By SIX_AM
October 11, 2023 at 5:06 PM PT
Battling the Fake Stream Epidemic: A Wake-Up Call for the Music Industry
In a world saturated with deepfakes, automated bots, and clever algorithms, the art of "faking it until you make it" has never been more accessible. The number of followers and streams that an artist amasses on their social media channels has become a potent form of digital currency, a force more influential than even the realm of cryptocurrencies. Yet, when these apparent "followers," "likes," and "plays" are artificially manipulated, they send ripples through the entire music industry landscape.
Recent reports unveiled a startling revelation, suggesting that certain criminal groups in Sweden were potentially using Spotify as a conduit for money laundering. Their scheme involved purchasing fake streams for artist profiles under their management. The deception occurring within music platforms is not a novel occurrence, but this particular case underscored the widespread and accessible nature of the problem. Spotify has officially stated that less than one percent of all streams are inauthentic. However, JPMorgan executives contend that this figure could be as high as ten percent, pointing to concentrated activity within streaming farms, as reported by the Financial Times. It's even been claimed that artists could rake in as much as $1,200 per month by continuously streaming their own songs, a tactic that Spotify vehemently denies.
Beyond tarnishing an artist's reputation and impacting their financial well-being, fraudulent streams also influence the way people consume music. These fake streams disrupt artists' algorithmic profiles, diluting engagement rates and consequently diminishing an artist's "recommendability." Furthermore, they throw a wrench into recommendation algorithms by providing misleading data, given that fake users exhibit different behavior compared to genuine music enthusiasts. These findings come from a report published in 2023 by the Centre de la Musique, a public-private initiative operating under the French Ministry of Culture.
Independent labels, in conversations with various sources, have shed light on the potential consequences of artificial streams on the music culture at large.
"Artificial streams, aside from generating income, possess a value akin to fake followers on social media," observed Driss Bennis, a co-founder of the Moroccan label Casa Voyager. "They create a 'hype,' a facade of popularity, which is particularly perilous in a time when promoters, labels, and gatekeepers, such as music journalists, are embracing these falsehoods as electronic music cultures merge into a singular, mainstream industry. This predicament might lead more labels down the path of acquiring fake streams and followers to maintain their visibility and allure, resulting in a vicious cycle."
Augusto Olivani, who is also known as Trepanado and heads the France-based Selva Discos imprint, specializing in Brazilian music, echoed these concerns. "It's not just fake streams but also fictitious headlines, counterfeit followers, spurious likes, and sham views that are plaguing the business. This contributes to the favoritism of so-called 'popular' artists who struggle to fill concert venues."
Both Bennis and Olivani acknowledged the complexity of addressing the issue effectively. "Certainly, Spotify can take action, but given the daily influx of approximately 60,000 new music uploads, it's akin to searching for a specific fish in a vast ocean—catching a few, but never all," remarked Bennis. Olivani concurred, drawing a comparison to the elusive "War On Drugs." "Cracking down on fake streams is akin to fighting a battle against an inexhaustible adversary. It's far simpler to capitalize on a 'farm' of plays than to decipher the origin and intent behind each play."
Ultimately, Bennis posits that the music industry should shift its focus to music sales, as these numbers are more reliable and make it easier to gauge the success of a release on streaming platforms.