Bandcamp has been acquired by Epic Games, the video game and software developer behind Fortnite, Unreal Engine, and more. The digital music retail site and media platform announced the news today (March 2) in a statement on its website. “Bandcamp will keep operating as a standalone marketplace and music community, and I will continue to lead our team,” Bandcamp co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond wrote in the announcement. Diamond continued:
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.
Epic Games announced the acquisition on its own website, stating that “fair and open platforms are critical to the future of the creator economy.” The statement continued: “Epic and Bandcamp share a mission of building the most artist friendly platform that enables creators to keep the majority of their hard-earned money. Bandcamp will play an important role in Epic’s vision to build out a creator marketplace ecosystem for content, technology, games, art, music and more.”
Fortnite, possibly Epic Games’ most popular title, has dipped into the music world in recent years, hosting concerts by Travis Scott, Ariana Grande, J Balvin, Dominic Fike, and others in its virtual universe. Last year, Radiohead released an online “exhibition” as part of their Kid A Mnesia reissue package. The “upside-down digital/analog universe” was created by Epic Games, NameTheMachine, and Arbitrarily Good Productions.
Epic Games has faced lawsuits from musicians—namely 2 Milly and BlocBoy JB—for Fortnite’s incorporation of their dance moves. In addition, Epic Games has faced off with Apple over the tech giant’s App Store.
Read “What Bandcamp’s Acquisition by Epic Games Means for Music Fans and Artists” on the Pitch.
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