Bandcamp operators ban AI-generated music on their platform
The operators of the music platform Bandcamp are banning AI-generated music. Music should be created by humans, they explain.
(Image: T. Schneider / Shutterstock.com)
Embrace or ban? The creative industry is currently grappling with how to deal with Artificial Intelligence (AI). The music platform Bandcamp has found its own way: Those responsible are excluding AI-generated music.
Music that has been “generated in whole or in substantial part by AI” is not allowed on Bandcamp, the team writes in a post on the Bandcamp platform. “We want musicians to continue making music and for fans to be able to trust that the music they find on Bandcamp was created by humans.”
In addition, the operators prohibit the use of AI tools to imitate musicians or music styles. Users are asked to report AI-generated music or sounds. Music suspected of being created with AI may be removed from the platform.
What to do with AI?
Creatives from a wide range of fields are currently looking for ways to deal with AI. It can make work easier. Opponents, however, fear a flattening of content, meaning that AI generators might compose pleasing but not innovative music – also because the algorithms are trained on existing works.
This, in turn, raises the question of copyright. In the USA, for example, authors have filed a class action lawsuit against the AI company Anthropic. In Germany, the AI company OpenAI has lost against the music licensing society Gema in the first instance. Finally, the use of AI can simply make artists redundant and thus take away their livelihood. As early as 2023, over 11,000 screenwriters in the USA went on strike for this reason.
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However, there are also companies in the entertainment industry that are proactively excluding the use of AI. For example, Kevin Rountree, CEO of Games Workshop, the manufacturer of the tabletop game Warhammer, has explicitly forbidden his employees from using AI. Rountree relies on human creativity and has hired more creatives. The Belgian video game studio Larian has responded to criticism from its fan community and decided not to use AI-generated content in the concept development for the game “Divinity”.
(wpl)
