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Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

variety.com

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Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#81

Post by siver_john »

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.

You are a god send. If for no other reason than they have an album I had been looking to purchase I could find nowhere else.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#83

Post by Macha »

paxys wrote: post #28
g_sch wrote: post #13

I'm having a little trouble understanding the motivation for this move. Did Bandcamp have a poor revenue/profit outlook and were they looking to scale? Was this just an exit for founders? I was under the impression that they had a relatively stable and profitable business, and strongly valued their branding and positioning as independent.

Motivation for founders is a lot easier to understand than that of the acquiring company. What on earth is Epic going to do with Bandcamp?

Turn the Epic Games Store into a more general Play Store/Apple Store competitor by expanding into other media types?

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#84

Post by traskjd »

paxys wrote: post #28
g_sch wrote: post #13

I'm having a little trouble understanding the motivation for this move. Did Bandcamp have a poor revenue/profit outlook and were they looking to scale? Was this just an exit for founders? I was under the impression that they had a relatively stable and profitable business, and strongly valued their branding and positioning as independent.

Motivation for founders is a lot easier to understand than that of the acquiring company. What on earth is Epic going to do with Bandcamp?

I’m sure it’s no coincidence that Apple is big in music and they don’t like Apple. Wonder what Tim is cooking up for Tim on this one.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#85

Post by throwhauser »

I don't know anything about Epic Games, but as a huge fan of Bandcamp, this feels like a bit of a drag.

There's something about Bandcamp that seems exactly right. It's an open, fair and creative way to discover and publish music, that is really distinct from the rest of the music business.

I'm struggling to see how that fits into a gigantic video game company. If it has to pull in so much money that it "moves the needle" at Epic at all, I don't see how it can remain anything close to what it is today.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#86

Post by tombert »

AlexandrB wrote: post #3

> Bandcamp will keep operating as a standalone marketplace and music community... 40% of which will be owned by Tencent, possibly more in the future based on the whims of Tim Sweeney and the performance of Epic's primary business (Video Games). Really unfortunate to see an independent source for music become part of a huge conglomerate.

Forgive a bit of ignorance on my end...what has Tencent actually done? I know they own stake in Epic and I've heard there's controversy, but I don't know what it is.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#87

Post by ironmagma »

plainnoodles wrote: post #77

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 tech…

I get FLACs from hdtracks.com

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#88

Post by smoldesu »

superkuh wrote: post #71
zippergz wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

For the record, Rocket League is still perfectly playable on Linux (even online) through WINE or Proton. But yes, they did axe the native version.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#89

Post by mdoms »

AlexandrB wrote: post #3

> Bandcamp will keep operating as a standalone marketplace and music community... 40% of which will be owned by Tencent, possibly more in the future based on the whims of Tim Sweeney and the performance of Epic's primary business (Video Games). Really unfortunate to see an independent source for music become part of a huge conglomerate.

Epic Founder and CEO Tim Sweeney has addressed this a number of times and so far given no reason to doubt it,

> I’m the controlling shareholder in Epic Games, and have been since 1991. We have a number of outside investors now. Tencent is the largest. All of Epic’s investors our friends and partners. None can dictate decisions to Epic. None have access to Epic customer data.

> Tencent is a Chinese company founded in 1998. CEO Pony Ma and the other co-founders played a lot of Unreal Tournament back then, and visited Epic in the early 2000’s. In 2012 Epic was looking to move to online games, and we invited Tencent in as an investor to help us.

> I’ve never regretted it, and the recent anti-China rage doesn’t change that even slightly, as its completely unfounded. Epic has only had positive interactions with Tencent at all levels.

> All of Epic’s big decisions are made here in the USA and as CEO I’m 100% responsible for them. I’m grateful for everyone who has spoken in support. I also read and respectfully consider all dissenting arguments of fact and principle. Just please keep it real.

https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/111396399928729190...

Although I completely agree with you that it's a shame to see yet another indie source get swallowed up by a big corporation.

Re: Epic Games acquires Bandcamp

#90

Post by HellDunkel »

politelemon wrote: post #73
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 reacti…

Give them a chance- epic doesnt have a reputation of blowing their aquisitions. It could be far worse!
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