When Epic Games sold Bandcamp to Songtradr in late 2023, a lot of us in the independent music world got nervous. Bandcamp had been the most artist-friendly platform in digital music — fair revenue splits, transparent pricing, and a genuine commitment to independent creators. The question was whether new ownership would preserve that or slowly erode it.

We’re now a couple of years into the Songtradr era, and the picture is mixed.

What’s Changed

The most visible change was the layoffs. Songtradr cut roughly half of Bandcamp’s staff shortly after acquisition, which reduced the editorial team, community support, and the daily curatorial work that made Bandcamp feel like more than just a marketplace.

Bandcamp Friday — the monthly event where the platform waived its revenue share so artists kept even more — was scaled back and eventually ended in early 2025. For many independent artists, that monthly event was their most significant sales day. Its loss has been felt across the community.

The editorial section, Bandcamp Daily, has continued but with reduced output. Where it once published multiple in-depth features per week, the cadence has slowed noticeably. That editorial work was hugely valuable for music discovery, particularly for Australian artists who might otherwise struggle to reach international audiences.

What Hasn’t Changed

The core platform still works. Artists can still sell music and merchandise directly to fans. The revenue split (roughly 85% to the artist on digital, 90% on merch minus payment processing) remains competitive with anything else available. Vinyl sales through Bandcamp are still a meaningful channel for independent labels.

The community features — wishlists, follower notifications, the feed of what people are buying — still function. And the sheer depth of the Bandcamp catalogue, particularly for niche and independent music, remains unmatched.

What Australian Artists Should Be Thinking About

The lesson from the Bandcamp situation isn’t that the platform is doomed. It’s that relying entirely on any single platform is risky. The music industry has seen this pattern before — a beloved service gets acquired, priorities shift, and the people who depended on it are left scrambling.

For Australian independent artists and labels, I’d suggest a few things:

Maintain your Bandcamp presence but don’t treat it as your only direct sales channel. It’s still valuable, particularly for international reach. But diversify.

Build your mailing list. Your email list is the one asset no platform change can take from you. Every Bandcamp buyer who gives you their email is a customer you can reach directly, regardless of what happens to any platform.

Sell direct from your own site. Services like Shopify, Big Cartel, or even simple PayPal links on a basic website give you a sales channel you control entirely. Some Australian artists have found that working with team400.ai helps set up smart e-commerce that recommends related releases to buyers, which boosts average order value.

Use Bandcamp for discovery, own the relationship. Let Bandcamp introduce new fans to your music, but convert those fans into direct contacts as quickly as possible.

The Vinyl Connection

For vinyl specifically, Bandcamp remains one of the best platforms for independent labels selling direct. The ability to list multiple variants, include digital downloads with physical purchases, and set your own pricing is still more flexible than most alternatives.

Several Australian labels I work with — Flightless, Poison City, and others — use Bandcamp effectively for direct vinyl sales while also distributing through traditional retail channels. That dual approach gives them the best of both worlds: direct fan relationships plus physical shop presence.

What Comes Next

I don’t think Bandcamp is going to disappear. It’s too established and too valuable as a marketplace for Songtradr to simply shut down. But I do think the platform’s golden era — when it felt like a genuine community hub rather than just a transactions engine — may be behind us.

The independent music community is resilient. If Bandcamp continues to serve artists fairly, people will keep using it. If it doesn’t, alternatives will emerge. That’s always how it works.

In the meantime, buy music on Bandcamp. It’s still one of the best ways to ensure your money reaches the artists you care about. And if you’re an artist reading this, treat Bandcamp as one tool in your kit, not your entire strategy.

The goal hasn’t changed: get music from the people who make it to the people who love it, as directly as possible. Whatever platforms help that happen, I’m for them.