Bandcamp Joins Epic Games
Independent music platform Bandcamp has announced that it is joining Epic Games, the company that makes games like Fortnite. Bandcamp founder and CEO Ethan Diamond says that Epic is a champion for a fair and open internet and that their model will stay the same.
“Bandcamp will keep operating as a standalone marketplace and music community, and I will continue to lead our team,” he stated. “The products and services you depend on aren’t going anywhere, we’ll continue to build Bandcamp around our artists-first revenue model (where artists net an average of 82% of every sale), you’ll still have the same control over how you offer your music, Bandcamp Fridays will continue as planned, and the Daily will keep highlighting the diverse, amazing music on the site. However, behind the scenes, we’re working with Epic to expand internationally and push development forward across Bandcamp, from basics like our album pages, mobile apps, merch tools, payment system, and search and discovery features, to newer initiatives like our vinyl pressing and live streaming services.”
Bandcamp has paid out close to $1 billion USD to artists and labels since its founding in 2008. After the pandemic began, they continued to support artists by offering Bandcamp Friday, in which they waive all fees and allow 100% of sales to go straight to artists.
As for why they joined Epic, Diamond adds that “We share a vision of building the most open, artist-friendly ecosystem in the world, and together we’ll be able to create even more opportunities for artists to be compensated fairly for their work.”
