Glossary / Streaming

Industry terms

Artificial streaming

Artificial streaming is plays that don't come from real people choosing to listen, such as streams from bots, scripts or paid services that guarantee numbers.

Also called: fake streams, stream manipulation, bot streams, streaming fraud

By Aulto · Last reviewed

What counts as artificial?

Spotify describes an artificial stream as one that doesn't reflect genuine listening intent. That covers bots and scripts, and also paid services that promise a set number of streams or a guaranteed playlist spot for money.

What happens when it's found?

On Spotify, royalties tied to confirmed artificial streams can be withheld, public stream and listener counts are corrected, and a song can be pulled from playlists. Spotify sends monthly reports to labels and distributors, who may warn the artist, take music down or close the account. For flagrant cases, Spotify charges the label or distributor a fee per track.

What if your streams were real but got flagged?

Tell your distributor exactly how you promoted the song: which ads, posts and playlists. They can raise it with Spotify for review.

Example

A Pune producer pays a website for "10,000 guaranteed streams"; weeks later the count drops, the song vanishes from playlists and the distributor sends a warning.

Common questions

Can someone else's bot playlist get my song flagged?

It can affect your numbers. Spotify asks artists to report suspicious playlists their music has been added to, using its playlist reporting tool.

  • Streaming royalties

    Streaming royalties are the money streaming services pay out when your music is played, split between the owners of the recording and the owners of the song.

  • Music distributor

    A music distributor delivers your releases to streaming services and stores, and collects the money they earn from plays and sales.

  • Playlist pitching

    Playlist pitching is sending an unreleased song to playlist editors or curators, with a short description, so they can consider it for a playlist.

  • 30-second rule

    On Spotify, a play counts as a stream once someone has listened to a track for 30 seconds or more.

  • Algorithmic playlist

    An algorithmic playlist is made automatically for each listener from what they play, like Spotify's Release Radar and Discover Weekly.

  • DSP

    DSP (digital service provider) is the industry's name for streaming services and digital stores, like Spotify, JioSaavn, Apple Music and YouTube Music.

Sources

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