Joe OrtizSep 28, 2023

If you're using #Bandcamp, I would strongly advise getting two external hard drives depending on your size and download your purchased #music ASAP since the new owners are a marketing B2B company and I know where this is eventually going. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/28/epic-games-is-eliminating-16percent-of-its-workforce-and-selling-bandcamp.html

I would not be surprised if Songtradr is going to push the #enshittification button on it. https://www.songtradr.com/blog/posts/songtradr-bandcamp-acquisition/

Epic Games is eliminating 16% of its workforce and selling Bandcamp

Epic Games said on Thursday that it's laying off 16% of its workforce and is selling Bandcamp, which it acquired last year.

CNBC
Show threadJoe OrtizSep 28, 2023
Here's a nice thread on the saga. https://mastodon.social/@mcc/111143889606615360
Show threadJoe Ortiz
What we really need in the long run is a creator-owned preferably decentralized music platform alternative and I hope there's people out there in the world that is willing to create one.
Sep 28, 2023 at 8:20pmWeb
Show threadJoe OrtizOct 11, 2023

"Employees were not included in Epic's sale of #Bandcamp. Songtradr purchased the platform's business and operations but not its staff"

Only a matter of time before the #enshittification button is inevitably pushed. https://www.wired.com/story/epic-games-sale-bandcamp-music-platform-limbo/
https://web.archive.org/web/20231011071725/https://www.wired.com/story/epic-games-sale-bandcamp-music-platform-limbo/
https://archive.li/O7TSd

Epic Games’ Sale of Bandcamp Has Left the Artist-Friendly Music Platform in Limbo

Bandcamp workers say they are unable to do their jobs after being locked out of critical systems. They’re also expecting layoffs.

WIRED
Show threadJoe OrtizOct 16, 2023

Welp, almost 50% of #Bandcamp staffers were laid off today. The #enshittification button push was inevitable as I said. https://nitter.unixfox.eu/modernistwitch/status/1713962311579234428

Hacker News discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37905638

More reactions:
https://social.lol/@stefan/111245993557957559
https://spaceballs.masto.host/@nedraggett/111245861885056429
https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/16/23919551/bandcamp-layoffs-epic-songtradr

It surely didn't take too long for #EpicGames and #Songtradr to say "Fuck the Bandcamp workers for our bottom lines!"

I'm sure @bandcampunited has tons to say about this in due time.

Support them!!

Show threadJoe OrtizOct 18, 2023

EDIT: I added a news link to the thread above to further describe the layoffs and the #enshittification of #Bandcamp

It's a sad sight.

Show threadJoe OrtizOct 19, 2023

"Bandcamp’s entire union bargaining team, the eight union members democratically elected by their peers to negotiate their first union contract, were laid off when #EpicGames sold #Bandcamp to music licensing company #Songtradr on Monday." https://www.404media.co/bandcamps-entire-union-bargaining-team-was-laid-off/

That is #enshittification at it's finest folks.

Like I said at the top of this very thread, I would strongly advise getting two external hard drives depending on your size and download your purchased #music ASAP before it's too late.

Bandcamp’s Entire Union Bargaining Team Was Laid Off

Songtradr, which has acquired Bandcamp from Epic Games, said it did not have union membership information, but Songtradr’s CEO invited the bargaining team to a meeting last week.

404 Media
Show threadDavid O'BrienOct 16, 2023

That is so distressing to hear.

Bandcamp paid artists fairly and was a good platform for so long.

@joeo10

Show threadJoe OrtizOct 18, 2023
@iamdavidobrien Yeah they were and it's sad that soon, I might have to refer to them in the past tense more often. :(
Show threadTim N7KOMOct 16, 2023
@joeo10 @bandcampunited damn, Bandcamp has been my favorite place to purchase music for years.
Show threadJoe OrtizOct 18, 2023
@tsherrygeo @bandcampunited It's a good idea to download your purchased music ASAP before it's too late as I mentioned at the start of this thread.
Show threadTim N7KOMOct 18, 2023
@joeo10 @bandcampunited Yup, I download everything I buy.
Show threadJason Evangelho 🐧🎒Oct 16, 2023
@joeo10 @bandcampunited Fuck. I don't know what else to say right now.
Show threadClaudia MilesOct 16, 2023
@joeo10 @bandcampunited @julieofthespirits It's pretty awful.
Show threadAnthonyJK-AdminOct 16, 2023

@joeo10 @bandcampunited

It goes without saying: Anything that can be useful for regular folks will eventually be bought out, privatized, and deunionized for private profit.

