On March 2, 2022, video game company Epic Games acquired Bandcamp, a popular music streaming platform, for an undisclosed amount of money. Just 18 months later, Epic Games sold the site to Songtradr, another California-based music platform. Amidst the news of the site’s sale, it was revealed that roughly 50 percent of Bandcamp’s employees had been laid off due to an increase of operating costs for the company.
Created in 2008 by Ethan Diamond, Bandcamp began as (and remains) a platform where artists could interact with fans and sell both digital and physical copies of their music. The site is colloquially and lovingly referred to as “indie soundcloud,” because anyone can upload their music for free and anyone can listen to and support the independent artists they love. Most of the music on Bandcamp, however, is indie, rock and pop, whereas Soundcloud is better known for hosting rappers. Bandcamp quickly became popular among small, independent artists by giving them an easier and more accessible way to sell and promote their music. In March of 2022, the site was sold to Epic Games, the video game company that owns “Fortnite.”
Bandcamp became popular not just among artists, but with listeners as well. The site is easy to navigate and allows fans to either stream music for free or buy it to support the artists they love. Digital copies of records are available for purchase on the site, as well as vinyls, CDs and cassettes. Bandcamp also only takes 15 percent of the profits from streams, whereas Spotify takes 30 percent. This made Bandcamp extremely popular for artists looking to more sustainably profit off of their music.
In March of 2020, Bandcamp waived their revenue fees for one day, allowing artists to take home 100% of the profits they made from streaming to support artists who relied on performing live to make money. In just 24 hours, fans raised $4.3 million for artists on the site. Bandcamp held a few more fee-waiver days that year in May, June and July and eventually made this a recurring tradition. On the first Friday of every month, which has come to be known as “Bandcamp Friday,” the artists’ share of profits rises from 82 percent to 93 percent. Bandcamp Fridays have raised over $100 million for artists so far.
In a statement posted on Twitter, a representative of Bandcamp United stated, “This is heartbreaking. We love our jobs, the platform we’ve created and the Bandcamp community.” Bandcamp’s artists are also upset about the recent sale and layoffs. One artist, Odd Dates, said, “I’ve been using Bandcamp for about 15 years now and I hope they continue offering the service as is in the future.”
In March of this year, Bandcamp’s employees unionized, becoming the first union for employees of a music streaming service. The union, Bandcamp United, was formed to minimize pay inequalities between employees, give employees access to paid time off and ensure that employee salaries remain consistent with the growth of the economy. At the time of the site’s sale to Songtradr, Epic Games announced that 16 percent of the company was going to be laid off. After the sale was finalized, Bandcamp revealed that Songtradr only extended job offers to around half of the site’s employees and that their newly out-of-work staff had been notified and will be receiving severance pay. Songtradr also neglected to confirm whether or not they would recognize Bandcamp United.
