Bandcamp banned AI-generated music in January and the indie world celebrated. But the decision also exposed a fault line that runs through every level of the music business right now: labels are cutting writing budgets, AI-generated tracks are flooding DSPs, and the artists who stand to lose the most are the ones still trying to break through.
Charles Johnson is President of BBS Entertainment Group and CEO of Kre8tive Distribution, an independent distribution and artist development company that handles catalog brokering, publishing deals, and direct-to-consumer growth for independent artists. Johnson sits in recording sessions with artists and also structures catalog sales on the business side, giving him a dual vantage point on how AI is reshaping the economics of music from both ends.
"From the artist's perspective, Bandcamp's ban felt like a victory. Hours of work by writers and musicians shouldn't be overlooked. But on the business side, AI saves money and accelerates output, which is very innovative," says Johnson. That tension shapes everything Johnson sees in the current market. He watches labels embrace AI for the same reason they adopt any efficiency tool: it cuts costs and produces faster. The problem is what that leaves for the people who actually write the music.
- Ghost sessions: The effects are already visible inside major label operations. "I have a lot of friends that work at some of these labels, and they've cut the writing budget to the point where writers are becoming obsolete," Johnson says. The cuts are not hypothetical or projected. They are happening now, and they are reshaping how records get made.
- Pool drain: Johnson estimates that roughly one in ten songs released through DSPs on any given day is AI-generated. Each of those tracks draws from the same royalty pool that pays human artists. "That's one song that's taking funds away from the pool where musicians begin to get paid." As detection tools become commercially available to identify AI content on streaming platforms, the scale of the problem is becoming clearer. But the financial damage compounds daily.
- First to fall: Johnson is blunt about who absorbs the hit. Established artists feel some effects, but they have catalog value, audience, and leverage. "It's the emerging artist. AI is going to make getting a viral song, anything that has to do with success, extremely hard." He points to Timbaland's AI artist experiments as proof of where the industry is heading: the project drew backlash but also significant streaming numbers on day one. "Labels have the money to do the partnerships and get the contracts. They're always going to ensure they're not getting the short end. It's the emerging artist that always gets hit."
Johnson does not think Bandcamp's decision will spread. From a business standpoint, the incentives point in the opposite direction. "Incorporating AI, you're getting faster product, you're saving recording budget. I think it's going to be an isolated situation." He suspects the ban reflects the personal values of Bandcamp's leadership more than a model other platforms will replicate. "Artists might go on social media and say they don't like it, but there's nobody fighting for it."
- Union card: That observation leads Johnson to what he thinks is the most practical path forward: organized representation for musicians, structured the way other professions protect their workforce. "The same way there are unions for truckers or any other profession, there needs to be something like a union for musicians," Johnson says. He sees this as the only mechanism that could create meaningful safeguards without relying on individual platforms to make moral decisions about AI. Companies independent of major label ownership and private equity would need to lead the effort.
- Use it, don't lose to it: In the meantime, Johnson advises artists to integrate AI strategically rather than resist it entirely. "If it takes you three or four days to come up with a record, you might want to incorporate AI so you can start pumping out records faster. Don't let it do all the work for you. But utilize it so you can be more effective, more productive."
Looking ahead, Johnson sees the industry moving toward monetization models that haven't been fully defined yet, from celebrity chatbots tied to subscription services to licensing structures still being negotiated. "They're just going to keep finding ways to partner around the likeness of musicians and athletes. The rabbit hole is going to keep getting bigger."
For now, the math is simple. Labels save money, platforms gain volume, and artists who can't adapt or organize risk getting priced out of their own profession. "Do I love the innovation? A hundred percent. Will it be detrimental to the artist within the next three to five years? A hundred percent."