Update 18/11: This article has been updated to clarify the number of employees laid off and that Epic initiated layoffs, not SongTradr.
Epic Games laid off a shocking 16 percent of its workforce in September because it had been “spending way more money than we earn”, in CEO Tim Sweeney’s words. At the time, I was horrified by the blatant apathy displayeཧd by Sweeney about the jobs he’d destroyed through pursuing unsustainable growth, but I also noted that Bandcamp, which Epic bought in 2022, was being sold off just a year and a haꦉlf later to music marketing company SongTradr.
We’ve now found out that Epic Games has laid off ♌about half of Bandcamp’s staff yesterday after finalising the sale of the company to Songtradr. “Over the past few years the operating costs of Bandcamp have significantly increased,” Songtradr wrote in a statement. “It required some adjustments to ensure a sustainable and healthy company that can serve its community of artists and fans. After a comprehensive evaluation, including the importance of roles for smooth business operations and pre existing functions at Songtradr, 50 perceꩲnt of Bandcamp employees have accepted offers to join Songtradr.”
I think of Bandcamp fondly. I’ve used it for years, discovering new independent artists on its platform and buying their albums, safe in the knowledge that the majority of my money would be going to the artists. My musician friends still upload all their albums to Bandcamp, though through an informal poll in the group chat, I was informed it’s not a major sourꩲce of revenue, though it’s definitely a lot better than the money they make from streaming. Medium-popular artists in my home country Singapore are likely not the people who benefit most from Bandcamp sales, but the fact remains that Bandcamp has basically no barrier for entry, making it accessible to even the smallest artists.
One of my friends, a fairly popular ambient composer and DJ, made the point that Bandcamp is one of the few independent, artist-centric platforms left, and the potential loss of the editorial and curatorial aspect of Bandcamp would do huge damage to underground and indie musicians in particular – you know, the one demographic that ne๊eds Bandcamp the most. Bandcamp is well known for its curated reviews, playlists, and features. With a decimated workforce, how long will it be able to keep its identity?
That’s why this news is heartbreaking. Not only are almost 60 employees being laid off by Epic, but the layoffs are happening in the midst of Bandcamp’s union bargaining with Epic over better terms. CEO Ethan Diamond was alongside Epic long before the sal♏e, and negotiations are continuing despite the layoffs and the confirmed sale. The union is also calling on Songtradr to recognise the union and begin negotiations with them immediately – I can only imagine it will be facinℱg immense resistance on this front.
Bandcamp has, for a long time, been important to the underground scene. Epic’s poor business choices have reached beyond the game industry t🉐o dig its hooks into an anomaly of a business, a community-driven music platform – profitable, in this economy! – and gutted it. At least until 2020, . And then Epic bought it, gꦯutted it, and sold it to a company after laying off half its staff.
The treatment of Bandcamp’s employees has been horrible – that no employee who receives an offer from Songtradr will be eligible for Epic’s severance package, forcing them to take the offer despite the fact that Bandcamp will be an entirely different company with half its workforce gone. A majority of staff lost access to the tools they needed to work, leaving only critical functions available while they waited to find out who was laid off and who s𝔍till had their jobs. There was never a meeting with Epic’s senior leadership team where Bandcamp’s staff could ask questions.
𓆉It’s clear that Epic was never that invested in Bandcamp’s mission, consideringಞ it sold the company off a mere year and a half after acquiring it. And as I said in my piece about the layoffs, if Epic was truly haemorrhaging money to the extent where it had to perform layoffs of this magnitude, it should never have purchased Bandcamp in the first place. We are looking at shockingly egregious mismanagement here, and the consequences are rippling far beyond the development studios that Epic has already gutted or shut down.