An N.L. musician's Spotify stats showed he made it big in Finland, but it's not what it seems
Hip-hop artist Albert Dalton says he's at risk of losing his music due to 'bad actors' inflating his songs
Music streaming services are crucial for independent artists. It's the easiest way for them to reach a new audience. But sometimes, that audience isn't made of real people.
Albert Dalton, a hip-hop artist from Paradise, N.L., told CBC News that he usually sees 1,000 streams per song. That changed in December when he checked his Spotify statistics and saw an unusual spike in plays— hundreds of them concentrated in Helsinki, Finland.
Something wasn't adding up.
"It started to climb in a way that didn't really make any sense," he said.
When he reported the issue to Spotify, the platform threatened to take down his music. He was accused of "artificial streaming."
That means Dalton didn't really make it big in Finland, but fell victim to an increasingly common scheme — his music landed on what's known as a botted playlist.
A bot is a computer program that automatically runs a certain task. In this case, the playlist repeated itself over and over again to inflate the streaming count.
It's an issue so prevalent that Spotify has an entire webpage dedicated to defining it.
"An artificial stream is 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," the site reads. "If left undetected, artificial streams dilute the royalty pool, shifting revenue from legitimate artists to bad actors. They also undermine the fair playing field that streaming represents."
Hip-hop artist Albert Dalton said he also contacted his distributor, Distrokid, which is responsible for putting music on various streaming platforms.
Dalton said he was faced with a barrage of non-answers and automated responses from Distrokid. The distributor did not respond to a request for an interview.
Unanswered questions
He says he's been approached by "playlist creators" in the past who will guarantee inflated streaming numbers in exchange for a fee — so he knew something shady was going on. He reported it, hoping to clear his name of any fault, but he said the platform shifted the blame onto him.
"When I contacted Spotify, I kind of got an answer that was like, 'you definitely have fake streams and that will definitely get your music taken down. And we can't answer you other than that,'" said Dalton.
Dalton said he was left feeling uneasy after the exchange.
"I didn't get any sort of confirmation that I wouldn't be put into a bad position from this, where I had nothing to do with this," he said.
Spotify refused an interview with CBC News. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson wrote, "When we identify stream manipulation, we take action that may include removing streaming numbers, withholding royalties and charging penalty fees.
"Artists who suspect they may have been added to a playlist that bad actors have created for the purpose of artificial streaming can report the issue via our playlist reporter form in their Spotify for Artists account."
Moving forward
The automated playlist was eventually removed, said Dalton, but the inflated streaming numbers are still listed on his Spotify page.
He'd like to see more control and trust in artists from streaming platforms, as well as a direct point of contact in order to ease anxieties about losing the music he's worked so hard on.
But Dalton said the streaming giants will not dim his passion for music.
"At the end of the day, these fake streams are just that," he told CBC News. "It's just a number on a website and I'll move past it.
"I'll release more music, people will hear what I'm doing. Even if those kinds of streams can shake the algorithm, it won't stop me from pushing myself."
'A complex structure'
Despite the warnings, Dalton's music still remains.
However, not every artist is so lucky.
Artificial streaming is an issue Dalton's friend and fellow hip-hop scenester Junior Mpiana is all too familiar with.
Mpiana, who performs under the name J.u.n.o., told CBC News that the world of bots, computers and artificial streaming is "a complex structure" that poses a threat to musicians like himself.
In July 2023, Mpiana put out his debut album, Love, Juno. Soon after the initial release, it disappeared from the internet.
Much like Dalton, he found himself in an endless loop between his distributor, Distrokid, and Spotify — and each support team told him to take the issue up with the other, he said.
He re-uploaded the album to Spotify again in early 2024, and it was taken down once more without any explanation. Mpiana suspects somewhere along the line, the release was flagged as being "botted."
"It kind of undermined my motivation to create music for those who enjoy my music," Mpiana said of the whole ordeal.
He decided to use a different distribution channel — UnitedMasters — to sell his songs. Love, Juno was released for the final time on March 15, 2024, without complication.
Mpiana said he's been hearing similar stories from artists all over Newfoundland and Labrador. Although he hasn't encountered any issues since March, he still wants transparency from the companies that handle his music.
"To me, [streaming] is one of the most important things that an artist can do," said Mpiana. "It's a way to express yourself in ways that you possibly might not even find possible.
"It's a way I find to be able to vent and do what I do best. I have a good audience after doing this now for three years."
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