Bandcamp, a major music distribution platform favored by indie artists, announced Tuesday that it would be “putting human creativity first” by outright banning AI-generated songs — and music aficionados are rejoicing.
According to the company, music and audio generated “wholly or in substantial part by AI” will no longer be permitted on the platform. Furthermore, using AI tools “to impersonate other artists or styles” is also “strictly prohibited,” representing a comprehensive crackdown on the tech.
With many a “hell yeah” and a simple “good,” fans have reacted to the measure with an outpouring of joy.
“This is how you do it,” wrote one user on Bluesky.
“This is one among many reasons it’s the best website for musicians,” commented another on Reddit.
For years, musicians and listeners alike have been frustrated with the proliferation of AI-generated music on streaming platforms like Spotify, which have largely turned a blind eye to the phenomenon.
Most of the AI songs are clearly spam intended to game the algorithm and rack up views and dollars. Some pretend to be actual human bands, like the AI-generated rock group the Velvet Sundown, deceiving listeners. Still bolder spammers have even tried to impersonate famous musicians, such as when prog rock band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard pulled their music from Spotify in protest of the platform’s stance on AI, only to be replaced by AI clones.
Spotify’s policies allow AI-generated music, and it’s only taken action against AI tunes in cases when scammers have used it to fraudulently farm listens for money. In September, Spotify announced new measures to combat spam and the impersonation of real artists, but frequent incidents like King Gizzard’s illustrate that the company is struggling to moderate against the influx of AI chum.
Now, Bandcamp’s drawing a clear line in the sand is being received as a breath of fresh air.
“We believe that the human connection found through music is a vital part of our society and culture, and that music is much more than a product to be consumed,” the company said in the announcement. “Today we are fortifying our mission by articulating our policy on generative AI, so that musicians can keep making music, and so that fans have confidence that the music they find on Bandcamp was created by humans.”
The company encouraged listeners to report AI-generated content, noting that it will “reserve the right to remove any music on suspicion of being AI-generated.”
As welcome Bandcamp’s stance is, it remains to be seen how enforcing this policy will play out in practice. It seems inevitable that there could be AI witch hunts that result in innocent casualties, and Spotify’s struggles show that even a multibillion dollar behemoth can be overwhelmed by the tide of AI slop.
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