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THE MACHINES ARE SILENCED: Bandcamp Draws a Line Against AI
Bandcamp, the platform for independent creators, is now officially against AI music.
On January 13, 2026, Bandcamp updated its rules to include a new directive banning AI-generated music, stopping the upload on the AI generated music which is taking share of human created songs.
For the dark alternative scene, where the use of electronic and machine elements has always been crucial, this isn't just a policy update but more of a move to ensure that music remains human-made.
The new directive, titled "Keeping Bandcamp Human," is a direct response to the "dead internet" phenomenon. The platform has clarified that any audio generated "wholly or in substantial part" by AI is now banned.
Bandcamp states that will not accept any AI Impersonation. Bandcamp has begun the procedures to remove suspicious content immediately, based on community reports to identify the non human music.
* from https://www.reddit.com/r/BandCamp/
While the mainstream seems to have adopted "algorithmic efficiency" the industrial and synth-pop scenes is still based on the emotional and the authentic. The increase of AI-generated content, often referred to as "slop", has begun to fill the "New Arrivals" tags for Industrial, darkwave, and EBM, making it harder for human artists to reach their old and new followings.
Bandcamp’s viewpoint describes them as the anti-corporate sanctuary. While Spotify and Apple Music are still accepting and experimenting with AI creators, Bandcamp is, again, supporting the human creativity and the connection between the artist and the listener.
There is still much to consider though, since many artists are heavily use algorithmic sequencers, generative modular patches, and AI-driven mixing tools, for years.
Bandcamp’s current policy targets Generative AI, rather than the utility tools (like iZotope or Landr) used by human producers to master their composition. However, the "substantial part" term remains an issue and an argument for most of experimental noise artists who use machine learning as a creative partner rather.
Beyond just removing tracks, Bandcamp has strengthen its Terms of Service against data scraping. This prevents AI groups from using the platform’s massive library of underground subgenres to train their models.
Info & Sources:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bandcamp
https://consequence.net/2026/01/bandcamp-bans-all-ai-music/
https://stereogum.com/2485199/bandcamp-bans-ai-music/news
