Bandcamp Downsizing

Details are scarce, but a Bluesky post has people once again wondering about the fate of Bandcamp.

https://bsky.app/profile/grmnygrmny.bsky.social/post/3mpgvo7l2v22t

Some are speculating that Bandcamp’s owner, Songtradr, has enough engineers to fill in the gaps and keep the service running. I would not be surprised if that were the case, and I don’t think this piece of news is necessarily an indicator that the service is shutting down, but nevertheless, it’s not a good thing.

TuneFountain has a piece on the layoffs, but unfortunately, they don’t have any more information than the rest of us. However, they do frame the potential scope of the losses well.

For musicians, this is not only about headcount. Engineers are part of the invisible machinery behind Bandcamp: checkout pages, payment tools, storefronts, security fixes and the small artist features that make the whole thing usable. When those teams shrink, artists notice the risk even before anything breaks.

Many of us count on Bandcamp. I use it to share as well as buy music. Although my subscription to Qobuz allows me to purchase songs and albums, they are often more expensive there than on Bandcamp.