Image via Bandcamp

The rise of generative artificial intelligence has led to an unmistakable deluge of AI filler on digital music platforms. These uploads have made headlines at their most egregious, including the Velvet Sundown raking in more than 500,000 monthly listeners for algorithmic psychedelia, Breaking Rust’s ascent to the top of Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s AI clone, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

In November, Deezer estimated that 50,000 completely AI-generated songs are posted to the streamer every day, accounting for more than 24% of total daily uploads. While announcing its new measures to crack down on “slop,” including a strengthened impersonation policy, a new spam filter and AI disclosures in song credits, Spotify disclosed that it has removed 75 million spammy tracks in the last 12 months. Yesterday, Jan. 13, Bandcamp took a stronger stance against this force of artificial nature, outright banning completely AI-generated music from its platform.

Bandcamp introduced its new position on AI-generated audio in a Reddit post, which detailed that the shift stems from reflection on Bandcamp’s community ethos and the “sheer quantity of human creativity and passion” on the platform while assembling its 2025 year-end roundups. “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 post continues.

To fortify its longtime status as a haven for independent musicians, Bandcamp articulated that uploads “generated wholly or in substantial part by AI” are not permitted, and that AI employed to impersonate other artists is “strictly prohibited” by existing intellectual property infringement policies. To enforce these guidelines, Bandcamp called on its community of listeners to report uploads that appear to be in violation for review by the platform’s support team.

Read Bandcamp’s full announcement in the blog post here. Read more about Spotify’s “King Lizard Wizard” AI clone, founder Daniel Ek’s investments in AI-enhanced weaponry and connections to the controversial Perfect Fit Content initiative here.

AI Generated Music on Bandcamp
byu/bandcamp_official inBandCamp