This will go bad for the artists there. Most (including the ones I am on) are non-commercial artists who choose Bandcamp in part because of the transparency. Many were on CDBaby, which likewise started as an artist-friendly portal but soon sold out and sold their soul to streaming revenues. For my 2 CDs there, we used to get 6-8$ per CD sale, until they introduced wholesale pricing, and the money got cut in half, and when streaming was introduced ended up as earning pennies on a GOOD month. CDBaby ended up trashing (literally!) all of their CD inventory and today many artists have dead links to CDBaby. CDBaby still does streaming for their catalog; I recently saw a post on FB of an artist trying to reach someone to remove their CD from streaming, and there is no one answer emails/phones.
Here's how it goes: Epic announces streaming services for all Bandcamp CDs, and introduces paid endorsements for popular CDs to the majors. It's like my Apple Music "Browse" page; even though my tastes include Irish Music and American Fiddle and Banjo music, I still get the prominent placement of rap artists who I have no problem with but also no interest in.
Artists leave Bandcamp in droves and Bandcamp becomes just another streaming service. Bandcamp is getting MySpaced. Or Starbucked, if you prefer.
CD Baby getting out of the direct to consumer sales business a few years ago certainly reduced options - like Bandcamp, CD Baby has a reputation for treating artists fairly (they still handle promotion and distribution, just not direct sales).
But Epic didn't get to be huge by being dumb. They've pretty much left the Rocket League team alone to to do their thing, so there is hope.
I will say this: A huge number of music promoters use Bandcamp as their distribution vehicle - I review for AllAboutJazz and a few other outlets, and more and more publicists now send me a download via Bandcamp for reviewing consideration. So whether Bandcamp is profitable or not, it certainly has a marketable presence.
I love Fortnite and have loved Epic since the first Unreal but, my love for music spans decades. I sincerely hope they are responsible with this. Thank you for sharing your thoughts Ted!
Bandcamp felt almost too good to be true in the world of internet music. Maybe it was, after all...seems like every good online platform for musicians gets ruined sooner or later.
Hey Ted what’s your take on mn8? They’re a crypto platform for musicians that argues for the same as Substack, the platform being owned by the artists.
Well, a little over a year later, and I think it's safe to say Bandcamp seems fine so far? I haven't noticed any kind of meaningful differences other than some small quality-of-life upgrades for the (ancient) mobile app, like finally being able to make proper playlists, a 'shuffle all' option for everything in your collection, etc. It would appear that they put some of Epic's money to good use and hired some badly-needed app developers!
So at least the new corporate overlords haven't screwed it all up yet :D
VR gaming and the metaverse IS the future of music in that it will use blockchain, which I as an independent musician heartily welcome. With blockchain our music can be commodified as we wish, with no piracy, no unauthorised use and we make money directly each time a song is played - automatically, and the whole process is decentralised with no middleman or corporate overlord skimming off the top.
This move is the smart one, unlike those other companies.
NYT has an item that says Sony and Lego are investing $1b each into Epic, to support its work in the so-called metaverse. The investment brings Epic’s valuation to $31b up from $28b at the time of the Bandcamp deal. So — not being an MBA though my freshman roommate at Dartmouth became one — is that the same as saying since the Bandcamp deal they’ve made $2b in cash and $3b in value? Kind of reminds me of that expression “two in the pink, one in the stink”.
The bigger sin of some of the companies mentioned was not that they invested outside their core areas of profitability. Xerox invented the GUI (graphical user interface) and had it on their Alto computer in 1973! But this was, they thought, not attuned to their business model, and so although they later introduced some other office computers with GUI's, they never really pursued it. Kodak invented the first working still digital camera in 1975. But digital cameras would compete with their core business - film. Perhaps Epic doesn't see a next step in the gaming business model - no place to put their money in what they are now doing. And they're probably wrong. This news is not just bad for the music business - it's also bad for gamers. Another company joins the ranks of Kodak and Xerox and loses sight of anything beyond the end of its nose. (And someone might wonder, what is it about Rochester NY, the origin town of both these fossils.)
Thank you for writing this. I cursed when I first saw the news of this acquisition. I share your worries.
Here's what I suspect is going on here:
1. Bandcamp not doing very well, their pro-artist royalty model is not very profitable, looking to find a buyer.
2. Fortnite going gangbusters hosting musicians' livestreams.
3. Someone at Epic Games wanting to acquire something that gives it more leverage in negotiations with Apple and Google for video game app placement.
