“Many of us work at Bandcamp because we agree with the values the company upholds for artists: fair pay, transparent policies, and using the company’s social power to uplift marginalized communities,” says Cami Ramirez-Arau, who has worked as a Support Specialist at Bandcamp for two years. That’s why they’re joining the ongoing wave of creative workers in tech, media, nonprofits, and other white collar industries, and in a first for a music streaming platform, have formed a union called Bandcamp United. A year in, Bandcamp is still Bandcamp, but its workers say that change is needed.

Epic Games, on the other hand, is one of the world’s largest video game and software development companies Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent owns a 40% stake in their operation. Since its founding in 2007, Bandcamp has become an artist-friendly alternative to platforms like Spotify and Apple Music that caters to independent artists and labels by giving them control over the way their music and merchandise is consumed (and, compared to its competitors, sharing a heftier chunk of the profits).

When Epic Games acquired Bandcamp in March 2022, fans of the Oakland, CA music streaming and distribution platform reacted with alarm.

Logo bandcamp