Bandcamp has done what every music streamer should’ve done two years ago: It has banned AI-generated music. Becoming an AI-free space in an online landscape riddled with slop, Bandcamp announced it would be banning the plagiarized computer tunes that have begun to pad out Spotify’s all-important Discover playlists. Thankfully, we don’t have to subject ourselves to it. Rather than argue with people who prefer the approximation of music over the genuine article, Bandcamp made its position clear. Earlier today, the company announced on its subreddit that it had revamped its guidelines for generative AI in music. The company, which wants “musicians to keep making music, and for fans to have confidence that the music they find on Bandcamp was created by humans,” has banned any music and audio “generated wholly or in substantial part by AI.” Additionally, it prohibited any use of AI tools to impersonate other artists or styles, a policy that is “in accordance with our existing policies prohibiting impersonation and intellectual property infringement.”
Last November, the French streaming service Deezer announced that 50,000 AI-generated songs were being uploaded every day and that 97% of people “can’t tell the difference.” Spotify was way ahead of them, having already partnered with major labels to develop “responsible” AI products—namely because an AI-generated band called “The Velvet Sundown” swindled more than 264,000 listeners on the streamer (and a computer won’t complain about residuals). The company has also come under fire for allowing AI-generated clones of real bands, such as King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, to flourish on the platform. For their part, King Gizzard left due to Spotify’s investments in “AI military drone technology.” Now that’s what we call a music-first company.
