Bandcamp bans AI music outright, while Spotify struggles
Bandcamp has taken a clearer stance than Spotify regarding AI music.
- Bandcamp has banned music wholly or substantially generated by AI on its platform.
- This follows months of user feedback on its Reddit posts.
- Meanwhile, Spotify tries to reassure its subscribers that it does not create, own, promote, or penalize AI music.
Following months of unofficial online consultations with its users, Bandcamp has taken the bold decision to ban AI music on its platform. This was recently clarified in a Reddit post, where the company laid out its policy on generative AI. This states that “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.”
Bandcamp is encouraging its users to flag any suspected AI content by using its reporting tools. Its team of moderators will then assess whether any flagged audio has broken its updated generative AI policy. The company reiterates that it reserves the right to “remove any music on suspicion of being AI generated.” Judging by Reddit sentiment, this decision has been met with overwhelming praise and adoration. Redditor G0ldlibarm posted, “Bandcamp continues to be the best place to post your music”, receiving hundreds of upvotes.
Who are these people?
On the other side of the fence, Spotify continues to struggle justifying the surge of AI content on its platform. The subreddit r/truespotify is awash with subscribers complaining about the prevalence of AI music. In particular, users are finding an increasing number of AI-generated tracks in their Discover Weekly and Release Radar playlists. Redditor PureRushPwneD states that “there were two more AI songs in my discover weekly, so 7/30 songs.. just gradually becoming more and more at this point.”
To many listeners’ frustration, Spotify does not provide AI filtering. TechRadar recently sought clarification from Spotify about why AI music still appears in its ecosystem. In response, Spotify stated that “…it’s not always possible to draw a simple line between ‘AI’ and ‘non-AI’ music…Spotify does not create or own any music, and does not promote or penalize tracks created using AI tools.” This last sentence falls short of the clearly-marked lines from Deezer, Bandcamp, and other music streaming services. Spotify must implement comprehensive AI music policies, like those of Bandcamp, to reassure human artists.
