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Online Music Store Bandcamp Bans AI-Generated Music

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Date Published
15 Jan 2026
Priority Score
1
Australian
Yes
Created
15 Jan 2026, 01:45 am

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Description

<p>"With this policy, we're putting human creativity first", the store said in a statement this week.</p>

Summary

Bandcamp, an online music store, has declared a ban on music that is partially or wholly generated by artificial intelligence. This decision reflects the store's commitment to fostering human creativity and maintaining the integrity of music as a human cultural expression. Bandcamp's policy explicitly prohibits the use of AI tools to impersonate artists or musical styles, aligning with its existing stance against intellectual property infringement. While the policy ensures that music remains a domain of human creativity, it also engages users by urging them to flag suspected AI-generated content. Although this move highlights a stance on AI use in music, it holds minimal direct relevance to existential or catastrophic AI risks.

Body

Online music store Bandcamp has announced it has banned music made with generative AI from its catalogue.In a blog update, the store said "music is much more than a product to be consumed"."It's the result of a human cultural dialog stretching back before the written word," the statement read.READ MORE: NSW set for drenching after dry spell to begin 2026Online music store Bandcamp says it has banned music made with generative AI. (Getty)"Bandcamp was built to directly connect artists and their fans, and to make it easy for fans to support artists equitably so that they can keep making music."The statement said shoppers needed to be able to be confident all music available on Bandcamp was created by humans."Music and audio that is generated wholly or in substantial part by AI is not permitted on Bandcamp," the statement read.READ MORE: Federal government issues passport warning to dual citizensAI apps are developing rapidly. (Getty)"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."They urged customers to flag any suspected AI music through reporting tools on the site, and that they reserved the right to remove music on suspicion."With this policy, we're putting human creativity first, and we will be sure to communicate any updates to the policy as the rapidly changing generative AI space develops," the statement read.DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.