Bandcamp Bans AI-Generated Music From Platform

Bandcamp announced this week that it will no longer allow music created wholly or in large part by artificial intelligence on its platform. The direct-to-fan service made this decision to protect human creators and maintain fan trust in content authenticity.

The company posted its new policy on Reddit on Wednesday. "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 platform stated.

The rules prohibit any use of AI tools to impersonate other artists or styles. Suspected AI-generated content can be reported. The company reserves the right to remove tracks based on suspicion of AI generation.

Founded in 2008, the platform launched as a direct-to-consumer alternative to record labels. Artists like Peter Gabriel and Bjork have put their catalogs on the service. The site shows fans have paid artists $1.65 billion, with 76,532 records sold yesterday alone.

Epic Games bought the platform in 2022, then sold it to music licensing service Songtradr in 2023. Last month, the company revealed artists and labels have received $154 million through its Bandcamp Friday program since March 2020.

Other platforms face growing challenges with AI content.

Rock and metal platform ROKK announced in July it would not allow fully AI-generated content. Research in June showed 70% of AI music streams on its service were fraudulent, coming from automated accounts rather than human listeners.

"The fact that Bandcamp is home to such a vibrant community of real people making incredible music is something we want to protect and maintain," the platform said in its announcement. The company will update the policy as AI technology continues to develop.