Bandcamp and Epic Games are joining together to build an open and artist-friendly environment for musicians to be compensated fairly for their work.
Everybody may know Epic Games as a community-based game marketplace, the creator of Fortnite, and the Unreal Engine. Bandcamp, on the other hand, is a community-based standalone marketplace where its musicians are able to thrive through the work they do.
Bandcamp was founded in 2008 in the pursuit of spreading the healing powers of music. “Through building a community where artists can thrive through the direct support of their fans, earning 82% of revenue on average,” said CEO and Co-Founder of Bandcamp, Ethan Diamond.
This simple idea of theirs has worked well for them for 14 years, with artists receiving payments reaching $1 billion USD while gaining the attention of larger companies wanting to work with them. Bandcamp continued working as a standalone marketplace until Epic Games came along. Having the same ideology of an artist-friendly environment where their content creators are compensated for the majority of their work, Bandcamp happily agreed to join Epic Games. “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome the Bandcamp team to Epic Games,” said Vice President and General Manager, Store at Epic Games, Steve Allison.
Through this collaboration, “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.” Diamond said. This also means that they won’t be changing the diverse user experience while continuing their artists-first revenue model. Its Daily Highlights will continue to operate the same as well, to share amazing music from various artists.
Through the incredible communities and business model these two companies have created, whether you’ve been a part of their communities for years or have recently joined, you are able to directly support your favourite artists regardless.
