There are many scams on the world's popular streaming platforms. Surprisingly it is done not only by small artists but also by popular artists who want to manipulate the music charts in their country. Spotify has been aware of this issue for quite some time and has changed the platform's royalty system to combat this activity starting in 2024.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is used to detect fake streaming activity for the purpose of generating windfall revenue or manipulating popularity for chart position. Publishers and record companies caught doing so will be charged per track. This AI was already operational earlier this year and is ready to be used to detect fraud next year.
Also changed is the minimum length of the track which is classified as noise or "white noise". These sounds are played to facilitate sleep and create a calm environment. According to Spotify, there is a playlist that cuts long whale sounds into several 30-second tracks. This is to increase the number of streams and thus generate more income. Starting to know the noise front needs to be at least 2 minutes long before income can be generated.
With this change in the royalty payment system, Spotify hopes that the issue of streaming fraud can be completely eradicated. We previously reported that Spotify pays $38 million a year to noisemakers they categorize as unprofitable.