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Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

variety.com

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Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#451

Post by ehnto »

DoctorOW wrote: post #436
ehnto wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But being a market, Bandcamp's user's are actually artists and listeners, so Bandcamp having freedom to do what they want doesn't mean they can suddenly start giving all their music out for free, unless they change to a Spotify style model of listens = payout. I wouldn't be surprised if the acquisition is to provide royalty free music to the games industry via Unreal Engine, as was the case for Quixel, but none of th…

> none of this is really good news for artists trying to make money unless Bandcamp plans to pay the artists out of their own pocket for a royalty free side I don't see why that's the case? Just give Bandcamp artists the tools to set their own royalty structure (In the same way they price their own songs) and integrate this marketplace into Unreal or wherever else. Self published artists get a source of revenue typic…

That's a fair point. My original assumption was that royalties wouldn't flow back to artists in a meaningful way but bandcamp has been a big advocate of fairness toward artists so that's really a fair take on my behalf.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#452

Post by officeplant »

Something1234 wrote: post #416
officeplant wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Major problem with bleep is I can't redownload purchases years later if my storage/backups were to be destroyed. I've got a pile of old Autechre purchases I can't get access to anymore which is frustrating, but not the end of the world. Bandcamp has no cap on redownloading my library, and a decent mobile app for the stuff I don't keep stored on my devices. Bandcamp isn't a perfect platform (they finally added a volum…

And what's the problem with having a system level mixer instead of every app having their own volume slider in software?

I didn't really have an easy way to adjust the volume of a single tab in my browser without downloading an add-on to give each tab their own volume slider.

I've got multiple sources of audio coming from the browser since it has taken the place of so many applications. Generally I'd expect sites that sell/stream music to have a simple volume slider.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#453

Post by dundarious »

ska wrote: post #365
dundarious wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think elsewhere it's called an "exit strategy" to seek financing, be that IPO, Shark Tank, or the much more common and mundane options. I'm not even naively proposing that it's somehow bad to sell a profitable business in this way. I know selling a piece of your business involves diluting your control, but it is nearly always contractually required to not involve an "exit" (in terms of involvement) outside of…

> I don't think elsewhere it's called an "exit strategy" to seek financing I don't think that's how it is used in this context either. A lot of early stage money in tech startups is there for the short(ish) term, and they definitely want to get their money out (i.e. "exit") at some point, not build a business over decades. It's their usage of "exit", and the need to have a strategy for it, which drives the usage more…

Right, it's the focus on "exit" also for founders (who also run the business) that puzzles me.

As for the "exit=financing" association, I made that based on your comment:

> > It's a jargon term not used in the entrepreneurial side of most other industries.

> That's because in most of the industries you are thinking of, you can get traditional financing.

> The need for an exit of some sort follows from the financial structure.

But I think I misunderstood and you were saying something more like that the lack of traditional financing leads to a form of financing that necessitates selling the business wholesale.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#454

Post by breakfastduck »

mfost wrote: post #399
breakfastduck wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because, and fairly so, people don't want their spending to go into the pockets of companies that get kids interested in gambling or buy exclusivity.

But there is no gambling in Fortnite and shortly after Epic acquired Rocket League they removed their loot boxes too. The only gambling there was in Fortnite was in the paid version of the game that nobody really played anyway. The game that is actually popular doesn't have it.

Completely and utterly inaccurate.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#455

Post by BaseballPhysics »

heleninboodler wrote: post #440
BaseballPhysics wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people just want to work at a decent company for reasonable pay, and aren't looking to get filthy rich busting their asses for a FAANG. Bandcamp is absolutely a company I would've considered working for. I'm long past the point in my career where I care about a lottery ticket. They were profitable, big enough to be sustainable, but small enough to be nimble. The management seemed to make all the right noises reg…

I didn't think it needed clarification, but "they wouldn't be able to hire anyone" does not literally mean they would have zero candidates. It's expressing the fact that they would be severely limiting their talent pool by offering 0 equity in this industry, where equity is one of the reasons people are willing to take a risk on a startup.

> where equity is one of the reasons people are willing to take a risk on a startup.

They're not a startup. They're a profitable, mature, 15 year old company of 100-150 people. Working there isn't "taking a risk", so there's no need to entice people with hazard pay.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#456

Post by andrewzah »

Semaphor wrote: post #433
banana_maker wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Navidrome [0] has been a solid replacement for me. It has all the features I want aside from Keycloak/generic oidc integration, and the author is very responsive. 0: https://github.com/navidrome/navidrome

I just checked their demo, do they really completely ignore genres? I can neither find a node for music by genre, nor are they shown in the tables by default.

It does show genres if they're set in the files' metadata.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#457

Post by anchpop »

revolvingocelot wrote: post #197
JaimeThompson wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just wait to see what happens when Gabe of Valve decides to retire and needs to diversify his holdings.

You think the guy who bought a racing team for funsies (and for charity!), the guy with an extensive forge setup in his palatial basement, needs more money? I know it's hip to be cynical and all, but seriously. Even if he were so motivated by money, could anyone even put together a payout that'd be better than "continue to watch the Steam Store print money, beholden to no one because Valve is a privately-held company…

The GP didn't say anything about anyone needing more money?

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#458

Post by mrguyorama »

smileybarry wrote: post #326
stonith wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> look at what happened to PUBG when they used Epic's engine They made a lot of money. > it only buys popular software, because it's goal is getting more people locked into it's walled garden Epic store. The rev stream is royalties from engine use since the free tiers are locked to UE, not EGS.

>> look at what happened to PUBG when they used Epic's engine > They made a lot of money. They reportedly worked with Epic Games on technical support for PUBG features, and Epic Games may've ended up using some of them in their own Battle Royale mode: > Notably, Epic Games updated their in-development title Fortnite, a sandbox-based survival game that included the ability to construct fortifications, to include a bat…

Aren't PUBG the ones who tried to sue people for using a frying pan as a melee weapon in game? Years after valve had it in TF2?

There lawsuits seem a bit empty

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#459

Post by ShroudedNight »

noyesno wrote: post #50
siver_john wrote: post #22

This feels like a major blow, as someone who just semi recently (probably around pandemic start) started getting into purchasing flac music from indie artists, Bandcamp was a great source of music. I understand nothing will change in the short term, but long term I am very concerned. Especially as streaming becomes more dominant and companies are less willing to provide flac based music and physical discs (where I ca…

Qobuz offers both streamed music and flac purchases from their store.

It doesn't do either of those things if you reside in Canada (or presumably any other country not in its limited collection of markets).

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#460

Post by MisterTea »

heleninboodler wrote: post #417
MisterTea wrote: post #118

Not good in my book. I've been a huge fan and proponent of the platform since 2017 and have made over 600 purchases since. Mostly digital but also plenty of shirts, patches, an even physicals of select albums. My only gripe was the somewhat wanting android client which has just been fixed up (playlists and queuing). I like it because its a simple and focused hub for artists and fans. The social interaction of the sit…

IMO Epic has already brought something good: not getting bought by Apple or Google. Whether they can refrain from bringing something bad remains to be seen.

They are 40% owned by Tencent.
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