Bandcamp workers unveiled their union effort as Bandcamp United on Thursday, 16 March 2023.

The workers affiliated with Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 1010.

The online music platform that normally showers attention on artists is finding itself in the spotlight for a change. Workers at the company have come together as Bandcamp United to organize a vote to form a union, and the industry is taking notice.

The organizing action among the workers follows on the heels of a change in ownership. When the billion dollar video game behemoth Epic Games acquired Bandcamp in early 2022, many wondered about the future of the music site that had distinguished itself from rivals with its strong sense of artist-oriented purpose. In the industry of online music streaming, notorious for its corporate greed, Bandcamp consistently offered artists a bigger piece of the pie, among other gestures.

Does the formation of Bandcamp United reflect a worry from workers that the music site’s mission is in jeopardy? So far the fledgling union has not provided a detailed accounting of their demands, but the general outline is clear. The union demands:

“…fair, equitable, and sustainable conditions for all workers at Bandcamp. All workers deserve to be treated and valued fairly. We are also committed to holding Bandcamp accountable for delivering on its artist-first mission and to protecting and supporting our colleagues who speak up.”

A more detailed itemization of demands will have to wait on formal negotiations. First things first, the workers need to reach the negotiating table by forming a bargaining unit formally recognized through a vote governed by the legal principles enshrined in the National Labor Relations Act.

In summary, the process involves two major hurdles: (1) first, the petition for a vote to unionize and (2) second, the vote to unionize. Clear both hurdles and Bandcamp United is the officially recognized bargaining unit, which management must recognize as such, and with which management is legally required to negotiate in good faith for the purpose of hammering out a contract.

Based on Bandcamp United’s FAQ, it sounds like the first hurdle has been cleared (“We spoke to all of our colleagues before we went public to ensure we had a supermajority of eligible supporters.”). Though it’s not clear what exact percentage of support makes up the “supermajority.” If it’s a weaker supermajority, the organizers have more work to do and management might see ways to make clearing the second hurdle more difficult.

What will management at Bandcamp/Epic Games do? Well, it could go in a way like it did with the leadership at Major League Baseball, which agreed, in fairly short order, that the long-unrepresented minor league ballplayers deserved representation. Or it could go the way of Starbucks, Chipotle, and Amazon by digging in its heels and using all its leverage to squash its workers’ right to organize.

Which way will management go? Initial outlook does not look good. Bandcamp/Epic Games has allegedly hired the legal services of union-busting firm Foley & Lardner LLP. And NLRB filings indicate that union representation has already reported the following union busting tactics:

• 8(a)(1) Coercive Statements (Threats, Promises of Benefits, etc.)

• 8(a)(1) Interrogation (including Polling)

• 8(a)(1) Coercive Actions (Surveillance, etc)

The law is on Bandcamp United’s side: the right to organize is protected by law. But there’s a lot that corporate leadership can do to impede a free and fair union vote if it puts all its resources behind the effort. Look at the slow-motion car wreck at Starbucks with anti-union crank Howard Schultz at the wheel. 

On the other hand, the artists and fans might be a sneaky wildcard in this situation. With industries, companies, brands that build their value on a high degree of consumer goodwill, you sometimes see less bloodletting in labor negotiations. Artists and fans can stream their music elsewhere. They go to Bandcamp because it’s perceived as a “good guy” in the marketplace. How might that perception change if management can’t find a way to reach fair and equitable terms with its own employees? 

Time will tell, stay tuned.

If you’d like to get involved, you can here.

When we fight, we win.