With streaming platforms such as Spotify clamping down on fraud streaming (and rightly so), more and more innocent artists are finding their work removed without warning. Amuse have introduced a tool to help combat this – Stream Check.
Stream Check is a new addition to the company Amuse. There has been a constant battle between streaming stores and fraud streamers. With not everyone playing by the rules, it’s lead to tighter restrictions on music artists. Some, having their music removed.
When a store such as Spotify notices an unusual amount of streams on a release, they’ll likely track it. If the behaviour continues, they’ll remove the music to prevent money from being unfairly earned. People pay companies and apps to stream their music.
It means that thousands of streams can be earned in a short space of time. However, they haven’t been earned fairly. It’s called gaming the system, and means that stores could lose so much money by paying artists that cheat their way to the top.
Genuine artists miss out on earnings
This means genuine artists miss out on potential earnings because the money pot lessens with more being sent to fraud streamers. Spotify, especially, doesn’t take this behaviour lightly and have become extremely tough with their removals.
The problem is, some artists genuinely aren’t aiming to fraud stream. They can find themselves in situations which they may not have caused intentionally, if at all. Sometimes, apps and services will pose themselves as marketing tools, but their intentions aren’t pure.
Therefore, artists will agree to their service, and then find their music removed from stores due to an abnormal amount of streams. Or, alternatively, they could have been placed on a fraud streaming playlist without ever having had contact with the service.
What is Stream Check?
Stream Check is a way for genuine artists to avoid having their music wrongfully removed. Amuse have added a service which allows music artists to track their songs. They can see which songs are potentially at risk of removal.
It could allow artists to prevent their music from being fraud streamed, by resolving any issues ahead of the track being removed. Once Spotify has taken music down, they won’t release it again if they believe it has broken their rules.
Amuse offer a simple chart which displays all of an artist’s releases with the tag low, medium or high. These tags represent how likely the release is to be taken down based on its fraud streaming status. The system links with Spotify to help ensure artists are aware.
Whether an artist can change the outcome is another thing. If an artist has no control over the unfair streaming, it can be difficult to resolve this. However, often Spotify will work with an artist who brings the issues to their attention prior to removal.
Spotify won’t reinstate fraud streamed releases
Showing an artist is willing to fix any mistakes adds to their claim of the fraud streaming being out of their control. However, as mentioned, once the music has been removed, Spotify won’t reinstate this. So, Stream Check allows artists to be accountable for their work.
Keeping an eye on each release and the health bar will ensure the artist isn’t at risk of Spotify enforced fines, or removal. It’s also great for the distributing company Amuse because they haven’t got to battle between artists and the streaming store for a fair result.
Spotify charge distribution companies for all fraud streaming accounts. Therefore, it is in the distributor’s best interest to keep these types of tracks and artists out of stores. Having a clear checker means everyone is on the same page and artists aren’t in the dark.
What happens with reports?
Reports come directly to Amuse at the end of each month, however it’s important to note, there is a 2-month delay on reporting. So, your streams from January will come through in March. This delay means all data can be processed properly.
If you receive a report on your release, you don’t need to panic straight away. There are ways to fix the problem before it gets completely out of hand. However, it’s important you then use the Stream Check often. Amuse have given the following steps to follow:
- Research promotional services: Before hiring any music promotion services, make sure to do thorough research.
- Cancel suspicious campaigns: Stop any ongoing campaigns with promotional services that guarantee playlist additions or streams.
- Report unusual activity: Notify Spotify or the relevant stores about any suspicious activity.
- Review playlists: Check the playlists your music has been added to and request takedowns from any suspicious ones, either by contacting the playlist editor or Spotify directly here.
Please note: These instructions have been copied directly from Amuse.
