After months of watching streaming platforms get flooded with algorithmically generated tracks, Bandcamp has finally drawn a clear line: AI music is no longer welcome.
The company announced on January 13 that it is banning music and audio that is created wholly or substantially by generative AI. The move comes as services like Spotify and Deezer struggle to deal with an explosion of synthetic content — from fake psych-rock and metalcore bands quietly racking up streams, to AI impersonators replacing real artists on artist pages. Deezer recently said that more than 50,000 AI-generated tracks are being uploaded to its platform every day, now making up roughly a third of all new music.
Bandcamp’s stance is a sharp contrast to that hands-off approach. Instead of trying to quietly “manage” AI content, the platform is framing this as a cultural and ethical issue: Bandcamp wants to remain a place for people, not software.
In a post to the Bandcamp subreddit, the company explained its reasoning:
“Something that always strikes us as we put together a roundup like this is the sheer quantity of human creativity and passion that artists express on Bandcamp every single day. 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.
Today, in line with that goal, we’re articulating our policy on generative AI. We want musicians to keep making music, and for fans to have confidence that the music they find on Bandcamp was created by humans.
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… We reserve the right to remove any music on suspicion of being AI generated.”
The policy also encourages users to report releases that appear to rely heavily on generative AI, and gives Bandcamp broad discretion to remove content even when it’s only suspected of being machine-made.
For a platform built around direct artist support, physical merch, and niche scenes — including metal, punk, experimental, and underground genres — the decision feels more existential than technical. Allowing unlimited AI uploads doesn’t just clutter search results; it undermines the idea that music is a human practice tied to effort, identity, and community.
In an era where other platforms are hesitating, hedging, or quietly overwhelmed, Bandcamp’s ban is a rare, simple statement: this is a space for human creativity, and they intend to keep it that way.
