(CelebrityAccess) — Epic Games, the company behind blockbuster game Fortnite and the Unreal game engine, announced the acquisition of digital music store and discovery platform Bandcamp.
According to Bandcamp co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond, the company will continue to operate as a standalone marketplace and music community following the acquisition with company leadership remaining in place.
“Bandcamp’s mission is to help spread the healing power of music by building a community where artists thrive through the direct support of their fans,” Diamond added. “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.”
“Since our founding in 2008, we’ve been motivated by the pursuit of our mission, which is to help spread the healing power of music by building a community where artists thrive through the direct support of their fans. That simple idea has worked well, with payments to artists and labels closing in on $1 billion USD. And while over the years we’ve heard from other companies who wanted us to join them, we’ve always felt that doing so would only be exciting if they strongly believed in our mission, were aligned with our values, and not only wanted to see Bandcamp continue, but also wanted to provide the resources to bring a lot more benefit to the artists, labels, and fans who use the site. Epic ticks all those boxes. We share a vision of building the most open, artist-friendly ecosystem in the world, and together we’ll be able to create even more opportunities for artists to be compensated fairly for their work,” Diamond added.
Fortnite, which is Epic Games’ most successful title, has generated billions in revenue since launching in 2018. The game has also served as a platform for unique virtual concerts by recognized artists such as Travis Scott, and DJ/Producer Marshmello.
As well, multiple artists are selling branded in-game items through the game, including Ariana Grande, Travis Scott, Major Lazer, and soccer legend Neymar Jr.
