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But being a market, Bandcamp's user's are actually artists and listeners, so Bandcamp having freedom to do what they want doesn't mean they can suddenly start g

by ehnto 5y ago

But being a market, Bandcamp's user's are actually artists and listeners, so Bandcamp having freedom to do what they want doesn't mean they can suddenly start giving all their music out for free, unless they change to a Spotify style model of listens = payout. I wouldn't be surprised if the acquisition is to provide royalty free music to the games industry via Unreal Engine, as was the case for Quixel, but none of this is really good news for artists trying to make money unless Bandcamp plans to pay the artists out of their own pocket for a royalty free side. All of that is speculation of course, we'll see where it goes. It's just a weird acquisition if it's not for integration I feel.

johnnyanmac 5y ago
"none of this is really good news for artists trying to make money unless Bandcamp plans to pay the artists out of their own pocket for a royalty free side." To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if that's Epic's endgoal. But the music industry is a gargantuan behemoth with paper thin profit margins, and Epic is already struggling enough battling the mobile market (a much more lucrative market where the fight makes sense). I can't see any significant push like that happening for a decade+. This and the harmonix aquisition are probably just the foot in the door needed for those plans should they want to push one day.
- cinntaile 5y ago
  They might focus on streamers, they have quite a bit of issues using music. Their recorded streams tend to have large portions of the stream without sound and it definitely needs fixing. The music industry fees are simply too high for them to pay.
DoctorOW 5y ago
> none of this is really good news for artists trying to make money unless Bandcamp plans to pay the artists out of their own pocket for a royalty free side I don't see why that's the case? Just give Bandcamp artists the tools to set their own royalty structure (In the same way they price their own songs) and integrate this marketplace into Unreal or wherever else. Self published artists get a source of revenue typically reserved for labels and Bandcamp gets the cut instead of someone else.
- ehnto 5y ago
  That's a fair point. My original assumption was that royalties wouldn't flow back to artists in a meaningful way but bandcamp has been a big advocate of fairness toward artists so that's really a fair take on my behalf.

by ehnto 5y ago

johnnyanmac 5y ago

"none of this is really good news for artists trying to make money unless Bandcamp plans to pay the artists out of their own pocket for a royalty free side." To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if that's Epic's endgoal. But the music industry is a gargantuan behemoth with paper thin profit margins, and Epic is already struggling enough battling the mobile market (a much more lucrative market where the fight makes sense). I can't see any significant push like that happening for a decade+. This and the harmonix aquisition are probably just the foot in the door needed for those plans should they want to push one day.

cinntaile 5y ago
They might focus on streamers, they have quite a bit of issues using music. Their recorded streams tend to have large portions of the stream without sound and it definitely needs fixing. The music industry fees are simply too high for them to pay.

DoctorOW 5y ago

> none of this is really good news for artists trying to make money unless Bandcamp plans to pay the artists out of their own pocket for a royalty free side I don't see why that's the case? Just give Bandcamp artists the tools to set their own royalty structure (In the same way they price their own songs) and integrate this marketplace into Unreal or wherever else. Self published artists get a source of revenue typically reserved for labels and Bandcamp gets the cut instead of someone else.

ehnto 5y ago
That's a fair point. My original assumption was that royalties wouldn't flow back to artists in a meaningful way but bandcamp has been a big advocate of fairness toward artists so that's really a fair take on my behalf.