Bandcamp is placing a ban on AI-generated songs, the company announced in a Reddit post on Tuesday (Jan. 13). Specifically, Bandcamp is no longer permitting songs that use generative AI in all or a “substantial part” of their process on the platform. It also noted that it does not allow the use of any AI tools “to impersonate other artists or styles.”
It is not clear how Bandcamp will determine which songs use AI substantially and which do not. A spokesperson for Bandcamp has not replied to Billboard’s request for comment on the specifics of this new rule.
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Often, platforms that wish to track AI use in music do so by implementing an AI detection tool or a consistent manual review of the platform by a team of content verifiers. Though little is known about how this policy will be policed, Bandcamp did urge users in its Reddit post to “please use our reporting tools to flag the content for review” by the Bandcamp team to help them monitor the site.
This makes Bandcamp the first online music listening platform to ban full and “substantial” use of AI in music, but the announcement builds on recent news that iHeartRadio is now banning AI songs on its radio stations nationwide through a new program called “Guaranteed Human.” Launched in late November, the company has since removed so-called “AI artists” like Xania Monet, who made headlines last year for being the first-known significantly AI-assisted talent to sign a multi-million dollar record contract, from the airwaves.
Streaming services are still evolving in real time how they treat AI music. For example, this fall, Spotify tightened its AI policies to include a music spam filter, stronger impersonation rules and standardized AI disclosures. “This won’t be the end of the story,” explained Charlie Hellman, Spotify’s Head of Music, about the new policies. “AI is evolving fast.”
Of all the streamers, France-based platform Deezer has taken the strongest and most vocal stance on AI content to date. To provide transparency to users, Deezer tags all fully AI-generated songs on its platform, removes them from algorithmic and editorial recommendations and often posts updates in its evolving research efforts on the subject. So far, it has found that AI generated content is a growing problem. In January, Deezer claimed that it received 10,000 fully AI generated songs a day. By the end of 2025, Deezer counted up to 50,000 fully AI generated songs daily. It also found that up to 70% of all streams on these AI tracks were artificial.
Read the full reddit post below:
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
