I am not sure what a computer games portal and programmer has to do with independent music production apart from the fact that many games have signature music themes but the purchase of Bandcamp by Epic Games has me very worried.
There is a definite odour of sell-out while the going is good about the sale and in spite of the assurances of Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond saying the the two companies had the same vision of building “the most open, artist-friendly ecosystem in the world” I get deep belly-aches when I see the amounts of dollars involved, To put it as the Guardian put it „A hero site generating better revenue for creators has sold out, say some musicians, while others hail the potential to reach new audiences“
In any case, I am an avid subscriber to Bandcamp and have left quite a lot of Euros there for the benefit of the artists and I can only hope that the whole idea will not go sour like so many other good ideas when bought out by Big Money. Big Money has never served anyone‘s interests but its own and that bodes ill for all the artists involved. Now Big Money will own the back catalogues of all those Bandcamp artists and that could be the beginning of a major disaster for independent labels and musicians. Let‘s hope that we won‘t have to found a new, alternative Bandcamp in the days to come.