Half of Bandcamp's staff let go following Songtradr acquisition

Half of Bandcamp's staff has been let go from the company, upon the automated music licensing marketplace Songtradr sealing its acquisition from Epic Games on October 16.

Songtradr made offers to half of Bandcamp's employees to remain at the company, while the departing members of the workforce will receive severance from former owner Epic Games.

In a statement sent to Mixmag, Songtradr cited significantly increased operating costs as the reason behind the "adjustments."

The statement says: "Over the past few years the operating costs of Bandcamp have significantly increased. It required some adjustments to ensure a sustainable and healthy company that can serve its community of artists and fans.

"After a comprehensive evaluation, including the importance of roles for smooth business operations and pre existing functions at Songtradr, 50% of Bandcamp employees have accepted offers to join Songtradr. Those who didn’t receive offers will receive severance from Epic as part of their layoffs as communicated on September 28th."

The business-to-business music platform also claimed that it is committed to keeping its popular services such as Bandcamp Daily and Bandcamp Friday.

It added: "We are looking forward to welcoming Bandcamp into our musically aligned community. We share a deep passion for all things music and will continue to serve artists, labels and the fans who make it all possible."

Read this next: Songtradr hints at potential Bandcamp layoffs amid acquisition

In the first week following news of Bandcamp's acquisition, Songtradr announced that it would provide Bandcamp artists with the choice to opt in to license their music, which would "enable artists to continue to own and control their music rights, and increase their earning capcaity from Songtradr's global licensing network."

This appears to be the driving factor behind Songtradr's purchase, with the vast catalogue on Bandcamp opening up a potentially large revenue source of passive income for licensing and syncs to media such as film, TV, adverts and video games if enough artists opt in. On an individual level there are concerns this may not be beneficial to artists, who could see their music commercially devalued.

Songtradr's acquisition marks the second time in less than two years that Bandcamp has been bought, with the video game monolith Epic Games acquiring the previously independent company in 2022.

Read this next: Bandcamp acquired by Fortnite developer Epic Games

In the space of 18 months, the Fortnite developer has since sold Bandcamp as well as laying off 16% of staff and dropping the marketing company SuperAwesome.

In a statement on its website, CEO Tim Sweeney revealed that Epic Games had been "spending way more than [it] earns, investing in the next evolution of Epic and growing Fortnite as a metaverse-inspired ecosystem for creators" for too long.

After the layoffs, Bandcamp's dismissed senior editor JJ Skolnik took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express their dismay:

Bandcamp United, the Bandcamp workers' union, responded to the "heartbreaking" news by announcing that it will be moving to decide its next steps and return to the bargaining table with Epic Games today, October 17.

[via: Rolling Stone]

Tibor Heskett is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter

Update: This article has been amended to fix an error stating Songtradr laid off employees. The layoffs were communicated by Epic, with Songtradr making fresh offers of employment to some of the workforce and retaining 50% of employees.