How Distributors Can Support Artists and Fight Streaming Fraud

Learn how distributors can support artists while still fighting the growing problem of music streaming fraud.

How Distributors Can Support Artists and Fight Streaming Fraud

by Erik Söderblom, Chief Product Officer at Amuse

About a year ago, alarms went off in the music industry. Artificial streaming had escalated into a major industry threat, taking revenue away from real artists and undermining trust in the ecosystem. If you ask me, the digitalization of music has changed the game for the better: removing industry gatekeepers, opening up global reach and empowering more artists to build careers on their own terms. But with a more open and accessible landscape comes new vulnerabilities and a growing risk of abuse.

“How do we protect the ecosystem and the artists who thrive there, while making digital music distribution more efficient?”

That risk is only one side of the issue, however. Artists want speed, and here’s where things get tricky. Short lead times have become increasingly important to DIY artists and a key factor when choosing a digital music distribution service. Yet pre-release quality control is more critical than ever in an ecosystem challenged by bad actors intent on artificial streams, copyright infringement, and other forms of abuse. We need to strike the right balance. 

From a distributor’s point of view, the challenge is clear: how could we combat fraud without slowing things down? How do we protect the ecosystem and the artists who thrive there, while making digital music distribution more efficient?

Every time we performed artist surveys they reinforced a key insight: fast release times were one of the most valued features. This might seem counterintuitive – after all, a successful launch is often built on months of pre-save campaigns, marketing, playlist pitching, press releases, and social media strategy. While that still holds true for many, today’s digital-first artists expect an experience as seamless as uploading a video to TikTok or Instagram.

To reduce the lead times, one tempting (and common?) approach is to loosen the review process. This lets more stream fraudsters slip through. Lowering strict review policies is obviously not an option. Instead, distributors need a holistic solution: a combination of automation, greater transparency for users, and tougher fraud prevention measures. All working in harmony. 

“distributors need a wide range of fraud prevention and automation tactics”

To strike the right balance, distributors need a wide range of fraud prevention and automation tactics. For example, here at Amuse, we built a dashboard called Stream Check that gives artists real-time insights into their streaming activity. This allows them to spot suspicious patterns early, take action before they get penalized, and make informed decisions about their promotion strategies. Amuse also introduced what we call “Robocop,” which automates the content review process at a high level on audio, cover art, metadata, and rights. The introduction of Stream Check and Robocop  in collaboration with streaming services to enforce their processes against artificial streaming, led to a 70% decrease of streams deemed artificial by Spotify between Q1 and Q4 of 2024. These kinds of measures benefit both indie artists and the indie businesses that support them.

The music industry we’re striving for is one that’s democratized, flexible, transparent, and free from stream farming – while maintaining high-quality, instant release times for artists who want them. Balancing this interlocking but sometimes opposite interests isn’t just possible; it’s critical to maintain a healthy DIY music ecosystem.