Senior Researcher and Writer Ron Knox was featured on The Grapevine, a talk radio show on RRR Radio in Melbourne, Australia, where he discussed Epic Games’ recent acquisition of Bandcamp and its effect on independent artists.
For years Bandcamp has been celebrated as an artist-first platform that allows anyone selling music and merchandise to set their own prices for their products. Ron explains, “Bandcamp functions as the best possible online and digital version of an old school brick-and-mortar record store.” Since its founding, Bandcamp has encouraged music fans to support independent artists and labels by buying their music directly from them, rather than relying on the predatory streaming models of Spotify, YouTube, and other services.
Ron believes that Epic could change Bandcamp’s business model after the acquisition. “The acquired company rarely maintains its true independence in the form that it was in before the acquisition.” As with many other mergers that move a truly independent company to the control of a much larger corporate parent, he fears that the acquisition will “undermine the entire idea behind Bandcamp, the reason why independent musicians and labels flock to it.”
Listen to the radio show here.
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