Los Angeles-based B2B music licensing company, Songtradr, has announced its acquisition of Bandcamp from Epic Games. Songtradr plans to maintain Bandcamp as an online music store and community, operating with an “artist-first revenue share” model. With over 5 million artists and labels already using Bandcamp, Songtradr aims to further support the artist community by offering licensing opportunities across various media platforms. Epic Games plans to collaborate with Songtradr to build a music inventory and explore licensing options for its ecosystem. The acquisition comes as Epic Games confirms layoffs and divests Bandcamp to focus on its core metaverse, games, and tools efforts.
Songtradr’s acquisition of Bandcamp marks a strategic move to expand its services for artists. Bandcamp will continue to operate as a marketplace and community, ensuring that artists maintain ownership and control over their music rights while increasing their earning capacity through Songtradr’s global licensing network. Additionally, Songtradr plans to offer artists the opportunity to have their music licensed for use in various forms of media. Epic Games, on the other hand, will work alongside Songtradr to curate a music inventory and explore licensing options. The acquisition aligns with both Songtradr and Epic Games’ commitment to fair compensation for artists.
Despite the positive development, Epic Games recently confirmed layoffs as the company divests Bandcamp. Epic Games acknowledges the financial challenges it faces due to increased spending and lower-margin revenue from the creator content-driven growth of Fortnite. The company believes that cutting costs and focusing on core development and metaverse plans will secure its future prospects. Bandcamp will join Songtradr, while SuperAwesome’s advertising business will spin off as an independent company. Epic Games promises to support laid-off employees with severance packages and benefits.
