4 ms·

From the announcement: "The company also announced that it’s divesting Bandcamp, an online audio distribution platform it acquired last year" I don't care a to

by jzb 3y ago

From the announcement: "The company also announced that it’s divesting Bandcamp, an online audio distribution platform it acquired last year" I don't care a ton about Epic, but I love Bandcamp. It's my primary mechanism these days for discovering and acquiring music. I was puzzled when Epic bought Bandcamp, apparently they were too. They're being kicked over to Songtradr -- I hope that's a neutral to good move, but I don't really know. Anybody know anything that could shed light on that?

politelemon 3y ago
I can't see it as a good thing at all. They're effectively being thrown about to yet another operating model which will have a disruptive impact on them. The new company Songtradr focuses on licensing, it's a b2b, while Bandcamp is a b2c. So it can be easy to see how they'd want to make Bandcamp more like themselves. Of course I'm being negative and cynical, apologies. I share the same fondness for Bandcamp.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- Springtime 3y ago
  Looking at their Wikipedia they also apparently bought 7digital, another online music store, earlier this year. Had no idea about this until now. Edit: to clarify meant Songtradr.
  - ericfrazier 3y ago
    Epic probably doesn't know they own it either.
- jerrycruncher 3y ago
  As someone who also loves Bandcamp, I can't help but assume that enshittification is nigh.
- JAlexoid 3y ago
  I mean... Bandcamp is also licensing, all of works of art "copy sales" are just licensing agreements. B2C is just commonly a preset non-commercial license. (I believe that Bandcamp also allows you to sell a commercial license) Let alone Bandcamp is a good source for smaller DJs to acquire tracks, which isn't a long shot for Songtradr.
  - jzb 3y ago
    Is it popular with DJs, over something like Beatport?
    - hucker 3y ago
      For some more leftfield genres Bandcamp is the only game in town
- WorldMaker 3y ago
  There are some advantages to having b2b and b2c in the same house, especially when some of the b2c involves b2b licenses (it in theory makes it easier for artists to do remixes and cover songs if they can buy those licenses in the same place they sell their final product). Before Bandcamp a store I trusted was Loudr.fm and that was their big deal was that they were a b2b license shop for the rights to things like covering video game music and then were a trustworthy b2c consumer shop for the covers the musicians had an easier time licensing. Ironically as Bandcamp ascended most of their musicians needed/wanted Bandcamp presences and they shuttered their b2c shop and encouraged everyone to just move to Bandcamp, refocusing to just the b2b side of the business. The internet tells me that what remained of Loudr.fm was then eventually swallowed by Spotify in 2018, and that interestingly and likely but not necessarily a coincidence 2019 was when Songtradr got serious about expanding, and so it goes.
ReactiveJelly 3y ago
Hm. Guess I should go get FLACs of everything I've ever bought on Bandcamp.
- bpiche 3y ago
  That's the whole reason to use bandcamp
troyvit 3y ago
This is interesting! When I saw the Epic news the first worry I had was regarding Bandcamp. Even after I quit trying to get a job there I'd look at their jobs page all the time to get a sense of their health. It's been empty for a few months. One of the suppositions people had about Epic buying Bandcamp was that maybe it would allow Epic to more easily license music for their games. From the press release[1] it seems like they did that. I have no idea how well that worked but here we are with Songtradr, "a music licensing platform and marketplace company," acquiring them. On its own Bandcamp is (was?) a profitable enterprise.[2] I wish they'd go back to being on their own. That said, if Songtradr does nothing more but give artists more diverse ways to make money off their music I'm all for it. That said multiple changes of ownership can play hell with continuity and morale. I'm worried about that. [1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/songtradr-acquires-bandcamp-epic-games-162200297.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/songtradr-acquires-bandcamp-e... [2] https://components.one/posts/bandcamp-the-chaos-bazaar https://components.one/posts/bandcamp-the-chaos-bazaar
- jzb 3y ago
  If Songtradr doesn't screw it up, I'm fine. I too used to look at their hiring page a lot. I think that Bandcamp has so much untapped potential, but it's held back by a mediocre site and terrible interface if you own more than 100 albums. They added playlists, I think, this year but I have > 1200 albums on the service (I buy a lot of full discographies and subscriptions when labels have them) and it's so painful to try to go back past the first 100 or so. Music discovery is OK through the site - their Bandcamp Daily and other content is great - but it could be so much better. And it's screaming for better social features. Sigh.
antisthenes 3y ago
I really hope Bandcamp stays neutral/independent, as that's the only place I legitimately buy music from (and a little bit of Amazon Prime), because they offer convenient .flac downloads immediately after purchase, no streaming, no "app" no garbage like that.
Cloudef 3y ago
Guess we can say goodbye to bandcamp then, sigh...
AraceliHarker 3y ago
I think they were trying to expand the concert business on Fortnite.

