“The manipulation of online eavesdropping is a reality”, this is the result of a long investigation carried out by the National Center for Music (CNM) in France for 18 months. Fraudulent eavesdropping is said to be legion in the world of digital music.
Artists penalized
To establish its report, the CNM collaborated with three platforms (Spotify, Deezer and Qobuz) and five of the main distributors in France (Universal, Sony, Warner, Believe and Wagram). The organization thus reached a rather alarming conclusion: in France, in 2021, between one and three billion plays on music platforms were actually fake streams, i.e. a rate of between 1 and 3%. A real algorithmic fraud that allows certain artists to boost their audiences artificially to obtain better remuneration.
“Over a year, anyone who inflates their viewing figures withdraws a share of remuneration from all those who do not cheat, by contributing to lowering the average remuneration per stream of all rights holders”explains the National Center for Music.
5% fraud in 2022 on Deezer
In detail, no musical genre is spared. On Deezer and Spotify, however, there is a targeting of titles classified as hip-hop/rap. A phenomenon that experts explain by the predominance of gender over others. Another more concrete trend: false listening concerns more less renowned artists, beyond the top 10,000 (at 80%).
Therefore, in the top 10, fraud is estimated at 0.25% on Spotify and 0.65% on Deezer. “But that doesn’t mean cheating doesn’t exist at the highest level. It’s just that it is very targeted and over a very short period, to help a big artist win a place in the top for example”explains Séverine Morin, director of studies and forecasting at the CNM at Parisian.
What solutions?
“Stream farms, account hacks…”, to generate false wiretaps, hackers are not lacking in imagination. In order to count a valid listening, it only takes 30 seconds on a title. To detect the thugs, the platforms try to set up detection systems, without much success. In 2022, the practice would have further developed to reach 5% of fake streams on Deezer.
In an attempt to stem the phenomenon, the National Music Center will propose the development of a “interprofessional charter for preventing and combating the manipulation of online eavesdropping”, in order to better regulate the sector. The organization also recommends carrying out data audits, methods of detection and diagnosis of transparency, “in collaboration with the Center of Expertise for Digital Regulation (PEReN) of the Ministry of the Economy”.
The CNM also regrets that “not everyone played the game” to make this report. “Amazon Music gave us 2022 numbers and Apple Music and YouTube didn’t participate at all”denounces Jean-Philippe Thiellay, president of the organization.