Artificial streaming on Spotify

Don’t put your music at risk!

As your trusted partner, we want to make you aware of illegitimate music promotion services that promise playlist placements or a guaranteed number of streams in exchange for payment.

These services often use artificial or misleading methods without clearly explaining how they work. In many cases, this can put your releases at serious risk. Streaming platforms want to ensure that streams reflect real listener interest. If a platform determines that streams were generated through artificial, fraudulent or deceptive methods, whether by you or by a third party acting on your behalf, it may take action against your catalog.

Spotify classifies a track as artificial if more than 90% of its streams within a month are determined to come from illegitimate sources . Streams identified as artificial are generally not paid out, and this can also lead to further action against your catalog.

This can include the withholding of streams or royalties, the removal of individual releases, or in severe cases, the removal of your entire catalog from the platform.

Examples of artificial streaming can include:

bots or automated plays
click farms
paid playlist placements with non genuine listener
services that guarantee a certain number of streams

If you are considering a promotion service, make sure to research it carefully before using it. Be especially cautious if a company promises guaranteed streams, guaranteed playlist placements or unusually fast results.

When in doubt, it is always better to focus on legitimate promotion strategies that build real and sustainable audience growth over time.

Here are few links you can check out for more information on artificial streaming: