Spotify steps up efforts to fight music streaming manipulation

Spotify’s ongoing effort to stop the purchase of streams or otherwise manipulate stream counts has accelerated in recent days, according to multiple sources.

Recent takedowns involving the AI platform Boomy were because Spotify detected streaming manipulation and not because the tracks were created using AI, as some outlets previously reported.

“When we identify or are alerted to potential cases of stream manipulation, we mitigate their impact by taking action that may include the removal of streaming numbers and the withholding of royalties,” Spotify said in a statement. “This allows us to protect royalty payouts for honest, hardworking artists.”

The tracks had been delivered to Spotify and presumably other streamers by Downtown-owned DashGo. Downtown also owns CD Baby.

There is no suggestion that Boomy or Downtown were directly involved in manipulating streams.

Music Ally is reporting that Spotify has also recently removed “a significant number” of tracks from sources other than Boomy.

How Does Spotify Define Streaming Manipulation?

The most common forms of streaming manipulation are buying streams from stream farms and paid playlist placements.

Spotify also sites these as examples: “unnatural or manipulative creation, design, formatting, track timing or other metadata,” 

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.