Bandcamp Union Busting

Topshelf Records recently tweeted that Bandcamp had contacted them to petition them to cease supporting the unionization of employees at Bandcamp. The thread is a worthwhile read and, certainly, a surprising one.

Bandcamp has always been a service that I admire. I've been a fan since the very early days, sing its praises often and leverage it as the primary hub for audience building on yk Records. Reading that they are working against unionization is disheartening and surprising. If any company is going to get the benefits of unionizing; it seems like it would be a company that helps independent musicians build a career.

The workers organizing to form the union - Bandcamp United - have not called for any action against Bandcamp; they're just working through the process of trying to establish their charter and not be squashed before things are even given a chance to begin.

This Game Developer piece has an update on the proceedings but I'm a little unclear on the timeline. The article is from Apr 6th with clear commentary from Bandcamp co-founder Ethan Diamond but the Topshelf Records tweets are from the next day. So, did Bandcamp contact Topshelf to ask them not to support the union after Diamond said Bandcamp was open to the union? Perplexing!

I was optimistic that Bandcamp being acquired by Epic Games wouldn't lead to much but I also knew that could be naive. It's all early days right now but certainly a topic to keep a look out for.