On Tuesday, Bandcamp announced on Reddit that it would now not permit AI-generated music on its platform. “Music and audio that’s generated wholly or in substantial part by AI will not be permitted on Bandcamp,” the corporate wrote in a post to the r/bandcamp subreddit. The brand new policy also prohibits “any use of AI tools to impersonate other artists or styles.”
The policy draws a line that some within the music community have debated: Where does tool use end and full automation begin? AI models will not be artists in themselves, since they lack personhood and artistic intent. But people do use AI tools to make music, and the spectrum runs from using AI for minor assistance (cleansing up audio, suggesting chord progressions) to typing a prompt and letting a model generate a whole track. Bandcamp’s policy targets the latter end of that spectrum while leaving room for human artists who incorporate AI tools right into a larger creative process.
The announcement emphasized the platform’s desire to guard its community of human artists. “The indisputable fact that Bandcamp is home to such a vibrant community of real people making incredible music is something we would like to guard and maintain,” the corporate wrote. Bandcamp asked users to flag suspected AI-generated content through its reporting tools, and the corporate said it reserves “the correct to remove any music on suspicion of being AI generated.”
As generative AI tools make it trivial to provide unlimited quantities of music, art, and text, this writer once argued that platforms may have to actively preserve spaces for human expression somewhat than allow them to drown in machine-generated output. Bandcamp’s decision seems to maneuver in that direction, but it surely also leaves room for platforms like Suno, which primarily host AI-generated music.
Two platforms, two approaches, one flood
The policy contrasts with Spotify, which explicitly permits AI-generated music, although its users have expressed frustration with an influx of AI-generated tracks created by tools like Suno and Udio. A few of those AI music issues predate the most recent tools, nonetheless. In 2023, Spotify removed tens of 1000’s of AI-generated songs from distributor Boomy after discovering evidence of artificial streaming fraud, however the flood just kept coming.
