FAC appearance in Spotify masterclass on artificial streaming as FAC Artist Council Chair speaks on streaming fraud

The FAC joined TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson and Spotify’s Bryan Johnson to discuss artificial streaming in the new Spotify for Artists masterclass. FAC CEO David Martin explains how artificial streaming directly impacts the artist community and why taking action is so important.

The masterclass highlights ways to protect your music from artificial streams and fraudulent activity across streaming platforms.

“Artists have had their music removed by platforms or distributors because of streaming manipulation on their tracks...”

“…and the impact is devastating. You’ve spent months, even years, building up to a release, aligning the schedule and all the promotional material, only for it to be taken down or impacted by streaming manipulation. It is devastating for an artist.”

On the same topic, Chair of The FAC Artist Council, Bella Lueen (aka Levina), spoke to Eamonn Ford from The Guardian in the feature ‘AI, bot farms and innocent indie victims’, sharing her experience in removing false copyright claims against her music.

She proposes a traffic light warning system that would give artists time to present their defence or take action to resolve issues.

“With streaming services, it’s almost impossible to appeal through them,” she sighs. “You fill out a form, but it leaves you feeling quite powerless.”