Epic Games Sells Bandcamp Amid Layoffs

[rostasi]

"...Asked whether artist revenue shares, user experience, or the editorial platform 
Bandcamp Daily will be affected by the acquisition, Songtradr declined to comment..."

[Rabshakeh]

Oh.

[tranemonk]

I had NO idea Epic owned Bandcamp. Doesn't Microsoft own Epic? I don't know if this is good for jazz or bad.

[JSngry]

 

[clifford_thornton]

Hot potato.

I don't know how much Bandcamp changed under the Epic ownership. Any takers on this notion?

[Rabshakeh]

I presume they bought it, ran into funding issues with their loans and then sold it on to keep interest down.

[Д.Д.]

From the business synergies standpoint, Songtradr (what a stupid name) makes more sense than Epic Games.  

1 hour ago, clifford_thornton said:

I don't know how much Bandcamp changed under the Epic ownership. Any takers on this notion?

I am using bandcamp a lot, and I have not noticed any changes since Epic acquisition. Well, the staff unionized.

One of the reasons it was sold after merely 18 months might have been that Epic Games had no clue what to do with bandcamp.   

Edited September 28, 2023 by Д.Д.

[jlhoots]

Ouch!!

[clifford_thornton]

Right, I remember hearing about the unionization. I haven't noticed any obvious changes on the user end.

[Joe]

Fingers crossed this all works out. I would argue that Bandcamp isn't just something that's nice to have. We — anyone who loves music — need it and the alternative it provides to the big streaming services.

[sonnymax]

With all due respect, I don't believe the situation is as ominous as the OP might have you think.

From the same source: 

Bandcamp’s new owner is the music marketing company Songtradr, which, according to its blog on the acquisition, will “continue to operate Bandcamp as a marketplace and music community with an artist-first revenue share.”

Songtradr, which describes itself as a music licensing platform and marketplace company, framed the acquisition as an opportunity for Bandcamp artists to secure licensing deals ...

For now, I'll be cautiously optimistic that things will be okay and perhaps even better in the future. And don't forget, next Friday (Oct. 6) is Bandcamp Friday. Go buy something and support an artist.

Edited September 29, 2023 by sonnymax

[rostasi]

Friday is October 6.

Also, I posted this to give relevant info
and to point out their dismissal of the
questions they were asked.

[Joe]

Peter Kirn of CDM has penned a good article about the sale and what it might mean. https://cdm.link/2023/09/bandcamp-sold-to-songtradr/

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Maybe all of these money moves are why my bandcamp streams have started sounding terrible lately? I'm talking about recordings I bought from them too. I'm glad I took the time to download my music files because if I had planned to stream them, I'd be pretty disappointed.

[sonnymax]

Hey kids, is it Bandcamp Friday yet?

Support your favorite artists.

On 10/4/2023 at 1:16 PM, bresna said:

Maybe all of these money moves are why my bandcamp streams have started sounding terrible lately? I'm talking about recordings I bought from them too. I'm glad I took the time to download my music files because if I had planned to stream them, I'd be pretty disappointed.

This has been the case for years. While you can purchase and download in flac, wav, etc., the same files stream at 128kbps, the same bitrate typically used for streaming music on high-end platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify. 

Edited October 6, 2023 by sonnymax

[Kevin Bresnahan]

26 minutes ago, sonnymax said:

This has been the case for years. While you can purchase and download in flac, wav, etc., the same files stream at 128kbps, the same bitrate typically used for streaming music on high-end platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify. 

I've streamed my bandcamp purchases at work for several years now but recently, there are audible flaws that seem to indicate that they've switched to an even lower bitrate stream. I'm talking swooshy cymbals and harsh highs in spots. I never noticed them before but maybe they were always there and I just never listened for them?

BTW - if everyone hasn't picked it up yet, you should be sure to buy "Kimbrough" from Newvelle Records on Bandcamp. There's a whole lot of great music in this download.

[Rooster_Ties]

I haven’t been following any of this very closely, but here are some recent developments I just ran across on Reddit…

Better source:

https://www.vulture.com/article/epic-games-bandcamp-sale-layoffs.html

Reddit post where I saw it (with about 90 comments of discussion):

https://reddit.com/r/BandCamp/s/VyrhagB7pa

And from another Reddit post:

Edited October 17, 2023 by Rooster_Ties

[clifford_thornton]

Concerning. I do believe some artists and labels will be pulling content from the platform though I assume it will still exist.

Reminds me that I need to download much of what I've purchased digitally through Bandcamp.

I am less and less satisfied with the platform overall but part of it is because of the absolute deluge of emails.