Faced with this open secret in the music industry, some players in the industry are beginning to take action.
It is now the sinews of war in the record world, since streaming has taken precedence over physical sales: the number of plays has become the symbol of success or failure. Tempting, for the artists, to magnify its figures by resorting to the purchase of plays. Especially in a musical landscape where rap and its culture of success have become ubiquitous.
“It’s the same trap as doping in cycling”, compares Sophian Fanen, journalist for LesJours.fr and author of ‘Boulevard du stream’ (Le Castor astral). “When someone starts to touch it, everyone is doomed to touch it because you don’t want to pedal less well than the other when you’re just as good. We want everyone to have the same weapons .”
Increase listening… and budgets
Beyond the marketing argument, the stakes are high for artists’ careers. Inflating your own numbers isn’t just about image and showing off, as music lawyer Boris Khalvadjian puts it:
“The number matters because it gets things into the contract that we might not have gotten without them. It potentially helps to raise budgets, royalty rates. “
Having good stream figures therefore opens doors. According to those who have been investigating the subject for years, tricking the system would even be very easy: “The easiest way is to pay accounts, buy accounts with a credit card, and monetize the streams of these accounts. Run them all day and all night in a clever enough way to avoid being spotted.”
According to the platforms, cheating represents 7% of plays. Not sure that this influences the ranking of sales that much, but many players in the sector are calling for more transparency. Sacem filed two complaints for complicity in fraud.
