"On 13 January 2026, Bandcamp published "Keeping Bandcamp Human", declaring that "music and audio that is generated wholly or in substantial part by AI is not permitted on Bandcamp", alongside a strict prohibition on AI-enabled impersonation of other artists or styles. The post invites users to report releases that appear to rely heavily on generative tools, and it explicitly reserves the right to remove music "on suspicion of being AI-generated"."
"Bandcamp's policy phrase - "wholly or in substantial part" - leans on exactly this flattening, implying a measurable cut-off point. Yet contemporary music-making already runs through predictive and algorithmic processes - pitch correction, time-stretching, transient detection, beat mapping, generative "assist" features buried inside plug-ins, to name a few. Some of these are marketed as AI today; many will become ordinary defaults tomorrow."
On 13 January 2026 Bandcamp announced a policy stating music and audio generated wholly or in substantial part by AI is prohibited and AI-enabled impersonation of artists or styles is banned. The policy invites users to report releases that appear to rely heavily on generative tools and reserves the right to remove music on suspicion of being AI-generated. The policy frames music as human cultural dialogue and positions musicians as vital members of community and culture, aiming to protect direct artist support against industrial scaling by generative systems. The policy depends on the unstable category of "AI music" while contemporary production already uses predictive and algorithmic tools like pitch correction and generative assists.
Read at The Wire Magazine - Adventures In Modern Music
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