Music licensing company Songtradr has said that not all Bandcamp employees will receive job offers when the website is acquired next month. Songtradr is buying the online record store from Epic Games, which bought it less than 18 months ago. In response, Bandcamp United, a union representing workers at the site, called for “employment offers for all workers; clear, consistent, and equitable voluntary severance offers; and recognition of their union at Songtradr”. Songtradr said the restructuring was necessary to ensure a “sustainable and healthy” future for the company.
Songtradr said that it will retain all existing Bandcamp services including Bandcamp Fridays, Bandcamp Daily and artist-first revenue sharing. The two companies are said to be planning opportunities for licensing deals for artists. Epic Games is to maintain a partnership with Bandcamp for its Fortnite Radio service. Bandcamp United was established in March this year to push for fairer wages and greater transparency from Bandcamp, which cited the Covid-19 pandemic as explaining its decision to cut its staff by half in April.
Musicians earned more than $20m from Bandcamp Friday sales earlier this month, according to the site. Almost half of working musicians in the UK earn less than £14,000 ($19,000) a year, according to a survey by the Musicians’ Union
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