Artificial Streaming – Spotify for Artists

ARTIFICIAL STREAMINGAll you need to know about artificial streamingArtificial streaming is a problem across the music industry. But what exactly is it? How can you avoid it? And what is Spotify doing to tackle this issue?

WHAT IS IT?An artificial stream is a stream that doesn't reflect genuine user listening intent, including any instance of attempting to manipulate streaming services like Spotify by using automated processes (like bots or scripts). If left undetected, artificial streams dilute the royalty pool, shifting revenue from legitimate artists to bad actors. They also undermine the fair playing field that streaming represents.

The industry context

A growth story

Since the industry’s financial low point in 2014, streaming growth has turned the music industry around. In 2023, streaming accounted for two-thirds of global recorded revenue, with Spotify accounting for roughly a third of that.

Bad actors

As streaming payouts have grown to billions of dollars per year, bad actors have started trying to manipulate streams for their own financial gain, or to scam artists by promising increased stream counts in exchange for money.

Detecting and removing

Spotify invests heavily in detecting, preventing, and removing the royalty impact of artificial streams. We also charge labels and distributors when flagrant artificial streaming is detected on their content.

Services that seem too good to be trueMarketing and promotional services may target you on socials and via email with the promise of streams or playlist placements on Spotify and other streaming platforms – often in return for a fee. They’re scams and should be avoided.

They may claim to be able to get a song streamed, playlisted, or prioritized in Spotify’s algorithmic recommendations. None of this is true.

Many of these services use bots to stream a song on repeat, attempting to inflate the stream count.

Some services charge money to be “considered” for user playlists, but do not guarantee placements. Be highly skeptical of these services, as well.

The only way to grow your career on Spotify is by gaining legitimate fans who engage with your songs and invest in you as an artist.

Penalties and deterrentsSpotify strictly prohibits using any third party service that promises streams or playlist placement in exchange for money. These services violate Spotify’s Terms and Conditions of Use and User Guidelines.

We want to ensure that artificial streams have no benefit – and do not create any second-order negative impact on legitimate streams. We are always updating our systems to enforce these policies as quickly and thoroughly as possible. Spotify’s policy is that when we detect any artificial streams, the following penalties are applied:

Those streams do not earn royalties.

Those streams do not count toward public stream numbers or charts.

Those streams do not positively influence recommendation algorithms.

Depending on the severity of the artificial streaming detected, additional penalties can include:

Removal of the song from Spotify playlists

The distributor of the track, after being informed of the artificial streaming by Spotify, may issue warnings, charge a penalty fee, suspend the user’s account, or remove the music from Spotify

Removal of the track from Spotify altogether, In cases where the track appears to be primarily a vehicle to enable artificial streaming

Learn more

Artificial streaming in your dataLooking at your Spotify for Artists data can provide insights into whether artificial streaming is impacting your account.

If you see anything abnormal, please inform your label or distributor and share details of any services you’ve hired to help promote your music.

You can also notify us directly about any suspicious playlists your music has been added to.

Abnormal activity may include:

A sudden spike in streams for no apparent reason, followed by a drop off

An unexplained spike in streams from a location where your tracks haven’t previously been active

The majority of streams coming from unexplained or surprising sources of streams (such as “Other” or another streaming source that doesn’t make sense)

A sudden and short-lived increase in follower growth

Your questions, answered

If you’re looking to hire a 3rd party service to help legitimately market or promote your music, we strongly recommend researching the services and their methods of promotion to ensure that they do not engage in artificial streaming. Ask questions about their methods of promotion, and check out reviews from artists who have previously worked with them.

