Bandcamp has formally modified fingers from its previous new proprietor, Epic, to its new new proprietor, Songtradr, and misplaced half its workers within the course of. Songtradr confirmed that “50% of workers acquired presents” to proceed on underneath the brand new possession — and naturally the opposite 50% didn’t.
The venerable digital music market was acquired by Epic final 12 months, however clearly the Fortnite maker wasn’t fairly certain what to do with the corporate, and late final month resold it to music licensing platform Songtradr as a part of a wave of cost-cutting.
It was recognized from the beginning that layoffs would occur, and certainly Epic and Songtradr had been pretty easy about their necessity as a part of the deal — technically the staff had been laid off by Epic forward of the formal acquisition, although it was Songtradr that determined who would and wouldn’t be employed. It was by no means clear whether or not they had been speaking about just a few redundancies in net design and gross sales, or across-the-board cuts. It appears it was the latter, as Songtradr defined in an announcement:
Over the previous few years the working prices of Bandcamp have considerably elevated. It required some changes to make sure a sustainable and wholesome firm that may serve its neighborhood of artists and followers. After a complete analysis, together with the significance of roles for easy enterprise operations and preexisting features at Songtradr, 50% of Bandcamp workers have accepted presents to affix Songtradr.
A spokesperson for the corporate added that “there have been reductions made throughout all departments, and all departments nonetheless have authentic Bandcamp workers.” Acquisitions very often end in lack of positions, so whereas this isn’t uncommon, 50% does seem to be rather a lot — and lots of people are sadly out of a job.
Notably, Bandcamp workers had been within the means of unionizing, or slightly some had executed so already, an element that has been instructed as contributing to Epic’s sudden distaste for possession. I requested Bandcamp United for touch upon the layoffs and haven’t heard again from them.
Songtradr mentioned that it had no entry to union membership, and the presents had been made with none of that info.
Once I requested whether or not Bandcamp will stay impartial, Songtradr responded as follows:
Bandcamp will proceed to serve its Fan and Artist neighborhood as a devoted service and stand-alone resolution. From the enterprise structuring viewpoint, Bandcamp workers shall be a part of Songtradr and over time they’ll absolutely combine into the Songtradr group.
Till final 12 months, Bandcamp gave the impression to be one of many few remaining locations for comparatively easy and equitable monetization for impartial musical artists. The company takeover and resale doesn’t bode properly for the platform, however we are going to know quickly what impact these layoffs and every other modifications may have on the enterprise.