A music platform that's beloved by both artists and fans is a rare and splendid thing - which is why the news that half of Bandcamp's staff are being binned is a grim blow. The move comes as part of Songtradr's purchase of the business from Epic Games.
Bandcamp has been a real source of sustenance and hope for independent artists struggling to make ends meet in the streaming era, facilitating close contact with fans - so it's a proper kick in the teeth that it's fallen prey to the predatory pound-chasing techbros, like so many other sites before it.
What's more, many of the lay-offs are in editorial, which will inevitably impact the platform's ability to promote less heralded artists and labels. The quality of the features on the site has been high - in the last year and a half, I've been prompted to plug Yoni Kroll's piece on Welsh-language music and label profiles of Jagjaguwar and Wrong Speed. Quality music writing is increasingly hard to find online as well as in print - and this move will undoubtedly make a bad situation worse.
No comments:
Post a Comment