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Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

variety.com

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Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#71

Post by superkuh »

zippergz wrote: post #40
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…

"Nothing will change in the short term" is the story of every acquisition, almost all of which end up with major changes for the worse at some point. (So yes, I agree with you.)

When Epic bought the game "Rocket League" they promised not to change anything. At that time it had Windows, Linux, Mac, xbox, and playstation clients. 6 months after they aquisition they killed off the linux client (even for people who bought in-game purchases).

Epic lies. It is what they do. They are the epitome of a dangerous megacorp.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#72

Post by kregasaurusrex »

When shopping for content around didgital platforms, the #1 decision that I take into account is how much of my purchase price actually goes back to the creator. Bandcamp seems to give the best cut for music, aside from directly purchasing from an artist's website, and Epic's acquisition might end up being a net positive for getting new users & overall growth. Personally I think it's a good fit and look forward to their success.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#73

Post by politelemon »

HellDunkel wrote: post #37

Lots of disappointed comments here. Would you guys really prefer seeing bandcamp beeing bought by Apple?

While that would be worse, being acquired doesn't have to be the only choice. The main reason everyone liked Bandcamp is its independence. That independence translated into an excellent marketplace which was great for users and artists. The preference is that Bandcamp continues to be Bandcamp, not part of an umbrella.

Hope that explains it a bit. I'm quite sad and pessimistic about this. We'll see how well our reactions fare in about 2-3 years.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#74

Post by skyfaller »

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…

I've been buying more mainstream artists (who aren't on Bandcamp) from 7digital: https://us.7digital.com/

That said, I didn't spend nearly as much money there because Bandcamp showed a lot more evidence that they cared about ethics and getting money directly to artists. I have no idea how money works with something like 7digital, but I assume it doesn't pay artists as well.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#77

Post by plainnoodles »

This is absurdly sad to me. I like to own my media (in the most practical sense that current IP laws let me do so). I run a Plex server and use PlexAmp as my primary way of listening to music, and my criteria are always this:

* FLAC or similar, I want this to be a lossless preservation of what was on the best-available source.

* No DRM. No mandated player. Just let me download a dang file.

* "Real" flac: this is technically already covered under the first bullet, but I call it out because I've seen it happen before: if I can open the flac in audacity and see it's obviously just a re-encode of a lossy format that clips the upper and lower frequency ranges off, that's a smell and I don't like it. (I know, most people can't tell etc, but this is less for listening purposes and more for archival purposes).

* Supports the artist!

Now, I'll admit, when push comes to shove, I drop the last bullet point first. So previously, my source for music was:

1. CD's (and I would follow What's guide for making Perfect Flacs)

2. What

But then what shut down and I lost my main music discovery mechanism. Enter bandcamp! Now I've been very happy with:

1. Bandcamp (I buy CDs because I like the artwork and they're cool).

2. CD's (+ Perfect Flac ripping guide still)

Now I'm not sure what to do. Epic has really soured me on their brand already, and I already boycott their launcher and any EGS exclusives. I guess I have to find some other way to get stuff now.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#78

Post by mkr-hn »

vibemasterxl wrote: post #63
aarpmcgee wrote: post #15

This is a little heartbreaking. The world just got a shade darker so that a few people could become a lot richer (I assume).

If so, did those people not build (and thus own) this platform? Is it not their right to sell it to others? I am not asking this so much to challenge your statement, as I agree that it's darker, but to demonstrate that clearly the platform delivered value to music consumers like myself, and perhaps we as music consumers should be willing to compensate the folks who build "glue" like Bandcamp more in order to provide…

If Bandcamp saw people who bought music on Bandcamp as consumers, then Bandcamp didn't understand the people who used it, and this might be for the best.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#79

Post by Macha »

politelemon wrote: post #52
RodgerTheGreat wrote: post #19

This really sucks. Bandcamp has been my go-to store for buying music for a long time. No dark patterns, lightweight site, free previews, good terms for indie artists. I don't think I can ethically shop there anymore given Epic's ownership and business practices.

> No dark patterns, lightweight site, free previews, good terms for indie artists I am with you. One of the biggest draws for me was these what you have described. Their website experience was straightforward and honest. They are now being acquired by a company that is the complete opposite. We won't have to wait long for Epic's dark patterns and policies to creep into a once great marketplace.

Or just flat out discontinuing the web store to put it in the windows-only Epic client.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#80

Post by HellDunkel »

fundamental wrote: post #54
HellDunkel wrote: post #37

Lots of disappointed comments here. Would you guys really prefer seeing bandcamp beeing bought by Apple?

Ideally I (and I'd assume other commenters) would have preferred to see bandcamp remain independent. It's not like there's a huge need to scale up quickly or provide large partnerships. Bandcamp was an effective way of paying small independent musicians with a good overall website which should have given bandcamp a reliable revenue source. Acquisition likely means the website will get worse, artists will be driven of…

I too would have prefered seeing bandcamp stay independent but they were a privately owned company so that would have required a huge amount of idealism (which eventually wanes) or ambitions to compete with spotify. You can‘t always get what you want.
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