Bandcamp, the direct-to-fan platform, has been sold by Epic Games to Los Angeles-based company Songtradr. Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, had acquired Bandcamp just 18 months ago. The acquisition by Songtradr will allow Bandcamp to continue its growth as a music-first company and enable Songtradr to expand its capabilities in supporting the artist community. Songtradr intends to operate Bandcamp as a marketplace and music community with an artist-first revenue share approach.
In other news, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl participated in a Q&A session at the Code Conference, where he discussed artificial intelligence (AI) in the music industry and the continued relevance of traditional music labels. Kyncl, who joined the music industry from YouTube, has been advocating for price hikes at music streaming services. He highlighted the importance of labels in the current music ecosystem.
The court battle between the estate of Ed Townsend and Ed Sheeran over copyright infringement claims has come to an end. The Townsend estate claimed that Sheeran’s hit song “Thinking Out Loud” copied Marvin Gaye’s iconic 1970s R&B song “Let’s Get It On.” The jury ruled in favor of Sheeran, and the Townsend estate subsequently withdrew their motion for appeal.
Additionally, the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) Mid-Year 2023 Latin Music Report revealed that Latin music generated $627 million in gross revenues in the US in the first half of the year. This represents a 14.8% year-over-year increase in Latin music revenues. Latin music’s share of overall US recorded music revenues also grew from 7.1% in the first half of 2022 to a new high of 7.5% in the first half of 2023.
Lastly, BMG has made a “landmark” catalog deal by acquiring the recordings catalog of rock band Jet in Australia. The deal gives BMG the recorded music rights for Jet’s initial two albums, while Warner Music Group continues to own the rights for the rest of the world. BMG also acquired the artist’s royalty stream for those albums worldwide, as well as the global recorded rights to Jet’s third album.