With its emphasis on the artist and the revenue they should be entitled to, Bandcamp has surged forth as the destination for independent artists to sell their music and merch. Their Bandcamp Fridays initiative, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic, has put even more money into the coffers of the creators, leading to a lifetime revenue share of over $1.6 billion USD at time of publication.
With the rise of generative AI, fans have wondered what the platform would do about music which is created by large language models (LLMs) and prompts fed to them. In a statement released on Tuesday, Bandcamp has announced that they will not be allowing AI-generated music on their platforms, and have spelled out their policies on such, stating:
- 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 in accordance with our existing policies prohibiting impersonation and intellectual property infringement.
In the post, the platform recommends that users report content which they may suspect is AI-generated. Some have pointed to the rise of programs like Suno signing deals with Warner Records and what effects that such a move on Bandcamp's part may have on the music business moving forward. This is in contrast to platforms like Spotify, who have loads of issues with AI-generated artists despite updating their policies back in September 2025.
And that's before we get to our issues with such in our neck of the woods, with nu metal legends Coal Chamber having no less than two seemingly slop tracks posted to their page last fall.
In any case, the regulation of generative AI is still a developing story, as its use is becoming more widespread, despite the best efforts of actual creators. Seeing a major player like Bandcamp take a firm stance against it is a refreshing thing to see, as it seems like more and more latch onto the ChatGPTeat by the day.
