keep music sound.

end streaming fraud.

Streaming fraud is happening now and at scale

Fraudsters are currently exploiting gaps in music platforms’ protections and across the supply chain.

Criminals upload tracks via distributors and deploy armies of ‘bots’ to create artificial ‘plays’ of those tracks to generate income.

Because streaming services pay right holders from a finite pool of revenue, streaming fraud is siphoning vital revenues away from the artists, songwriters, record labels, music publishers and others who power the music economy.  

It is theft, plain and simple. 

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

To stop fraud at scale, the organizations with the data and leverage to prevent this fraudulent activity must act together.

This includes streaming services, content aggregators, and distributors.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?

  • 1. Implement Robust Identity Verification

    Distributors need to know who is providing content to their services and digital service providers (DSPs) need to verify that accounts are used by real humans who are genuinely engaging with music and not ‘bots’. 

  • 2. Vigorously Vet the Content

    Distributors must put in place measures to verify the legitimacy of their content before it goes live.  The authenticity of both the customer and the content should be regularly reviewed. 

  • 3. Leverage Ecosystem Data

    Based on their bird’s eye view, DSPs should use first-class measures to be more effective in detecting, shutting down and mitigating the impact of fake plays and suspicious playlists. 

  • 4. Cross-Industry Intelligence Sharing

    Information about known bad actors and their methods should be shared between services to prevent them from evading enforcement and repeating their behaviour. 

KEEP MUSIC SOUND.

END STREAMING FRAUD.

KEEP MUSIC SOUND. END STREAMING FRAUD.