Tips to Avoid Artificial Streaming Scams

You’ve probably heard of artificial streaming, which is the manipulation of stream counts in a music service using tactics like bots, streaming farms and even manually playing a track over and over again.

The goal of artificial streaming is usually to boost royalties, influence algorithms, or inflate stream counts.

Music services have policies that prohibit artificial streaming and will not pay for streams that they identify as artificial, and Spotify recently announced they will start charging distributors a fee when they detect artificial streams on a track. 

As a reminder, artificial streaming is a violation of UnitedMasters’ Terms of Service and, with the new Spotify policy, any fees charged by Spotify associated with your tracks will be passed along to you. Those fees will be withdrawn from your Wallet balance and may result in the removal of your tracks. 

We know that artificial streaming can be unintentional and is often the result of working with “promotion” companies that are illegitimately inflating stream counts. They can be hard to spot, so we want to provide some tips on how to avoid these bad services and promote your music the right way and avoid penalties. 

Tip #1: Avoid promotion companies with “guarantees”

Many “promotion” companies out there will guarantee streams and/or playlist placements in exchange for money. If you see this, RUN! Buying streams or playlist placements does not result in organic or legitimate streams. 

“Guarantees” to watch out for: a specific number of streams generated, playlist placements, a specific number of listeners, or a specific size of audience exposure.

Tip #2: Do your research

Before working with any promotion company, it’s very important to do your research. Read reviews on platforms like Trustpilot to verify the legitimacy of any company you’re considering working with. 
Another tip is to check the company’s Instagram followers. If the company is engaging in fraudulent streaming methods, they’re likely engaging in fraudulent follower methods. Check to see if their social media account is followed by real artists or mostly fake accounts. 

Tip #3: Consider companies that have already been vetted 

UnitedMasters has partnered with Symphony and Groover for clean track promotion and playlist pitching. We’ve vetted these companies to save you time and money by offering first-time users an exclusive UnitedMasters discount code to amplify your music the right way.

We hope these tips are helpful as you take the important next step of promoting your music as an independent artist. As always, we are here to help. Should you have any questions about artificial streaming or even if you just want a second set of eyes when researching a promotion company, feel free to reach out to our Fraud Prevention team at fraudprevention@unitedmasters.com.