Apple has been keeping a close eye on Apple Music and has been beefing up its protections against fake listening over the past year (via 9to5Mac). The anti-fraud measures have been so successful that the fraud rate has dropped by 30%, according to a new report from Billboard.
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Streaming fraud can take many forms, with the most obvious being when a musician uses bots to stream their music 24/7 in order to obtain royalties. Apple says it has detected other similar examples!
“According to an email sent by the platform to its music partners in March, Apple Music quietly acquired its own enhanced fraud, including imposing “financial adjustments” on repeat offenders, more than a year ago,” according to Billboard. Apple Music’s internal metrics indicate that the policy has already led to a 30% reduction in excessive streaming processing, Billboard reports.
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Another type of scam is albums with 31-second songs – Apple pays compensation per song, with the proviso that a song 30 seconds or less is not included in the deal. Some have created entire albums with 31-second songs just to get around the 30-second limit.
To help labels and distributors discover where fraud is occurring, the email says the platform has begun sending out daily reports that detail “a content provider’s albums with registered streams.”
“After each review,” the email continues, “we remove misleading streams and release legitimate playbacks. At the end of each month, content providers also receive a report with all blocked streams.”
See also: Apple Music adds personalized recommendations & Spotify expands AI DJ
According to Billboard's report citing Apple Music officials, Spotify has now beefed up the reporting it provides to labels and distributors, "adding a new dimension for repeat offenders."
Source: phonearena
