Do you think this sale was intended as a union-busting move? It sounds like they're not retaining staff with the sale, and this timing seems to match with Bandcamp's staff unionization efforts.
It was probably mostly about cash balance for the company. I once worked in a company that was a niche business but very profitable and with predictable cash flow. That made it very quick and easy to sell when needed, basically a tradeable asset. Twice in the space of a few years it was sold when the current owner wanted some cash and another had excess cash. Sounds like this is the case with Bandcamp.
In my middle management experience, being profitable and owned by a company that didn't share the business domain was best as they mostly left us alone as long as we were profitable. When they finally got bought by a similar business, that's when they tried (and failed) to merge jobs. I've since left but they've recently been spun out yet again.
These decisions take time to make. Not sure when the union efforts started though - but not sure how likely this would be as a result of those efforts..
Bandcamp workers voted in favor of a union in March 16th of this year. It was one year and a week after Epic acquired the company.
It's impossible to know what Epic is thinking know, or even when they bought BC, but 6 months sounds like how long it would take to sell Bandcamp off as a retaliation for unionizing.
In my middle management experience, being profitable and owned by a company that didn't share the business domain was best as they mostly left us alone as long as we were profitable. When they finally got bought by a similar business, that's when they tried (and failed) to merge jobs. I've since left but they've recently been spun out yet again.