G-Nitro

Bandcamp has posted to Reddit that they are prohibiting music that is created wholly or with subtantial use of AI on their platform. Full post with guidelines and how to report AI music.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BandCamp/comments/1qbw8ba/ai_generated_music_on_bandcamp/

#Bandcamp #Music

Jan 13 at 5:15pmWeb
Show threadG-NitroJan 13
I can confirm Bandcamp is taking reports seriously. I reported two artist pages since the announcement, and both are removed now.
Show threadG-NitroJan 13

Even got an email stating

"Hi there,

You recently submitted a Terms of Use report for content on Bandcamp. We are writing to let you know that the content has been reviewed, found in violation of our Terms, and has been removed from the site.

Thank you for letting us know,
Bandcamp"

Show threadMDMRNJan 13
@gnitro Nice!
Show threadFlyboyMJan 13
Hell yeah
Show threadJake in the desertJan 13
@gnitro good on them. THIS is correct
Show threadJared White (ResistanceNet ✊)Jan 13
@gnitro Hell yeah!!
Show threadfluffy 💜Jan 13
@gnitro finally, bandcamp does something other than quietly sit on their passive income source
Show threadTom Jan 13
@gnitro nice! 💪.
Show threadEmma Liv 🇨🇦Jan 13
@gnitro Bandcamp is great.
Show threadMike SmaleJan 13
@gnitro A big reason to consider being Bandcamp exclusive.
Show threadRJJan 13
@gnitro
as a human musician I approve!
Show threadZło To 🏴‍☠️ ᵗʰʳᵉᵉᶠᶦᵈᵈʸJan 13
@gnitro Interesting, I heard they themselves sell AI generated music
Show threadstefan (stefbun)Jan 14
@mattesilver @gnitro You see... Bandcamp does not make the music that is sold there. Its the users running their own stores. Think of it more of like something akin to itch.io

It was obvious that AI-Music would not spare their platform for sure. Finding it surely also is not the easiest task with how much music releases every day. Especially after they killed their editorial dept after that merger with songtradr.

Its good to see them take an honest stance against AI. Even though it surely is easy to get browny-points that way with the more and more negative perseption of AI and the slop that comes out of it.
Download the latest indie games

itch.io is a simple way to find, download and distribute indie games online. Whether you're a developer looking to upload your game or just someone looking for something new to play itch.io has you covered.

itch.io
Show threadLo Illetterato LettoreJan 13
@gnitro this absurd fear of anything AI is ridiculos.
Show threadwoe2youJan 14
@illetteratolettore @gnitro If someone couldn't be bothered to write or perform a song themselves, why should anyone bother to listen to it? Slop is by definition the most generic example of whatever medium it is, because it works by averaging out everything that already exists. It's incapable of ever being better than mediocre.
Show threadLo Illetterato LettoreJan 14
@woe2you @gnitro just because it is AI made, it doesn't neceasarily mean there is no human part in it. I can't write music, I couldn't tell a C from a D, but with AI I can finally create my songs, with lyrics I wrote but never could put in music. It is amazing and should not be downed.
And with AI you can try different styles and find the one that you like. With traditional music, you get what the musician decided you can have, just like closwd source software.
Show threadwoe2youJan 14
@illetteratolettore @gnitro There's lots of things I can do today that I couldn't do before, because I put time and effort into learning to do them. The result of that effort is what people want to see and hear. Authenticity matters to people.
Show threadLo Illetterato LettoreJan 14
@woe2you @gnitro AI is something new, something many people struggle to understand, that's why they are afraid of it. It happened before, with planes, with cars...it will happen again. Soon enough, AI will be something we wondered how we could have lived without. Authenticity is for the few, the majority of people just want something they enjoy. Banning AI is losing business and showing a very narrow mind.
Show threadwoe2youJan 14

@illetteratolettore @gnitro The people who are most against it are the people who understand how it works. Like I said, it averages out everything in its training data. It's literally impossible for it to ever be better than mediocre. It will never write a good tune, only bland middle of the road garbage.

Is that really what you want to aspire to? The only merit in creating something shit is the practice it gives you that eventually lets you make something good, but if you're just pressing a "make slop" button you're never improving at anything.

