Fraudulent manipulation of online music listening, a growing phenomenon

The National Music Center published, on January 16, 2023, its study on the manipulation of listening on music platforms.

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Text by: Dominique Desaunay Follow

2 mins

On music platforms in France, billions of false listenings artificially inflate the statistics of the online notoriety of artists, and consequently the remuneration to which they are entitled.

A scam phenomenon that is gaining momentum, reveals a report from the National Music Center.

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Social networks and live streaming platforms on the internet have become essential digital tools in recent years to establish your online reputation as a musician.

The goal of creators is obviously to obtain fair compensation for their musical productions, which are mainly broadcast on major

platforms .

After more than eighteen months of work, the National Music Center published, Monday, January 16, its study on the manipulation of listening on music platforms and which indicates that we are all victims of an online scam abused some unscrupulous artists.

This organization, which depends on the Ministry of Culture, investigated the cyber manipulation in 2021 of the listening rates displayed by certain artists online.

[#Streaming]

The National Music Center is broadcasting its study on the manipulation of listening on music platforms, and more specifically on streams considered fraudulent, or fake streams.https://t.co/gBPMpdxxN3

– National Music Center (@le_CNM) January 16, 2023

The notoriety of certain artists artificially inflated

This scam has allowed some to receive direct compensation from

platforms , by artificially believing in their success.

Between 1 and 3 billion of these music

were considered fraudulent, thus representing 1 to 3% of the music

market in France.

Spotify, Qobuz and Deezer provided particularly detailed figures to the National Music Center to conduct its study.

On the other hand Amazon Music, YouTube and Apple Music did not want to cooperate with the organization.

The process to inflate its notoriety rate on

platforms and therefore ultimately its remuneration, has been known for years.

The technique is inspired by certain practices of influencers on social networks who are paid according to the number of views or Internet users who follow them.

Online music counterfeit artists employ a similar process by, for example, renting the services of "click farms".

A myriad of computers will then run their titles in a loop on the distribution platforms, generally through fake accounts that have been opened with expired or stolen credit cards.

The CNM proposes the development of a charter

Fraudsters can also ask hackers to take control of the computers of real subscribers to

services in order to trigger these fictitious plays, or even to clone sites of well-known artists who allow swiping into the pages reserved for fans of their bogus titles.

At the beginning of December 2022, the UPFI condemned the use of fake streams and called on its members not to use them: https://t.co/Xxih4ig1C1@le_CNM publishes today the first quantified study on the subject, an essential step in apprehension of this practice https://t.co/H5ZQ6pvvGT

– UPFI (@UPFI_syndicat) January 16, 2023

Hip hop and rap would be the musical genre most affected by these scams, according to the report.

The National Music Center recommends the establishment 

 ” by also asking for the intervention of the repression of fraud to fight against the phenomenon.  

►Also read: Will streaming music mark the end of the album?

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