Epic Games has announced the sale of Bandcamp, the music marketplace it acquired 18 months ago.
The undisclosed sum transaction has transferred ownership of Bandcamp to Songtradr, a music marketing service known for its music licensing platform and marketplace.
In a blog post, Songtradr has assured that Bandcamp will continue to operate as a marketplace and music community with a commitment to an “artist-first revenue share” model. This change of hands has brought both anticipation and questions from Bandcamp artists and users. The announcement comes alongside the news that Epic Games is undergoing workforce reductions, with 16 percent of its employees facing layoffs. Steve Allison, vice president and general manager of the Epic Games store, said that the sale of Bandcamp to Songtradr would facilitate independent artists’ connections with creators and developers looking to license their music.
The news of the acquisition raises questions about the future direction of the Bandcamp platform for many, with Epic Games remaining tight lipped on the details, referring to the company’s public announcement.
Bandcamp United – the union formed by employees at the platform in March 2023 – is yet to share a statement about the ownership change.
Earlier this year, Bandcamp introduced a playlisting function on its mobile app, enabling users to to sort their existing collection of previously purchased tracks into playlists.
In 2020, our audio platform partnered with Bandcamp on a series of mixes built entirely from tracks which are buyable on the platform. Revisit those mixes here.