The US music platform Bandcamp, a huge virtual storefront for legally published physical recordings and digital music files from all over the world, announced on Wednesday in an entry on the debate portal Reddit that it would no longer tolerate AI-generated music on the homepage.
The California-based company with annual sales of $268 million (2024) has always been a bastion of indie labels, independent bands and DIY artists who sell their music products on Bandcamp on a commission basis and achieve close target group loyalty through direct communication with fans.
This is vital for independent artists and bands in times of dwindling royalties and ongoing exploitation by streaming companies like Spotify and the diffuse market power of the three remaining major labels Universal, Sony Music and Warner. The so-called Bandcamp Fridays are particularly popular with fans, on which the US internet provider transfers all income to the labels, bands and artists.
Strictly prohibited
The decision to ban AI includes all “music and audio (pieces of speech) created in whole or in part using AI.” In the future, “any use of AI tools to imitate the style or profile of other artists and thereby undermine their copyrights” will be strictly prohibited. We also reserve the right to make adjustments and updates to the protective measures “since the world of generative AI is changing rapidly.”
The topic of AI has been discussed controversially on Bandcamp message boards in recent months. But you have to understand the decision with a view to the broligarchy and its right-wing libertarian sentiments. Moguls like Elon Musik and Peter Thiel are using AI like weapons to expand their monopoly in the techsphere.
This was accompanied by a request to users to immediately report violations of the protocol. The AI genie is now out of the bottle, so the sheer mass and their interaction should help stop abuse. Bandcamp is a commercial player, but its community involvement is comparable to the volunteer work done for the internet encyclopedia Wikipedia. The Bandcamp community is kept engaged on the website with differentiated reviews from well-known Anglo-American critics; In the absence of other critical reporting in many countries, this is a straw.
It’s also about art
The company justifies its drastic step as follows: They want to ensure “that musicians and bands can continue to pursue their art and fans can rely on the music offered to them on Bandcamp being man-made.”
A lot of creativity comes to light on Bandcamp every day. The sheer offering makes it clear with what passion the artists and band go to work and “what great music is created.” On Reddit, reactions to the AI ban were almost exclusively positive. “Music is art and art is human,” someone posted.