base talk Apple Music has reportedly been penalizing streaming fraud since 2022

[Michael196]

 

Quote

While Spotify is planning to start penalizing labels and distributors for egregious instances of streaming fraud, Apple Music quietly rolled out its own strengthened fraud protections — including hitting repeat offenders with “financial adjustments” — more than a year ago, according to an email obtained by Billboard that the platform sent to music industry partners in March. Apple Music’s internal metrics indicate that the policy has already led to a 30% drop in streaming manipulation.
 

In the March email, the streamer defines manipulation as “the deliberate, artificial creation of plays for royalty, chart, and popularity purposes” as well as “the delivery of deceptive or manipulative content, like an album of 31-second songs.” “In October [2022], we launched new tools and policies designed to prevent stream manipulation on Apple Music,” the email explains. “Since we launched the new tools, manipulated streams have accounted for only 0.3 percent of all streams.” 

That 0.3 percent figure is lower than the stats cited by some of Apple Music’s rivals. A Spotify spokesperson told a Swedish newspaper earlier this year that “less than one percent of all streams on Spotify have been determined to be tampered with,” while Deezer has said that it finds 7% of plays to be fraudulent. (This comparison only goes so far, though, because each service might define fraud differently, and not all of them have ad-supported tiers.) 

In a statement, an Apple Music spokesperson said the platform “takes stream manipulation very seriously. Apple Music has a team of people dedicated to tracking and investigating any instances where manipulation is suspected. Penalties include cancellation of user accounts, removal of content, termination of distributor agreements, and financial adjustments.”

When Apple Music emailed industry partners in March, the streaming service noted that “despite the low percentage [of fraud], manipulation remains a widespread and persistent problem: That 0.3% of streams came from more than 85,000 albums across hundreds of record labels.” 
 

As a result, the email indicates the company outlined a sharper anti-fraud policy in October 2022, promising to take “remedial actions against content providers with repeated and significant stream manipulation.” This means of incentivizing reform has worked for some — half the distributors that were flagged for fake streaming have reduced manipulation on their content by over 45%, the company said.

To help labels and distributors figure out where fraud is occurring, Apple Music’s email says the platform started sending daily reports detailing “a content provider’s albums with streams held in review.” “After each review,” the email goes on, “we remove manipulated streams and release legitimate plays. At the end of each month, content providers also receive a report with all excluded streams.” (Spotify has now also ramped up the reporting it provides to labels and distributors, according to one executive at a distribution company, “adding a new dimension of seeing repeat offenders.”)

“This all happens before Apple Music pays royalties and tabulates charts,” the email noted. “We block wrongdoers from the primary advantages of stream manipulation and redirect royalties to valid plays of content.”

The last six months have seen a flurry of companies committing publicly to fraud mitigation. More than half a dozen distributors formed “a global task force aimed at eradicating streaming fraud” in June. And when Deezer announced a new partnership with Universal Music Group in September, Michael Nash, UMG’s executive vp and chief digital officer, promised that “fraud and gaming, which serves only to deprive artists their due compensation, will be aggressively addressed.”
 

 

“In October [2022], we launched new tools and policies designed to prevent stream manipulation on Apple Music,” the email explains. “Since we launched the new tools, manipulated streams have accounted for only 0.3 percent of all streams.” 

That 0.3 percent figure is lower than the stats cited by some of Apple Music’s rivals. A Spotify spokesperson told a Swedish newspaper earlier this year that “less than one percent of all streams on Spotify have been determined to be tampered with,” while Deezer has said that it finds 7% of plays to be fraudulent. (This comparison only goes so far, though, because each service might define fraud differently, and not all of them have ad-supported tiers.)
 

https://www.billboard.com/pro/apple-music-penalizing-streaming-fraud/

[tomo]

Very interesting. ATRL should investigate which artist started tanking on AM since October 2022.

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by tomo

[OrgVisual]

And ATRL loves to discredit AM stats  No fraud for Beyonce  

[Ms. Togekiss]

No wonder certain singers went top 2 on Spotify but couldn’t crack the top 140 on Apple Music 

[Kimi]

1 minute ago, Ms. Togekiss said:

No wonder certain singers went top 2 on Spotify but couldn’t crack the top 140 on Apple Music 

Who

[sunbathinganimal]

[babyforlife]

The better app always ahead of its time

[FOCK]

 

Maybe that covers external tampering, but it certainly doesn’t cover internal Apple deals certain artists make, where the discrepancy is clearly evident when compared to the way they perform on other services at the time. 

[Zeferino]

Apple being better, as usual 

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by Zeferino
Sintaxis

[Revolution]

devastating for certain girls

[Bussea]

and atrl was trying to drag apple music about how low streaming stats were on it. it’s called deterring fraud, sweetie 

 

[WEEKND]

We love integrity

[The Music Industry]

So this is why certain girlies smash on Spotify but struggle to be top 100 on Apple Music

 

[unclefloprry]

So that's why a certain artist is charging her fans so much with her tour, she desperate to pay those penalties.

[Big Bad Wolf]

Apple Music bigger, better and more ethical

[Steve Johnson]

13 minutes ago, The Music Industry said:

So this is why certain girlies smash on Spotify but struggle to be top 100 on Apple Music

 

Apple said No payola. 

[HappierJealousy]

3 minutes ago, unclefloprry said:

So that's why a certain artist is charging her fans so much with her tour, she desperate to pay those penalties.

You mean the same so-called hitmaker artist that the new lead single is OUT of the TOP 200 4 days after release?

[corotinho]

So we have Houdini out of the charts?

[unclefloprry]

11 minutes ago, HappierJealousy said:

You mean the same so-called hitmaker artist that the new lead single is OUT of the TOP 200 4 days after release?

idk who are you talking about because all the songs released this Friday are in the top 25 of AM GLOBAL (worldwide, in the world, planet earth, +100 countries including Trump's country, which is probably a new term for you)

[gatito]

that explains why whodini is about to leave the top 200 

 

[HappierJealousy]

11 minutes ago, unclefloprry said:

idk who are you talking about because all the songs released this Friday are in the top 25 of AM GLOBAL (worldwide, in the world, planet earth, +100 countries including Trump's country, which is probably a new term for you)

Super interesting. Cause I have seen you drag Taylor for being “local” multiple time even in Dua’s music thread, but Taylor currently has 7 songs in the top 25 on this chart you’re talking about?  So sorry, we don’t accept your definition of GLOBAL (worldwide, in the world, planet earth, +100 countries including Trump's country) cause it’s indeed a new and unfamiliar term for you

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by HappierJealousy

[Carry My Heart]

  

Apple Music's 2023 Artist of the Year can't relate 

 

Quote

Taylor Swift is the No. 1 most-streamed female artist in Apple Music history, and is also the female artist with the most songs to reach Apple Music’s Global Daily Top 100.

[JBJT2786]

13 minutes ago, gatito said:

that explains why whodini is about to leave the top 200 

 

It's #4 WW. Yall realize the article doesn't apply just to the US right?

[Taylena]

Apple Music trying to be the Houdini of streaming services by disappearing with the artist's royalties. 

[Taylena]

4 minutes ago, JBJT2786 said:

It's #4 WW. Yall realize the article doesn't apply just to the US right?

It's #25 AM Global chart. I don't think the song even entered the top 10 since release.