Fuck AI, Long Live Vinyl: Bandcamp’s Stand, Luminate’s Data, and Songs That Don’t Suck
What’s up friend!? Welcome back to Songs That Don’t Suck. I’m your host, Mark—and before we dive into this week’s hand-picked tracks, we need to talk about two very big things shaking the music world right now:
- A rare and glorious anti-AI stand from Bandcamp
- A mountain of eye-opening 2025 music industry data from the absolute data behemoth known as Luminate
Let’s get into it. 🎸
Bandcamp Says “Nope” to AI Music 🤖🚫
Bravo, Bandcamp. Seriously. In an era where platforms are tripping over themselves to “embrace innovation,” Bandcamp did something radical: they protected artists.
Here’s the TL;DR of their new policy:
- ❌ Any music generated wholly or substantially by AI is banned
- ❌ AI tools used to impersonate real artists or styles are strictly prohibited
Bandcamp framed it perfectly—this is about preserving a “vibrant community of real people making incredible music.”And honestly? When you scroll Bandcamp on any given day, the sheer volume of actual human creativity is staggering.
Elsewhere, it’s… messier.
- Spotify has rolled out some AI protections, but still struggles with fake and low-effort AI uploads.
- Apple Music is dabbling carefully, mostly using AI for playlist curation.
- And yes, the AI-generated artist Xania Monet even cracked the Billboard charts.
Bandcamp’s move might seem small—but it matters. Especially when you consider they paid out $19 million to artists in 2025 alone. That’s real money going to real musicians in an increasingly weird indie landscape.
Luminate’s 2025 Data Drop: Streaming Isn’t Dead—It’s Just Tired
If there were a dream job where music and data collide, it’d be working at Luminate. These folks process 4 terabytes of data daily, tracking:
- 19 billion audio streams per day
- 15 million artists
- 20,000 films and TV shows
- 500+ data sources across 60+ countries
So… what did they see in 2025?
📉 Streaming Reality Check
- Global on-demand audio streams: +9.6% growth
- U.S. streaming growth: just +2.6%
That’s not a crash it’s a mature-market stall. Streaming didn’t die. It just stopped being the center of the universe.
Artists winning today aren’t living only on playlists. They’re showing up in:
- Film
- Gaming
- Broadway
- Netflix
- Fortnite
Case in point:
- Led Zeppelin saw a +16% catalog boost from a Netflix documentary
- Ariana Grande got a +5.5% streaming lift just by existing inside Wicked on Netflix
“Turns out the future of music looks suspiciously like the past including albums, movies, specific scenes and moments… just with better analytics and worse contracts.”
📊 By the Numbers (Brace Yourself)
- 106,000 new ISRCs delivered every day
- 96.2% from independent/DIY distributors
- 88% of all tracks have 1,000 streams or fewer
- Only 29 songs hit 1B+ streams globally
- 57% of U.S. streams are older than five years
People still love proven songs:
- Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams still charting thanks to TikTok
- Goo Goo Dolls’ Iris surged again via Deadpool & Wolverine
Genre Check: Rock Is (Once Again) Not Dead 🎸
- Rock streaming up +6.4% YoY in the U.S.
- #2 genre overall in U.S. streaming
- Biggest growth markets? Asia—Canada, Thailand, Indonesia
Rock never left. It just waited.
Physical Media: Vinyl Keeps Winning 🖤
- 19th straight year of U.S. vinyl growth
- 47.9M units sold (+8.6%)
- 40% sold at indie record stores
- Direct-to-consumer now 13.6% of physical sales
Turns out people like owning things that matter.
AI Music: The Stat That Hurts
- 45% of listeners feel uncomfortable with AI-created original music
That number should be higher. Way higher.
My stance hasn’t changed: fuck AI.
Now let’s talk about real music.
Honorable Mentions This Week
- Peter Gabriel is releasing new music monthly on the full moon—because of course he is. The follow-up to I/O is O/I, and the first track Been Undone is classic Gabriel magic.
- Mumford & Sons drop The Banjo Song. Also, being a fan of Ted Lasso means Mark Mumford’s voice now triggers pure joy.
- The Black Crowes return with Propane Prophecy and Pharmacy Chronicles. High school nostalgia, upgraded for adult ears.
Songs That Don’t Suck – This Week’s Picks
🎧 007 – L0L0
Pop-adjacent with sharp production and fun lyrics. Big late-’90s POE energy. Studio polish meets pop-punk attitude.
🎧 Claritin (Audiotree Live) – Runner
Recorded live via Audiotree Live, this track features a sax moment that triggered some serious Dave Matthews Bandnostalgia. Organic, raw, and deeply human.
🎧 New Kind of Lonely – Amigo the Devil
Just voice, guitar, subtle keys—and what sounds like the outside world bleeding in. Heartbreaking in the best way.
🎧 Song for Mia – Saint Agnes
Industrial intensity meets an exposed, beautiful vocal. Imagine Nine Inch Nails energy with less distortion and more vulnerability.
🎧 Blah Blah Blah – LYR
Spoken word meets dark pop. A meditation on media overload that weirdly echoes Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen. Not for everyone—but absolutely worth your time.
And that, my friend, is it.
Thanks again for listening—and as always, go out and support these artists. ❤️
