Bandcamp announced on Wednesday that it is being acquired by Fortnite maker Epic Games but would remain a standalone operation with its current executive at the helm.
The terms were not disclosed.
Bandcamp is based in Oakland and was co-founded in 2008 by CEO Ethan Diamond. It provides a marketplace for musicians and was last valued at more than $16 million after its Series A round in 2010, according to PitchBook. It has raised less than $5 million over the past 14 years.
"The products and services you depend on aren’t going anywhere," Diamond wrote in a blog post announcing the deal. "However, behind the scenes we’re working with Epic to expand internationally and push development forward across Bandcamp, from basics like our album pages, mobile apps, merch tools, payment system, and search and discovery features, to newer initiatives like our vinyl pressing and live streaming services."
The acquisition makes sense for Epic Games, which is building out its own metaverse. North Carolina-based Epic also recently bought Harmonix, the maker of Guitar Hero, and ArtStation, a platform for visual artists.
“Fair and open platforms are critical to the future of the creator economy,” Epic said in its announcement. “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.”
