In this article, we wish to explain to you what behavior is considered illegal manipulation of the streaming numbers of your music (so-called streaming fraud or streaming manipulation) and why we do not tolerate this behavior on our platform.
Streaming fraud or manipulation refers to activities that artificially inflate streaming numbers (so-called fake streams), e.g. through hacked accounts, fake profiles, and bots.
In the "pro-rata" payout model currently used by the leading streaming services, revenue earned from premium account subscriptions flows into a pot. This sum is then divided by all streams generated in the relevant period - this means that anyone who generates fake streams is not only circumventing the system but is also harming those who abide by the rules. At the same time, streaming scammers endanger their new source of income permanently, as the respective platform operators can usually initiate the blocking or deletion of the accounts in question.
According to current estimates, other artists are unjustly deprived of approximately $300 million a year through fake streams. Streaming services are aware of the extent of the problem and are aggressively fighting it. In particular, the streaming services are monitoring the data related to streams generated. This can include the total number of weekly streams, the length of the tracks as well as the listening time, plus the number of users generating the streams and their geolocations. Any suspicious activity is tracked by the streaming platforms. Anyone who engages in buying fake clicks or manipulates streams in any other unlawful way is acting illegally. This can result in the profile in question being deleted from our platform or being blocked from publishing further music. Furthermore, streaming services are increasingly taking legal action against fraud with fake streams. If money has been earned in this way, including through advertising (e.g., the purchase of fake clicks), the offence can even be punishable and could result in a corresponding conviction in a court of law.
In Germany, the German Music Industry Association (BMVI) has already taken action against various websites engaging in streaming manipulation and has promised users that it will continue to take consistent action against streaming fraud. Dr. Florian Drücke, Chairman of the Board and CEO of BMVI has the following to say about the recent decisions:
"For fans as well as for the industry, trust in digital offerings is crucial, not least because music use today is predominantly digital. Against this background, there is not a millimeter of space for the anti-competitive influencing of retrievals and the important decisions of the courts once again illustrate the industry's determination to continue to take consistent action here."
We at MusicHub would hereby like to speak out just as resolutely against streaming manipulation. For us, our members' success is paramount - we therefore wish for all members to act responsibly, fairly and in an honest manner, ensuring no one comes to harm. Therefore, we do everything in our power to prevent fraudulent activities on our platform and to punish dishonest members. We are appealing for honesty and fairness in the interest of all our members.
In order to detect and counteract streaming fraud, MusicHub uses a special tool to automatically analyse audio and video content. With the help of this tool, music published through MusicHub is checked for its legality.
To ensure that your music release does not constitute streaming fraud, please check thoroughly whether your activities are artificially inflating streaming numbers and thus manipulating them. Please note that streaming fraud also occurs when you encourage your fans to trick the system.
Streaming fraud can also occur when an artist is not even aware of it. You could fall victim to marketing companies that use bots, manipulating streaming numbers. We would like to explicitly advise all our members to thoroughly check offers from such companies, to ascertain whether their services are legal or not to avoid any potential negative consequences.
We understand that it is very difficult to navigate your way through the variety of digital offers and to make the right decisions. To help you take the right path and still be successful on the streaming platforms, we will publish more articles on this topic in the future.
Thank you for acting honestly and fairly.
Your MusicHub Team