Some services charge money to be “considered” for their user playlists, but do not guarantee placements (which is strictly against Spotify’s terms and conditions). Be highly skeptical of these services, as these services may deploy artificial streaming tactics. Talk to other artists who have used the service, and search online for any reports from artists who hired these services and later were informed of artificial streaming.
If it feels like it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Any service that guarantees streams, Spotify followers, or playlist placement in exchange for money is not legitimate and should be avoided. If you’ve hired this kind of service, you may notice abnormal activity within your Spotify data such as a sudden unexplained spike in streams from a location where your tracks haven’t previously been active, or an unexpected spike followed by an immediate drop. Or, you may receive a warning or penalty fee from your distributor. These are all signals that the service you’ve hired is engaged in artificial streaming. If this happens, inform your label or distributor and share with them the name and details of the service you’ve hired. Your label or distributor will then be able report the info to the Spotify team to investigate the service further.
Spotify introduced a new deterrent to combat artificial streaming, effective April 1, 2024, charging labels and distributors per track when flagrant artificial streaming is detected on their content. (This charge is only applied for very high rates of artificial streaming per track.) We are able to fight artificial streaming once it’s attempted on our platform, but the industry would be better off if bad actors were disincentivized from uploading content to Spotify and other streaming services in the first place. We believe these charges will meaningfully deter labels and distributors from continuing to distribute the music of known bad actors that attempt to divert money from honest, hardworking artists, as well as deterring the bad actors themselves. These charges will support our continued efforts to keep the industry and platform free from artificial streaming activity.
In some cases, you may still see streaming spikes in your private Spotify for Artists data from artificial streaming, even though associated royalties have been withheld and public metrics (all-time track stream counts and monthly listener count) have been adjusted. In other cases, we can detect and remove confirmed artificial streams before they reach your Spotify for Artists dashboard — which means you may be informed by your distributor of artificial streaming activity, even though the streams aren’t visible in your Spotify for Artists. Either way, the royalty report from your label or distributor is the most accurate source of truth for understanding royalties generated from Spotify streams.
As part of these efforts to remove incentives for bad actors to engage in artificial streaming, we conduct daily cleaning to ensure artificial streams are removed from public numbers in the Spotify app.

Public metrics in the Spotify app — an artist’s monthly listener count or a track’s all-time stream count — are always adjusted to remove confirmed artificial streaming.

The impact of artificial streaming on an artist’s private Spotify for Artists data can vary: in some cases, we can remove confirmed artificial streams from your data before your Spotify for Artists dashboard refreshes; in other cases, you may still see artificial streaming spikes in your Spotify for Artists data, even though associated royalties may be withheld and public metrics adjusted.

In these cases, during the time period where artificial streaming is occurring, there will be a discrepancy between the accurate all-time stream number and the rest of the song data, which still includes some confirmed artificial streaming. You may also see discrepancies between the accurate monthly listener count and the rest of the audience data. When there is a significant discrepancy, you will see a message on your release page or audience page in Spotify for Artists notifying you.
We are aware that some services use bots to drive artificial streams of your music against your will, or without your knowledge. We deeply understand how frustrating that can be. If you see anything abnormal in your Spotify for Artists data, please immediately share information with your distributor or label, who will work with our team to review and hopefully resolve as quickly as possible. While our data shows this is a small minority of total artificial streaming activity, Spotify is committed to tackling these services and ensuring that legitimate artists are not taken advantage of.

You can also notify us directly about any suspicious playlists your music has been added to. We’ll then investigate further to see if the playlist has engaged in artificial streaming, before taking the appropriate action.
We share monthly reports with labels and distributors about confirmed artificial streaming on our platform. Based on those reports, your label or distributor may take actions like issuing warnings, applying a penalty fee, or, in flagrant or repeated cases, removing your content from streaming services or suspending your account. (We charge labels and distributors per track when flagrant artificial streaming is detected on their content — to incentivize them to better screen and educate their users, especially those with repeated violations. You can learn more about this policy here).
No. We want to make sure artificial streams receive no benefit. So when we identify confirmed cases of artificial streaming or stream manipulation, we always adjust public streaming numbers, and take measures to ensure the artist or song’s popularity is accurately reflected in Charts.
Artificial streaming is something we take seriously at every level. When we identify confirmed cases of artificial streaming or stream manipulation, we take actions that include the withholding of associated royalties, the correction of public streaming numbers, and measures to ensure the artist or song’s popularity is accurately reflected in our charts. Additionally, based on the severity of the artificial streaming activity, we may remove tracks from Spotify playlists. Spotify also charges labels and distributors per track when flagrant artificial streaming is detected on their content.
Fans inorganically streaming your music on loop or attempting to manipulate Spotify by using automated processes (e.g. bots or scripts) is behavior that you should actively discourage. Of course, you should encourage your fans to listen to your music on Spotify, but you should not encourage or support coordinated efforts from fans to stream your music inauthentically (e.g. sharing supposed tactics around how to avoid detection like streaming from certain playlists, making volume adjustments, or utilizing extra accounts within a Spotify Premium plan (such as Family or Duo) to exclusively stream a track). These tactics are broadly captured by our artificial streaming detection systems and can result in penalties. Your fans’ energy is better spent supporting you in other ways.

An industry wide challengeThe challenge of artificial streaming requires stakeholders from across the global music business to align as a united front.

Spotify is proud to be a founding member of the Music Fights Fraud Alliance – a global task force aimed at eradicating streaming fraud.

Learn more

Spotify for Artists MasterclassUnderstanding Artificial StreamingLearn what artificial streaming is, how you can avoid it, and what actions artists can take. Hear from experts at Tunecore and the Featured Artists Coalition as they discuss what Spotify and the music industry are doing to tackle this important issue.