Bandcamp Acquired by Epic Games (Fortnight, Tencent)

[David Houck]

Bandcamp has been acquired by Epic Games.  There is a fairly in-depth article about what the purchase could mean for Bandcamp users here:
https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/bandcamp-epic-games-acquisition/

If you're a user of Bandcamp, the article suggests there may be cause for concern.

[StephenR]

Thanks for the article, will have to read it since I have been monitoring this. Up to now I have found Bandcamp to be a good model for distribution which seems to give artists a decent return particularly if they can sell enough product to move to the higher royalty tier. I have been able to buy some vinyl releases that also come with access to the high resolution audio files, nice to be able to listen on a device or burn a CD without incurring additional expense. My biggest complaint about Bandcamp is how difficult it can be to look through the extensive catalog. There are some really interesting releases available, I have picked up a lot of great world music.


Halfway through the article and if I see the term "metaverse" mentioned one more time I am going to throw-up.

[rv_bass]

Might be time to start downloading purchased music.

[StephenR]

My latest Bandcamp purchase was a compilation put together by a Finnish jazz label with 100% of the proceeds going to humanitarian relief in the Ukraine. Nice collection of creative, mellow jazz artists, two and a half hours of music with a base donation of 7 euros.
https://wejazzrecords.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-ukraine

After reading the article it appears all anyone can do is wait and see when or how things change. Would be a shame if they mess up a good thing. Right now I am not particularly concerned about losing access to my Bandcamp purchases, Epic didn't buy in to lose the existing user base. Future changes are more likely to harm the artists but they also won't have much of a service to offer if they lose the artists.