Mello, who produces music, asking people to keep supporting musicians on Bandcamp.
Through Twitter, 2 Mello stated that Bandcamp demonstrates the big impact of a small core supporter group on the income of artists. As for 2 Mello, it demonstrates that there is sustenance available on Bandcamp to artists who are not massively connected or popular. For those reasons, 2 Mello asked people to not stop the use of Bandcamp.
Bandcamp Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer Ethan Diamond stated that the acquisition would not result in changes in either the uses or features of Bandcamp. Diamond stated that Bandcamp would continue to operate in the form of a standalone music community cum marketplace and that he would keep leading his team. Diamond also stated that the services and products that people rely on are here to stay and that Bandcamp would keep building itself around its artists-first-based revenue model.
He added that its acquisition would let it not only expand globally but also further develop the way of presenting its features like with payment systems, merchandising tools, and more.
Bandcamp has long been motivated about pursuing its mission to build a community in which artists thrive with the support of fans and thus spread the therapeutic capability of music. As for Diamond, Epic Games meets all those requirements. Epic Games and Bandcamp have a common vision to build the world’s most artist-friendly and open ecosystem. According to Diamond, Bandcamp and Epic Games could make more chances for musicians to get fair compensation for their creations.