#CapitalismIsEnshittificstionMonetized
#Bandcamp #Enshittification

Show threadNicdOct 17, 2023
@joeo10 @bandcampunited Wow, this is sad. :( I loved Bandcamp, it was my main source of purchasing music if an artist was on there.
Show threadJoe OrtizOct 18, 2023

@nicd @bandcampunited And now, it seems to me unless something else comes up, musicians and users alike are likely be at the mercy of Apple and Spotify.

A sad sight. :(

Show threadJesseOct 18, 2023
@joeo10 @bandcampunited Good lord, I know it's HN, but the private equity bronalysis in that HN thread 💀​
Show threadJoe OrtizOct 18, 2023
@jaawerth I know, but it's still a influential website and there are folks there that are just as frustrated and pissed as we are.
Show threadJesseOct 18, 2023
@joeo10 fwiw, wasn't trying to drag you for linking it or anything, just expressing my horror after seeing way more armchair venture capitalist takes in there than I'd braced myself for ;-)
Show threadJoe OrtizOct 18, 2023
@jaawerth No worries, I encounter some myself for the record.
Show threadsocSep 28, 2023
@joeo10 I'll imagine that artists will be the first ones to complain...
Show threaddavid turgeonSep 28, 2023
@joeo10 well, i made a non-decentralized one in 1998 & it's still going: https://notype.com
Show threadwilliam.maggosSep 28, 2023

@joeo10 @mcc

I'm hoping @funkwhale could be that eventually, but we also need something like a decentralized automatic donation system. how do we organize around making this happen?

cc @ryno

Show threadShineSep 28, 2023
@wjmaggos @joeo10 @mcc @funkwhale @ryno I don't think that the payment system needs to be decentralized? We already have liberapay and open collective, I'm pretty sure both can be leveraged for such purpose. Payment processing is replaceable, what matters is the actual media store.
Show threadwilliam.maggosSep 29, 2023

@shine @joeo10 @mcc @funkwhale @ryno

any centralized system can be bought or pressured. if we're asking people to build their livelihood around something new, they should have total independence. a #Bandcamp alternative where each site is actually independent but seems like a connected whole like the fedi is to #Xitter, making it simple for fans, is needed. but we should also figure out a shared open payment protocol that interfaces with all our banks but is then simple for musicians.

Show threadmccSep 29, 2023

@wjmaggos @shine @joeo10 @funkwhale @ryno In principle I think this would be great, but it seems to me decentralized payment is a very difficult problem, and it seems most likely any attempt to solve it right now would likely quickly be taken over by the cryptocurrency crowd, at which point scammers and speculators descend on your system, take it over, and eat it from the inside out

(and then, as @ill_logic mentioned in another thread, regulators step in and shut it down)

Show threadwilliam.maggosSep 29, 2023

@mcc @shine @joeo10 @funkwhale @ryno @ill_logic

I wonder if something couldn't be built with the new #FedNow tool. perhaps post something as simple as an fedi or email account (but for your bank) and get payments to flow directly. I wonder if anyone is trying to build this.
https://www.frbservices.org/financial-services/fednow

FedNow Service

The FedNow Service will help enable financial institutions to deliver end-to-end faster payment services to their customers.

Show threadShineSep 29, 2023
@wjmaggos @mcc @joeo10 @funkwhale @ryno @ill_logic you can't really use that out of US, can you. In EU, you could easily use SEPA, but I don't know about any unified solution that works across the world.
Show threadShineSep 29, 2023

@wjmaggos @joeo10 @mcc @funkwhale @ryno it can. But it's also possible to replace it. If bandcamp changed payment provider, hardly anyone would notice. It's the loss of Bandcamp itself that is an issue.

As for "looking centralized for newcomers", I have some ideas around it I'd like to try on fedi.

Show threadPaulDavisTheFirstOct 16, 2023
@wjmaggos @shine @joeo10 @mcc @funkwhale @ryno i cannot agree that "any centralized system can be bought". What matters is not centralization (in the technological sense) but distribution of ownership. You need a service "owned" or "controlled" by enough people that it will not be possible to force or even pressure a sale.
Show threadwilliam.maggosOct 16, 2023

@PaulDavisTheFirst @shine @joeo10 @mcc @funkwhale @ryno

but over time, that ownership can be consolidated. it will just take more time/money.

Show threadPaulDavisTheFirstOct 16, 2023
@wjmaggos @shine @joeo10 @mcc @funkwhale @ryno not if the ownership is 15000 musicians. and not if you cannot sell ownership other than back to the conglomerate.
Show threadDanSep 28, 2023
@wjmaggos @joeo10 @mcc @funkwhale @ryno LBRY could have been well positioned here (though I know blockchains aren't popular in these parts) but the SEC destroyed the company and made the legal status of the system unclear.