Artist-oriented music marketplace Bandcamp has been acquired by Epic Games, the developer behind popular video games like Fortnite and Unreal Engine.

In a note posted on the Bandcamp website, co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond assured users that the move will not impact the the company’s business model.

“Bandcamp will keep operating as a standalone marketplace and music community, and I will continue to lead our team,” he explained. “The products and services you depend on aren’t going anywhere, we’ll continue to build Bandcamp around our artists-first revenue model (where artists net an average of 82% of every sale), you’ll still have the same control over how you offer your music, Bandcamp Fridays will continue as planned, and the Daily will keep highlighting the diverse, amazing music on the site.”

“Bandcamp Fridays,” the running promotion that gives 100%  of proceeds to artists on select Fridays, began back in March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic when touring ground to a halt. Even as large-scale concerts began to re-emerge in 2021, Bandcamp continued to forgo its revenue on the first Friday of every month. Bandcamp previously announced its plans to continue the promotion in 2022.

As Diamond continued, “Behind the scenes we’re working with Epic to expand internationally and push development forward across Bandcamp, from basics like our album pages, mobile apps, merch tools, payment system, and search and discovery features, to newer initiatives like our vinyl pressing and live streaming services.”

“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,” Diamond added. “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.”

To read the full letter about Bandcamp’s acquisition by Epic Games, click here.