Show threadLo Illetterato LettoreJan 14
@woe2you @gnitro What I am saying is that AI gives to people with no skills the chance to create something they have in mind, something they always wanted to create but couldn't. It might be limited today, but those limits will disappear soon and nobody will be able to tell an AI piece from a human made one.
People will lose their jobs? Maybe, but that's the price of technological evolution. Those losing their jobs will be the mediocre ones. The good ones have nothing to fear.
Show threadwoe2youJan 14
@illetteratolettore @gnitro Those limits aren't going to disappear, we're already seeing model collapse because the training data now includes slop. The time before slop existed was the best it was ever going to get.
Show threadDec [{()}]Jan 14

@illetteratolettore @gnitro
But it's not an absurd fear of anything AI, it's Bandcamp telling certain forms of AI to get off their platform.

If you want to slop out something with Suno, you can still do that, and you can still try to sell it online. Just not on Bandcamp.

Show threadLo Illetterato LettoreJan 15
@dec23k @gnitro yes, of course. The guys at Bandcamp can do whatever they want with their platform. They are just another example of the AI scare that's happening. But banning users because they can't play a guitar, even though they are still creating music, is not good.
Show threadlabbatt50Jan 13

@gnitro

Bandcamp has always been a great Indie supporter. 👍 to them for taking a stand.

Show threadFrugalGamerJan 13
@gnitro I am SO GLAD. I was wondering what they were going to do in the long term, because I had noticed a growing addition of nonhuman music to the platform. Good on them, and it seems they're taking reports seriously so far.
Show threadinamruzuiJan 13
@FrugalGamer @gnitro well autocomplete generated
Show threadMegatronicThronBanksJan 13
@gnitro But .... ALL THE R&B WILL DISAPPEAR!!!!!
Show threadTheZorseJan 13

@gnitro

I've been wondering for a while if they take steps to block AI scraping.

Show threadCampbell JonesJan 13
@gnitro I LOVE BANDCAMP RAAAAAAH
Show threadTinDrumJan 14

@gnitro they have a union too!

https://www.bandcampunited.org

Bandcamp United - Home

We are a union of workers at Bandcamp - We are Bandcamp United.

Show threadKakurady (🔜 NFC, FE)Jan 14
@oscarjiminy @gnitro When Epic Games sold Bandcamp to Songtradr they initially engaged in union busting among layoffs, though eventually Bandcamp and the union were able to come to a satisfactory severance agreement https://union.place/@bandcampunited/111547481867059433
Bandcamp United (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image We are happy to announce that we voted yes (with a 100% participation rate!) on ratifying our severance agreement with Epic Games!

The Union Place
Show threadChis-R 🐟Jan 14
@gnitro Thanks for sharing. An artist I've followed recently (and bought a few records from!) appears to be getting more & more AI-generated, especially as they release more frequently. The text descriptions of the records are a bit of a giveaway (as well as the artwork) but I feel a bit cheated, because I genuinely liked some of the music but never really thought that it would have been AI-generated, and now there's a sour taste in my mouth about it.
Show threadDec [{()}]Jan 14
@chis_r @gnitro
This could get interesting for Bandcamp, if enough buyers start asking for refunds on purchases of releases that are under investigation for being AI generated.
Show threadChis-R 🐟Jan 14
@dec23k @gnitro Yeah I was curious about whether they'd refund or not. Coincidentally, Bandcamp responded to me about an hour ago (i.e. <24 hours from a report I submitted) saying they've taken down the artist. The music doesn't appear in my collection anymore. No mention about refunds. I'm fine with that (I probably spent $AUD6-7 on the 'artist' in total) but I can imagine a mass refund could be warranted in specific circumstances.
Show threadDec [{()}]Jan 14
@chis_r @gnitro
I only know of one artist whose work might have been fully or partially made using AI, that I might have bought on Bandcamp. I was slightly suspicious at the time, but the album was only €3.00 and I liked it enough that I felt it was worth the price, no matter what was used to make it.
Show threadsomething called BanurJan 14
@gnitro
Hell yeah :) No more Christian AI Metal
Show threadMarten A. Höhne Jan 16

@gnitro this is good news ✊ thanks for sharing

https://blog.bandcamp.com/2026/01/13/keeping-bandcamp-human/

Bandcamp’s Mission and Our Approach to Generative AI

We’re articulating our approach to generative AI so musicians can keep making music and fans can trust the music they find on Bandcamp.

Bandcamp Updates
Show threadJoshuaJan 29
@gnitro good, it just makes me sad when I find out a song was made using AI