Epic Games, the company behind the battle royale cash cow Fortnite, has announced its acquisition of the online indie music store Bandcamp. This signals the company’s second venture towards media outside of games since its purchase of the artist platform ArtStation. These acquisitions are all part of Epic Game’s vision “to build out a creator marketplace ecosystem” filled with various sorts of creative content.
In a statement via the Epic Games website the company said, “Today, we are thrilled to announce that Bandcamp will become part of Epic Games. Bandcamp is an online music store and community where fans can discover, connect with, and directly support the independent musicians they love.” Adding, “Epic and Bandcamp share a mission of building the most artist-friendly platform that enables creators to keep the majority of their hard-earned money. Bandcamp will play an important role in Epic’s vision to build out a creator marketplace ecosystem for content, technology, games, art, music, and more.”
Bandcamp landed on the scene in 2008, creating a unique platform where indie musicians could sell and promote their work. Epic CEO Ethan Diamond said on the music site, “Bandcamp has built an incredible community and business where up and coming artists can succeed thanks to the direct support of their fans, with one of the best revenue models and terms in music. This aligns closely with Epic’s approach to supporting creators across all media and enabling them to connect directly with their fans”
Diamond went on to say, “In Epic, we’ve found a partner who believes as deeply as we do that the future of music, and art itself, depends on the creation of equitable and inclusive communities like the one our fans and artists have helped to build. We’re excited to work alongside the Epic team to accelerate the realization of our mission and pursue our shared goal of empowering more creators in a fair and open way.”
It’s unclear what Epic is building now that its company is working within the realms of games, music, and art. It will certainly be interesting to see where this is going and what their next acquisition will be.
