Companies die through dynamism all the time in a healthy economy. Why would one dying because of its poor relationship with workers be any worse? The org dies, the workers move on and attempt to unionize elsewhere. The time to protect Bandcamp was before they sold and became beholden to a new owner.

There are 9 million open jobs in the US currently, as a data point (latest jobs and JOLTS report).

The story at Bandcamp involves:

  1. the employees (and ex-employees) of the company
  2. the artists who put their work on the platform

There is currently no seriously viable alternative for the #2 group that offers anything remotely equivalent.

It’s unfortunate. An opportunity for a new org if Bandcamp dies. Looks like a bunch of folks are available for such an enterprise.

It's not really about the technology - that could likely be assembled in very short order. Platforms like this are intimately tied up in network effects, as well as platform inertia.

There absolutely needs to be another company that take its place