Songtradr acquires Bandcamp from Epic Games

28 September, 2023

NME News

Songtradr, a music licensing platform and marketplace company that supports artists, labels and publishers, has acquired Bandcamp from current owners, Epic Games.

According to a statement, Songtradr will continue to operate Bandcamp as both a marketplace and music community with artists receiving “an artist-first revenue share.”

According to a press statement issued by Songtradr today (September 28), Bandcamp is used by over 5 million artists and labels. The statement adds that “this acquisition will help Bandcamp continue to grow within a music-first company and enable Songtradr to expand its capabilities to support the artist community”.

In a statement about the new ownership, Paul Wiltshire, CEO of Songtradr said: “The acquisition of Bandcamp will help Songtradr continue to grow its suite of services for artists. I’m a passionate musician myself, and artistry and creativity have always been at the heart of Songtradr. Bandcamp will join a team of music industry veterans and artists who have deep expertise in music licensing, composition, rights management, and distribution.

Steve Allison, Vice President and General Manager, Store at Epic Games, added: “Songtradr shares Epic and Bandcamp’s values around ensuring artists are fairly compensated for their work.

“Bringing Bandcamp to Songtradr will make it easier for independent artists to connect with creators and developers looking to license their music and enable Epic to focus on its core metaverse, games, and tools efforts.”

Songtradr said it will also offer Bandcamp artists “the ability and choice to have their music licensed to all forms of media including content creators, game and app developers and brands” and that “this will enable artists to continue to own and control their music rights, and increase their earning capacity from Songtradr’s global licensing network”.

Last month, Bandcamp revealed a new ‘Listening Parties’ feature will be available for both labels and artists to host.

The new feature allows artists and organisers to plan an event with a live play-through of an album along with a live chat in which both the artist and their fans can participate.

Physical copies of the album, along with merchandise and artwork, will be featured during the listening party and anyone who purchases the music is able to get a shoutout within the chat room.

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