4. And, someone at Epic Games seeing "synergies" between Bandcamp hosting music and Fortnite hosting livestreams.
This will go bad for the artists there. Most (including the ones I am on) are non-commercial artists who choose Bandcamp in part because of the transparency. Many were on CDBaby, which likewise started as an artist-friendly portal but soon sold out and sold their soul to streaming revenues. For my 2 CDs there, we used to get 6-8$ per CD sale, until they introduced wholesale pricing, and the money got cut in half, and when streaming was introduced ended up as earning pennies on a GOOD month. CDBaby ended up trashing (literally!) all of their CD inventory and today many artists have dead links to CDBaby. CDBaby still does streaming for their catalog; I recently saw a post on FB of an artist trying to reach someone to remove their CD from streaming, and there is no one answer emails/phones.
Here's how it goes: Epic announces streaming services for all Bandcamp CDs, and introduces paid endorsements for popular CDs to the majors. It's like my Apple Music "Browse" page; even though my tastes include Irish Music and American Fiddle and Banjo music, I still get the prominent placement of rap artists who I have no problem with but also no interest in.
Artists leave Bandcamp in droves and Bandcamp becomes just another streaming service. Bandcamp is getting MySpaced. Or Starbucked, if you prefer.
CD Baby getting out of the direct to consumer sales business a few years ago certainly reduced options - like Bandcamp, CD Baby has a reputation for treating artists fairly (they still handle promotion and distribution, just not direct sales).
But Epic didn't get to be huge by being dumb. They've pretty much left the Rocket League team alone to to do their thing, so there is hope.
I will say this: A huge number of music promoters use Bandcamp as their distribution vehicle - I review for AllAboutJazz and a few other outlets, and more and more publicists now send me a download via Bandcamp for reviewing consideration. So whether Bandcamp is profitable or not, it certainly has a marketable presence.
Keep waiting for good news concerning the recording industry and long-term commitment to artists. Well, this certainly is not good news.
I love Fortnite and have loved Epic since the first Unreal but, my love for music spans decades. I sincerely hope they are responsible with this. Thank you for sharing your thoughts Ted!
Bandcamp felt almost too good to be true in the world of internet music. Maybe it was, after all...seems like every good online platform for musicians gets ruined sooner or later.
Hopefully i'm wrong, but another one bites the dust.
great article- not good for artists at all though.
Hey Ted what’s your take on mn8? They’re a crypto platform for musicians that argues for the same as Substack, the platform being owned by the artists.
Well, a little over a year later, and I think it's safe to say Bandcamp seems fine so far? I haven't noticed any kind of meaningful differences other than some small quality-of-life upgrades for the (ancient) mobile app, like finally being able to make proper playlists, a 'shuffle all' option for everything in your collection, etc. It would appear that they put some of Epic's money to good use and hired some badly-needed app developers!
So at least the new corporate overlords haven't screwed it all up yet :D
damn. I just learned about this. It is indeed a worry.
VR gaming and the metaverse IS the future of music in that it will use blockchain, which I as an independent musician heartily welcome. With blockchain our music can be commodified as we wish, with no piracy, no unauthorised use and we make money directly each time a song is played - automatically, and the whole process is decentralised with no middleman or corporate overlord skimming off the top.
This move is the smart one, unlike those other companies.
NYT has an item that says Sony and Lego are investing $1b each into Epic, to support its work in the so-called metaverse. The investment brings Epic’s valuation to $31b up from $28b at the time of the Bandcamp deal. So — not being an MBA though my freshman roommate at Dartmouth became one — is that the same as saying since the Bandcamp deal they’ve made $2b in cash and $3b in value? Kind of reminds me of that expression “two in the pink, one in the stink”.
Same thing occured to me, but Ted explains it better
The bigger sin of some of the companies mentioned was not that they invested outside their core areas of profitability. Xerox invented the GUI (graphical user interface) and had it on their Alto computer in 1973! But this was, they thought, not attuned to their business model, and so although they later introduced some other office computers with GUI's, they never really pursued it. Kodak invented the first working still digital camera in 1975. But digital cameras would compete with their core business - film. Perhaps Epic doesn't see a next step in the gaming business model - no place to put their money in what they are now doing. And they're probably wrong. This news is not just bad for the music business - it's also bad for gamers. Another company joins the ranks of Kodak and Xerox and loses sight of anything beyond the end of its nose. (And someone might wonder, what is it about Rochester NY, the origin town of both these fossils.)