good decision, also good decision to not ban all music with ai in it. like, we got so many pedals nowadays. live pitch correction? like wtf. how is that not ai. as long as there is some human pouring their blood, sweat, tears and soul into the music, that is what i want to hear.
Good on them on recognizing that slop is undesirable and shouldn’t be encouraged, but that a full ban also kills the nuance of creative freedom and creates painful situations where a single AI tool anywhere in the process (even indirectly) gets hard work rejected, which could hamper aspiring creatives in their ability to (start to) get their work out there and (start to) make a living when they are not what (most) people have issue with.
I liked the part where you read the article and recognized it specifically mentioned the opposite of every potential negative you stated
Not quite sure what you’re trying to say. The article literally says:
Bandcamp’s policy targets the latter end of that spectrum while leaving room for human artists who incorporate AI tools into a larger creative process.
Which is what I’m applauding and affirming, so I’m not sure what you’re saying I’m saying is opposite to what the article says.
Ya love ta see it!
Fuck yeah.
Keep it up bandcamp. We are all waiting for when you enshittify like everyone else but you’ve held it at bay so far.
They gave us a scare over the years, being sold around to companies that are famous for enshittifying platforms.
Epic sold the company when people unionized, and the next did a trick to not recognized the union and “hire” half of the staff (contrary to fire half of them).
The platform is not what has been 5 years ago, but it is still my favourite place to get music around.
I’m glad they did this. Confident in my choice to remain with Bandcamp.
Totally agree. I just wish I had more money to spend with Bandcamp. :D
What’s a good way to discover artists on Bandcamp? Most artists I listen to at the moment are with the usual big labels and don’t sell on Bandcamp.
maybe someone [who is not me because i am done being a mod] could make a “hey i found this neat song/album/artist/genre/existence on bandcamp” community because i would for sure sign up and comment and share songs
- read Bandcamp’s writeups. Sometimes they do a deep dive into a genre, city, or band. https://daily.bandcamp.com/
- if you find something you like, scroll down and there’s other users who bought it. Peek into their collections
- if you scroll down further on an album, there will be more recommendations
- you can search by genre or tag, too
This is the best answer! Thank you for sharing your methods. I was going to reply about the daily editorial, but yours is more complete.
I would also like to add that I type the name of things I like and often find them on bandcamp. Including big artists.
Peter Gabriel, Evanescence, Run the Jewels, Flight of Conchords, Ghost…
What I don’t find there, I get from a thrift store (easy to find famous artists there) or quobuz.
There are a couple of methods that I use to discover new artists on Bandcamp. First, you can search by genre on the site itself, which will give you a listing of artists in that genre. Grab a glass of your preferred beverage and spend some time checking them out - each artist’s page has samples of their music that you can stream for free (most have entire albums that can be streamed). I have found tons of artists that I love just by doing this very thing.
The second method I use is Music Map which lets you put in your favorite artists and then shows you other artists with a similar sound (which you can then look up on Bandcamp). It can be really hit or miss, but I’ve found a few artists I like this way.
Hope that helps - have fun listening to new tunes! :)
I’ll often find something interesting and look through the collections of other people who also have the album. Another way is to just start in the genre sections and browse.
Here are a few varied suggestions, no specific genre since I don’t know your tastes:
https://boyharsher.bandcamp.com/album/country-girl-uncut https://idlesband.bandcamp.com/album/tangk https://williethrasher.bandcamp.com/album/spirit-child
Try searching by tags within genres that you like.
N-th the suggestion to creep on people who buy the same stuff as you. There’s a lil grid of their pfps, I click on a cool one and check out the stuff they listen to that I haven’t
Not answering your question exactly, but finding community (non-commercial) radio shows in your local area that you like is a good way to find new music. Find a few shows/presenters that play music/genres you like and they should play local artists that you might not have heard. They’ll also mention upcoming gigs etc.
c. Find a few shows/presenters that play music/genres you like and they should play local artists that you might not have heard.
I love option c. I’ve been going to the music shop and buying stickers, then looking up the bands whose stickers i’ve bought and going to their shows. most of the bands are, uh, well the bands i was in at that age sucked and they’re a little better than we were. but like $5 concerts, you can’t be mad even if the music sucks
That’s definitely one of the more unique methods of finding new music haha
Just watch, we’re two weeks away from some tech bro trying to start a Clankercamp website. The best part is that no one except other tech bros will care.
They do already, and most of the comments on the noise are “please share promp”.
I really hope they do. I hope the build their own websites to host all of there slop and self-segregate. Please do it. It would be so easy to add a couple of slop domains to my pihole.
Suno.com is basically this. It even allows users to comment on the songs.
I hope more platforms ban this useless spam.
Oh, I need to get back into Bandcamp
The next Bandcamp Friday is Feb 6 (Bandcamp foregoes their cut).
Bandcamp is where you want to be if you want to support artists. they get money when you buy things from them on there
Good.
And sure… People will obviously try to break this rule, and I’m sure some will succeed. But that’s true of any rule. Rules don’t prevent bad behavior, only deter it.
If anyone needs to bypass this ban, for $3 I will record 1 minute of yodelling so your content isn’t pure AI.
uh, i may want to collaborate. can i offer $20 for a 3-5 minute blues yodel (song pending, probably about a shower running out of hot water or a wife being too proud to borrow deodorant, album title A Complaint Letter to the Sea)
how do i pay you
Good luck to them.
Would be cool if bandcamp had a streaming subscription.
Thats not their model, and that model also sucks ass for supporting other humans.
I am one of those weirdos who likes to own my media. There are few of us geezers left, but luckily enough that bandcamp exists.
Just because the Spotify model sucks doesn’t mean it has to.
I don’t see a reason why 85% of a monthly subscription couldn’t given directly to the artists you actually listen to, and any albums your purchase is on the platform (and you get to keep the drm-free files).
Honestly it kinda sounds like an awesome service.
Edit: I’m one of those geezers too, who prefers to own my music. I just think there’s room for both.
The Spotify model sucks despite throwing money at it for years, so my guess is they surely can give you some reasons why 85% of your monthly subscription can’t be given to the artists you listen to.
Publicly traded companies are always going to turn to shit, the “Spotify model” is just appeasing shareholders with infinite growth.
So it stop being profitable?
You already can’t tell if a song is generated with AI.This is never going to work, watch them backpedaling in a year.
But there are clues. And those clues are part of the reason some people are opposed to it. Like 30 EPs released in a year.
I think there’s a place for AI music. There are plenty of instances where you need some vaguely musical audio filler. Hold music, shopping background, etc. Well bandcamp ain’t that place.
