Bandcamp Employees Form Union, Bandcamp United

Bandcamp employees in the United States have formed a union, according to an announcement made by Bandcamp United today.

The members, who come from various departments including editorial, design, support, and engineering staffs, are asking for “a fair and timely election” as they organize with the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 1010. In their mission statement, they stated that they joined the company because of their love for independent music and believe that the site should reflect its mission internally by offering an ethical and fair alternative to the streaming economy.

Bandcamp is not the only music industry company where employees have formed unions. Other relatively new unions in the industry include Moog, Secretly Group, and Spotify, as well as the Union of Musicians and Organized Workers. The union drive comes almost exactly a year after Bandcamp announced that Epic Games, the company behind the massively popular game Fortnite, had acquired the music platform for an undisclosed sum.

In a statement, Bandcamp United stated via Twitter, “We are Bandcamp United – a union of workers across all departments at Bandcamp committed to advocating for a better Bandcamp for all, including our international colleagues and the artists, labels, and fans who use the platform as well as ourselves.”

“Forming our union is critical to our ability to do our best work and make good on the promise and mission of Bandcamp to provide fair economic conditions, direct support, and transparency for ourselves and all of our users.”

“Today, we are announcing our union, affiliated with OPEIU Tech Union 1010, and calling upon Bandcamp and Epic Games leadership to grant us a timely and fair election.”

“If you would like to help, please spread this news far and wide, and visit http://bandcampunited.org for more suggestions and information, including our full mission statement.”

The formation of the union by Bandcamp employees is not surprising given the increasing number of workers in various industries organizing in recent years. The move is expected to give the workers more power to negotiate better working conditions and fair compensation from the company. The unionization efforts by music industry workers also reflect a growing desire for artists and workers to have more control over their work and their livelihoods.

For more information on Bandcamp United, visit their website here.