Bandcamp employees were stunned to learn that some of them would not receive job offers from Songtradr. That day, the acquisition was publicly announced, and several Bandcamp employees said they began losing access to many systems needed for their jobs, leaving the platform operating with limited oversight.

Bandcamp customer support specialist Ed Blair and software engineer Blade Barringer say staff have received little guidance from Epic or Songtradr on how they are supposed to do their jobs without access to critical systems. When new support requests come in, Blair can see them but is unable to respond properly.

A Zoom meeting last week with Songtradr executives who said they wanted to keep Bandcamp artist-friendly didn’t provide much clarity. Platform staff were informed that Bandcamp was in a state of stasis during the transition, Blair says, a situation that was “really destabilizing” for workers.

The turmoil at Bandcamp could also be destabilizing for musicians and their fans. Epic’s acquisition of Bandcamp last year sparked concern among some artists, music lovers and industry groups, who feared that a platform solely focused on artists would change for the worse.

Bandcamp, founded in 2007, is loved by many artists because it provides a place where musicians can cultivate loyal fan communities and receive a generous share of music sales. Bandcamp pays artists 82% of each transaction, while Spotify reportedly pays a small fraction of a cent per stream. When Songtradr announced its acquisition last week, the Future of Music Coalition, a nonprofit music advocacy organization, posted on (formerly Twitter) that the company’s executives should “do what the great folks at Bandcamp have been doing for years: seek constant feedback from artists/labels in every iteration.” Don’t ruin this!