Fake streams. Fake curators. Fake results. Here is how to protect yourself and your Spotify account from services that will take your money and destroy your standing on the platform.
See Legit PromotionServices that promise 50,000 streams for $30 are running automated bots that play your track from fake accounts. Spotify removes artificial streams from public numbers on an ongoing basis and withholds the associated royalties.
A network of playlists with inflated follower counts, all owned by the same entity. Streams from these playlists come from accounts that are not real listeners. The playlist may show 10,000 followers but generates zero legitimate engagement.
Sites that charge $50-$200 to “feature” your track in a blog post nobody reads. The site has no real audience. The feature generates no streams. You pay for visibility that does not exist.
Any service that guarantees specific playlist placements is lying. Real curators accept or reject tracks based on quality and fit. No one can guarantee a third-party curator will add your track.
Not our opinion. Spotify’s own published policy.
Spotify defines artificial streaming as “a stream that doesn’t reflect genuine user listening intent, including any instance of attempting to manipulate streaming services like Spotify by using automated processes (like bots or scripts).”
When it detects those streams, they earn no royalties, they do not count toward public stream numbers or charts, and they do not positively influence recommendation algorithms.
That last point is the one worth sitting with. The streams you paid for cannot help the algorithm. They were never going to do the thing you bought them for.
Spotify also removes songs from its own playlists, and removes tracks entirely in cases where, in its words, “the track appears to be primarily a vehicle to enable artificial streaming.”
Since 1 April 2024, Spotify charges labels and distributors a per-track fee when flagrant artificial streaming is detected on their content. Spotify applies it only at very high rates of artificial streaming per track, and does not publish the amount.
That changes who is watching. Your distributor now has a direct financial reason to care what you buy. Spotify’s guidance says a label or distributor may respond by issuing warnings, charging penalty fees, suspending accounts, or removing music from Spotify.
Separately, a track needs at least 1,000 streams in the previous 12 months to be included in the recorded music royalty pool. There is also a minimum unique-listener requirement, which Spotify does not publish.
Artificial streams are stripped out of that count. A track pushed over the line by purchased streams can fall back under it once they are removed, and then it earns nothing at all.
Guarantees a specific stream count or number of playlist adds
Cannot provide real curator names or verifiable playlist URLs
No real listener engagement data from past campaigns
Price is dramatically lower than market rate ($50 or less for “thousands of streams”)
Requires full upfront payment with no contract and no refund policy
Cannot show you examples of real artist results with verifiable Spotify data
Uses phrases like “algorithm boost,” “stream manipulation,” or “organic-looking streams”
Real curator names and playlist URLs you can find in Spotify search
No guaranteed stream count promises, only placement outreach
Performance-based reporting showing actual playlists and listener data
Clear explanation of the outreach process and curator vetting criteria
A contract or clear terms of service with a refund policy
Track record you can verify: past campaigns with real artist names and real results
Almost nobody covers this part, so here it is.
If it is a subscription or a drip delivery, cancel it before anything else. Ongoing delivery keeps the problem growing.
Look at where your listeners are coming from, and whether the playlists driving streams are ones you can find and open in Spotify search. Streams that disappear from your public numbers were removed as artificial.
They are the ones Spotify charges, and they are the ones who can issue a warning, apply a fee, suspend an account, or remove music. A conversation you started reads very differently from one they started.
What you bought, from whom, and what was promised. If you were sold something misrepresented as legitimate, that record is what you have.
There is no way to un-stream a track, and buying real streams to dilute fake ones is the same mistake twice.
What artists ask about spotting and avoiding Spotify promotion scams.
Every 4Labs playlist placement comes with a real curator name and a Spotify URL you can verify yourself.
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