AI music has become a big problem on streaming services. Remember the Velvet Sundown, the AI-generated psych-rock band from last year with hundreds of thousands of Spotify streams? Remember bands getting impersonated by AI-generated acts on Spotify? Spotify claimed it was cleaning up AI slop in September, but that doesn't seem to be going very well. Now, Bandcamp is banning AI music.
The platform made the announcement today via Reddit, writing:
Happy New Year, r/bandcamp!
Hope you all enjoyed the Holiday Guide (bandcamp.com/2025) and your 2025 Bandcamp recaps.
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.
Our guidelines for generative AI in music and audio are as follows:
• 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.
If you encounter music or audio that appears to be made entirely or with heavy reliance on generative AI, please use our reporting tools to flag the content for review by our team**. We reserve the right to remove any music on suspicion of being AI generated.**
We will be sure to communicate any updates to the policy as the rapidly changing generative AI space develops. Given the response around this to our previous posts, we hope this news is welcomed. We wish you all an amazing 2026.
Thank you.
Bandcamp Support
