EDIT: yeah, so the jury is in on this, and the verdict is not good. Bandcamp's new owners have already made some deep layoffs and it's pretty clear that whatever is left now is just not the same as it once was. It's very hard not to look at this as a not-so-elaborate ploy to crush the unionization effort that was underway. Very disappointing, and I know the consensus is just that everybody is now looking for an alternative and at the moment not finding much. So I guess you would call that a market opportunity.

So I just got an email from Bandcamp, and apparently there has been a deal in the works that they are now ready to announce. I am intimately aware of Epic games, and I am certainly a fan. I've been working lately on building 3D models, and Epic has a fantastic product called Twinmotion that I use to do renderings. They are well known for their Unreal Engine, which is a goto product for producing interactive 3D experiences, and they have a huge head start in that market segment where any new brands will have a lot of work to do to catch up. Building 3D environments is hard, and since releasing their FPS game Unreal in 1998, Epic has been iterating and improving their 'game-engine' product. At the moment their only real competitor is Unity 3D, which has a decidedly more mobile-oriented business plan. If you are looking to construct a high-quality, visually satisfying 3D world for Desktop systems, Unreal Engine is by far your most attractive choice.

What I love about both Unreal Engine and Twinmotion is not only they are both best-in-class products, but that their pricing structure is very favorable towards indie developers. As someone who once interviewed for a job at bandcamp, and made it through two rounds of interviews, I can say that their ethos as a company is also one that seeks to create a level playing field for everyone. That kind of attitude is exactly what the creative world needs, and as much as I am made nervous by massive corporate consolidations as a whole, you can certainly make the argument that this might actually be a good thing for indie artists around the world.

Only time will tell, so for now I would just like to congratulate the teams at Bandcamp and Epic. Thanks for all you do to keep indie creators equipped to compete with the big guys.

Since our founding in 2008, we’ve been motivated by the pursuit of our mission, which is to help spread the healing power of music by building a community where artists thrive through the direct support of their fans. That simple idea has worked well, with payments to artists and labels closing in on $1 billion USD. And while over the years we’ve heard from other companies who wanted us to join them, we’ve always felt that doing so would only be exciting if they strongly believed in our mission, were aligned with our values, and not only wanted to see Bandcamp continue, but also wanted to provide the resources to bring a lot more benefit to the artists, labels, and fans who use the site. Epic ticks all those boxes. We share a vision of building the most open, artist-friendly ecosystem in the world, and together we’ll be able to create even more opportunities for artists to be compensated fairly for their work. — Ethan Diamond