When Epic Games took over Bandcamp back in March 2022 for an undisclosed sum, there were many questions from existing users of the music site. What changes would their new owners implement? Would Bandcamp’s clunky and awkward user interface finally be given a much-needed overhaul? And what would be Bandcamp Friday’s fate?

It didn’t take long for us to find out the answers to these questions – the new owners apparently intended to keep things running in much the same way as before. If Epic Games held any real interest in their acquisition, they had a funny way of showing it – the recent addition of a playlist feature was added onto the iPod all the way back in 2003.

Probably more surprising, however, was the fact Bandcamp Friday continued to be a thing. On the first Friday of almost every month since April 2020, Bandcamp wouldn’t take its usual cut from sales. What was meant to be a short-term way of helping out artists who’d been financially decimated by the pandemic curiously still lingers on over three years later.

As another Bandcamp Friday gets underway today, it begs the question – what will new owners Songtradr do with the now tradition? Although the pandemic itself isn’t over, clubs and the music scene have opened back up again – the conditions that brought Bandcamp Friday to life no longer exist.

So, what does the future hold? We spoke to a well-connected source within Bandcamp – and they said “As I understand it, Songtradr haven’t made a final decision on Bandcamp Friday’s future. From what I can see, they’re taking a close look at everything. An email went out a few days ago confirming the next batch of dates, and I think they’re likely to honour that. After that? Nothing is ruled out.”.

That would be this email, which arrived in the Ears To The House inbox last Friday…

Whilst another pointed out that “Bandcamp Friday has become part of the site’s fabric by now. It drives up sales on the day, but it also drives up sales the rest of the time too. How much business sense there would be from ditching it now is a difficult question. Songtradr will probably take their time on this.”.

After today, future scheduled Bandcamp Fridays include November 3rd and December 1st. As for 2024? We shall see…