“Based”: Musicians celebrate as Bandcamp bans AI music from its platformThe prevalence of AI-generated music on streaming platforms has been a major talking point in the industry over the last year. Many ‘real’ artists are voicing concerns that such music is both diluting the royalty pools from which they are paid, and diminishing the creative integrity of the music on these platforms in general.
Now, Bandcamp – which is famously friendly to up-and-coming artists looking to monetise their music – has made the decision to ban AI-generated music from its platform.

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In a post on Reddit, Bandcamp explains its reasons for massively clamping down on AI music, citing the “sheer quantity of human creativity” on its platform, and how its “vibrant community of real people making incredible music is something we want to protect and maintain”.
“We want musicians to keep making music, and for fans to have confidence that the music they find on Bandcamp was created by humans,” the company writes.
In the post, Bandcamp outlines two main guidelines for AI on its platform:

Music and audio that is generated wholly or in substantial part by AI is not permitted on Bandcamp.
Any use of AI tools to impersonate other artists or styles is strictly prohibited in accordance with our existing policies prohibiting impersonation and intellectual property infringement.

The second point comes as numerous artists as of late have criticised streaming platforms for allowing AI-generated music which is heavily inspired by or derivative of their music. In some cases, such AI artists generate more plays than the human artists on which they are allegedly trained or inspired by.
Back in October, Lucas Woodland – of Cardiff metal band Holding Absence – called it “shocking, disheartening and insulting” that AI artist Bleeding Verse – which he accused of being trained on his music – had more Spotify monthly listeners than his own band.
Finishing its note on Reddit, Bandcamp encourages its users to report music which sounds AI-generated for review by its team, adding: “We reserve the right to remove any music on suspicion of being AI-generated.”
“We will be sure to communicate any updates to the policy as the rapidly changing generative AI space develops,” it concludes. “Given the response around this to our previous posts, we hope this news is welcomed.”
AI Generated Music on Bandcamp byu/bandcamp_official inBandCamp

While many have accused Spotify of not doing enough to combat the spread of AI music on its platform, the company did reveal a plan in September to crack down on what it called “AI slop” in a bid to protect artists.
Still, AI music generators remain widely popular and a hotbed of investment and hype; in November, Suno raised $250m in its latest funding round, bringing the platform’s valuation to $2.45 billion.
That said, a study released the same month revealed that over 80% of music producers are against AI-generated songs – with 81% supporting the clear labelling of AI-generated music on streaming platforms.
Reddit users in the comments section have praised Bandcamp’s decision to ban AI-generated music from its platform, with one user writing: “Bandcamp continues to be the best place to post your music.”
Another replies simply: “Based.”
Head to Bandcamp to learn more.
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