Bandcamp has long been recognised as an alternative to streaming services like Spotify that supports artists and allows you to purchase music directly from the artists. By establishing Bandcamp United, employees at the online audio retailer owned by Epic seek to guarantee that they receive the same treatment as the company’s producers. The majority of employees are in support of unionising, according to Rolling Stone and TechCrunch, and all 62 of its non-managerial and non-supervisory employees in the US will make up its bargaining unit. The 62 employees who make up the platform’s support team, designers, engineers, authors, and other positions.
It appears that since last summer, members of Bandcamp have been discreetly putting their organising plans into motion. They ultimately made the decision to join the Office and Professional Employees International Union’s Tech Workers Union Local 1010, the same organisation that assisted full-time Kickstarter employees in organising back in 2020. According to the organization’s mission statement posted on its website, Bandcamp United seeks to eliminate wage gaps and advance “equitable conditions and economic stability.” Workers should be able to take advantage of paid time off, and their pay should “increase to meet economic necessity,” according to the organisation.
According to Rolling Stone, they’re also attempting to rectify management’s lack of candour following Epic’s purchase a year ago. After the Fortnite developer acquired the platform, it was allegedly requested that employees sign new employment contracts, and they were given a constrained period of time to study them with little chance for negotiation.
Business management is “aware that some… employees are looking to organise a union and [is] evaluating the petition to understand their concerns,” Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond told the media. In order to administer a union election, Bandcamp United has already submitted a petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and will hold one as soon as it is approved.
