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Epic Games Sale of Bandcamp Has Left the Artist-Friendly Music Platform in Limbo

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Re: Epic Games Sale of Bandcamp Has Left the Artist-Friendly Music Platform in Limbo

#41

Post by solarkraft »

This is about the only time I'll defend the modern idea of "NFTs".

I want to show off the albums I bought to the world, ideally with some way to prove that I really spent money on them.

The albums are comparable to NFTs (though fungibility is arguable in both cases), with the caveat that the Bandcamp system is entirely centralized. If the company goes bust, so does my collection.

Though I appreciate that their ethics kept them from doing it, if anyone should've jumped on the NFT wagon, it should've been them. This would've detached the proof of ownership from the company and allowed a secondary market to exist (also important, should the company stop existing/change terms).

Re: Epic Games Sale of Bandcamp Has Left the Artist-Friendly Music Platform in Limbo

#42

Post by prepend »

solarkraft wrote: post #41

This is about the only time I'll defend the modern idea of "NFTs". I want to show off the albums I bought to the world, ideally with some way to prove that I really spent money on them. The albums are comparable to NFTs (though fungibility is arguable in both cases), with the caveat that the Bandcamp system is entirely centralized. If the company goes bust, so does my collection. Though I appreciate that their ethics…

I think there are systems like this like last.fm/audioscrobbler that already scratch this itch by logging every song you listen to. So you can show your interest in an artist by listening to them.

I don’t want to buy an NFT to “show off albums I bought” as this seems like no real new value to me. I can already show off these albums I listen to (much better than just bought I think).

Re: Epic Games Sale of Bandcamp Has Left the Artist-Friendly Music Platform in Limbo

#43

Post by southwesterly »

secretsatan wrote: post #38
mistyvales wrote: post #23

Waiting for Discogs to die soon (as it has slowly been for a few years).

I haven't checked in on it in ages, I thought it was doing what it always did, I really wish a service would just stick to what it's good at. Catalogue my vinyl and give me the opportunity to interact with fellow enthusiast

Yeah, unfortunately things are going on over at Discogs

https://www.theverge.com/23899461/discogs-sellers-vinyl-cds-...

Re: Epic Games Sale of Bandcamp Has Left the Artist-Friendly Music Platform in Limbo

#44

Post by qwery »

dralley wrote: post #9

So many great companies die this way. Bought by a big corporation with no idea what to do with all their money, neglected, then sold to some monopolist that doesn't give a damn outside of squeezing the market.

It's true. Except it was the people in charge of the great company that sold it to the big corporation / monopolist in the first place. Bandcamp was doomed when it was sold to Epic -- everybody knew that. They knew that doing that was bad for the product and bad for the company and they did it anyway, because they didn't and don't give a damn.

Re: Epic Games Sale of Bandcamp Has Left the Artist-Friendly Music Platform in Limbo

#45

Post by P_I_Staker »

secretsatan wrote: post #39
lewispollard wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> music file storage gated behind a paywall This is what streaming services have done to artists - the idea of "paying an artist for their music" is such an alien idea to some people that it ends up phrased like this.

It's damn weird. I get that most people just want a radio, but it's getting harder to just buy music, to keep. Apple music is slowly erasing iTunes, the media management aspect of it seems to be slowly breaking down, currently all my album art is completely messed up on my iPhone.

There seems to be a bug where adding your music to up next adds it to a random place in your playlist.

It's so prevalent, I thought it was a feature I didn't know about. It's been years. This makes the platform almost unusable.

It's pretty amazing to see such fundamental usability issues never get fixed. It's astonishing to see in flagship software from a major company. It just doesn't work at all in a basic sense.

Re: Epic Games Sale of Bandcamp Has Left the Artist-Friendly Music Platform in Limbo

#46

Post by wildrhythms »

dralley wrote: post #9

So many great companies die this way. Bought by a big corporation with no idea what to do with all their money, neglected, then sold to some monopolist that doesn't give a damn outside of squeezing the market.

You're right, but I get the feeling being acquired by a megacorporation is the goal for a lot of startups.

Re: Epic Games Sale of Bandcamp Has Left the Artist-Friendly Music Platform in Limbo

#47

Post by marcinzm »

ytoawwhra92 wrote: post #33

> “Based on its current financials, Bandcamp requires some adjustments to ensure a sustainable and healthy company that can serve its community of artists and fans long into the future,” This is interesting. Bandcamp's website says they've been profitable since 2012.[0] If that's still true what other adjustments might be needed? [0] https://bandcamp.com/fair_trade_music_policy

> “Based on its current financials, Bandcamp requires some adjustments to ensure a sustainable and healthy profit margin to cover the cost of being bought by its new owner.,”

Re: Epic Games Sale of Bandcamp Has Left the Artist-Friendly Music Platform in Limbo

#49

Post by notsurenymore »

southwesterly wrote: post #43
secretsatan wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't checked in on it in ages, I thought it was doing what it always did, I really wish a service would just stick to what it's good at. Catalogue my vinyl and give me the opportunity to interact with fellow enthusiast

Yeah, unfortunately things are going on over at Discogs https://www.theverge.com/23899461/discogs-sellers-vinyl-cds-...

Wow we really can’t have nice things.

Re: Epic Games Sale of Bandcamp Has Left the Artist-Friendly Music Platform in Limbo

#50

Post by marcinzm »

wildrhythms wrote: post #46
dralley wrote: post #9

So many great companies die this way. Bought by a big corporation with no idea what to do with all their money, neglected, then sold to some monopolist that doesn't give a damn outside of squeezing the market.

You're right, but I get the feeling being acquired by a megacorporation is the goal for a lot of startups.

Being a founder and being the CEO of medium/large company (or even the head of the board) are very different jobs and skill sets. As we've seen with Flexport as the owner you can't simply hire on a CEO and focus on other things without likely severe issues. So eventually those founders sell the company to someone else for either the money or to have time to focus on other things they enjoy more.
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