Bandcamp joins Epic Games

Music streaming service Bandcamp has joined Unreal Engine and Fortnite developer Epic Games following an official announcement on the Bandcamp official blog on Wednesday 2nd March 2022.

“I’m excited to announce that Bandcamp is joining Epic Games, who you may know as the makers of Fortnite and Unreal Engine, and champions for a fair and open Internet.” wrote Ethan Diamond, Bandcamp co-founder and CEO.

According to the Bandcamp CEO, he will continue to lead the team which “will keep operating as a standalone marketplace and music community,” and will continue to focus around its “artists-first revenue model (where artists net an average of 82% of every sale),”

Though it may seem an unexpected acquisition by Epic Games at first glance, it should be noted that both Epic and Bandcamp have profit margins favouring their developers and artists respectively and according to Steve Allison, Vice President and General Manager, Store at Epic Games.

“Bandcamp has built an incredible community and business where up and coming artists can succeed thanks to the direct support of their fans, with one of the best revenue models and terms in music. This aligns closely with Epic’s approach to supporting creators across all media and enabling them to connect directly with their fans.”

“We share a vision of building the most open, artist-friendly ecosystem in the world, and together we’ll be able to create even more opportunities for artists to be compensated fairly for their work.” Bandcamp CEO, Ethan Diamond wrote.

It should also be noted that following Epic Games’ success with Fortnite, the publisher has worked with influencers and integrated the promotion of artists through in-game cosmetics and digital concerts, making Epic’s acquisition of the music streaming service, not all that far-fetched.

“Bandcamp will play an important role in Epic’s vision to build out a creator marketplace ecosystem for content, technology, games, art, music and more.” Epic Games stated in a press release.