by jzb 3y ago

politelemon 3y ago

I can't see it as a good thing at all. They're effectively being thrown about to yet another operating model which will have a disruptive impact on them. The new company Songtradr focuses on licensing, it's a b2b, while Bandcamp is a b2c. So it can be easy to see how they'd want to make Bandcamp more like themselves. Of course I'm being negative and cynical, apologies. I share the same fondness for Bandcamp.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Springtime 3y ago
Looking at their Wikipedia they also apparently bought 7digital, another online music store, earlier this year. Had no idea about this until now. Edit: to clarify meant Songtradr.
- ericfrazier 3y ago
  Epic probably doesn't know they own it either.
jerrycruncher 3y ago
As someone who also loves Bandcamp, I can't help but assume that enshittification is nigh.
JAlexoid 3y ago
I mean... Bandcamp is also licensing, all of works of art "copy sales" are just licensing agreements. B2C is just commonly a preset non-commercial license. (I believe that Bandcamp also allows you to sell a commercial license) Let alone Bandcamp is a good source for smaller DJs to acquire tracks, which isn't a long shot for Songtradr.
- jzb 3y ago
  Is it popular with DJs, over something like Beatport?
  - hucker 3y ago
    For some more leftfield genres Bandcamp is the only game in town
WorldMaker 3y ago
There are some advantages to having b2b and b2c in the same house, especially when some of the b2c involves b2b licenses (it in theory makes it easier for artists to do remixes and cover songs if they can buy those licenses in the same place they sell their final product). Before Bandcamp a store I trusted was Loudr.fm and that was their big deal was that they were a b2b license shop for the rights to things like covering video game music and then were a trustworthy b2c consumer shop for the covers the musicians had an easier time licensing. Ironically as Bandcamp ascended most of their musicians needed/wanted Bandcamp presences and they shuttered their b2c shop and encouraged everyone to just move to Bandcamp, refocusing to just the b2b side of the business. The internet tells me that what remained of Loudr.fm was then eventually swallowed by Spotify in 2018, and that interestingly and likely but not necessarily a coincidence 2019 was when Songtradr got serious about expanding, and so it goes.

ReactiveJelly 3y ago

Hm. Guess I should go get FLACs of everything I've ever bought on Bandcamp.

bpiche 3y ago
That's the whole reason to use bandcamp

troyvit 3y ago

This is interesting! When I saw the Epic news the first worry I had was regarding Bandcamp. Even after I quit trying to get a job there I'd look at their jobs page all the time to get a sense of their health. It's been empty for a few months. One of the suppositions people had about Epic buying Bandcamp was that maybe it would allow Epic to more easily license music for their games. From the press release[1] it seems like they did that. I have no idea how well that worked but here we are with Songtradr, "a music licensing platform and marketplace company," acquiring them. On its own Bandcamp is (was?) a profitable enterprise.[2] I wish they'd go back to being on their own. That said, if Songtradr does nothing more but give artists more diverse ways to make money off their music I'm all for it. That said multiple changes of ownership can play hell with continuity and morale. I'm worried about that. [1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/songtradr-acquires-bandcamp-epic-games-162200297.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/songtradr-acquires-bandcamp-e... [2] https://components.one/posts/bandcamp-the-chaos-bazaar https://components.one/posts/bandcamp-the-chaos-bazaar

jzb 3y ago
If Songtradr doesn't screw it up, I'm fine. I too used to look at their hiring page a lot. I think that Bandcamp has so much untapped potential, but it's held back by a mediocre site and terrible interface if you own more than 100 albums. They added playlists, I think, this year but I have > 1200 albums on the service (I buy a lot of full discographies and subscriptions when labels have them) and it's so painful to try to go back past the first 100 or so. Music discovery is OK through the site - their Bandcamp Daily and other content is great - but it could be so much better. And it's screaming for better social features. Sigh.

antisthenes 3y ago

I really hope Bandcamp stays neutral/independent, as that's the only place I legitimately buy music from (and a little bit of Amazon Prime), because they offer convenient .flac downloads immediately after purchase, no streaming, no "app" no garbage like that.

Cloudef 3y ago

Guess we can say goodbye to bandcamp then, sigh...

AraceliHarker 3y ago

I think they were trying to expand the concert business on Fortnite.