Our mission, in communion with the artist
Throughout years of operation, we have created a tool that monitors the growth of streams, which has been perfected with technology, criteria and experiences of real cases, not with the intention of unleashing “a witch hunt”, just the opposite; Our interest is to report on a sensitive, important topic that is not talked about much, specifically the process that takes place behind what the artist sees.
Despite the fact that technological advances could make these forms of streaming almost imperceptible, our process is integrated with a deep analysis of statistics, which makes us detect when the traffic in a song, as well as the growth, is not organic. This is a bit of what we see in our process:
DEVICE SOURCE: One of the main red flags in our procedure is, where are the users listening from. Applications like Spotify, Tidal, and Amazon are more frequent on mobile, that is, for real users, while generic users are played from laptops or desktops.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Have you ever read something like: “Do you want your music to be heard in Europe? A warning signal for us and for the stores is the inconsistency of listening in other regions in abnormal ways, this being one of the most obvious data in the reviews.
PLAYTIME: The minimum time for a stream to be considered valid is 30 seconds. That a track has total graphs towards this period of time or that it extends towards large periods leads us to identify minimum programming or a loop track.
PLAYLISTS: We have all made playlists and we know how our logic works when updating them. We monitor information from the stats like who makes the playlists, the number of followers, how often it is moved or updated, and playlists that offer regularly paid listening do not have curation criteria. Another example is that there are many playlists with only one song, the same song.
ACCOUNTS AND GENERIC USERS: Disposable users, which have only been created to listen to just one song, follow only one artist or are free accounts, is another warning indicator. It also happens that artists who see an opportunity to milk the stores, launching many singles simultaneously, which are detected for also using data and metadata that certain applications provide by default.
LISTENERS VS FOLLOWERS: When an artist grows organically, their content and fanbase grow hand in hand, gradually. That listeners exceed more than 50% of followers, increases the diagnosis of artificial streaming.
Once these parameters have been reviewed and the artificial streams confirmed, our distribution team will proceed to unsubscribe that material, notify the artist of this action and give them the option to challenge this, subject to the resolution of the stores.
Our social responsibility
It is important to reiterate our commitment to the artist, give them the correct information, avoid processes like this and share options so that their releases are surrounded by real numbers, tools that add to their promotion strategy. These tips might help:
INDEPENDENT CURATORS: As we mentioned above, not all services are fraudulent, there are some platforms that offer independent playlists, the difference is that the charge for these services is to receive and listen to the music, if the curator allows it, then include it. Payment is no guarantee of being in them.
Here some:
- Submit Hub
- Indie Mono
- Sound Campaign
- Playlister Club
- Daily Playlists
- Tune Munk (free)
- Playlist Push (free)
In addition to being a great resource for promotion strategies, this type of playlist has the advantage of being able to receive music that is not exactly new, lists of very specific concepts or with a very marked niche, and even that curators recommend music to content creators and all you need is to have a verified artist profile and at least one released track.
ALGORITHMIC PLAYLISTS: In addition to the editorial playlists, Spotify specifically has three algorithmic plays where you can place your music without having to pass any filters.
- News radar
- Weekly Discovery
- In repetition
Within this algorithmic group, News Radar is the one that enhances releases so that they can be heard by more people.
Every Friday, Spotify will recommend new singles to users from: artists they follow, artists they often listen to, and artists who are similar to what they listen to, all for up to a week after release. To be able to appear on this playlist, all you have to do is make the corresponding pitch with a minimum period of 7 days before release, although the ideal is 5 weeks before the established date. This also has the opportunity that the release can be considered in some editorial playlist.
If you have more than one release, consider that the algorithm will not include songs that the user has already listened to and only songs from artists that the user follows and are main artists, so it is very important to consult statistics.
If after telling you all this you think that the numbers on your platforms are vital, it is totally valid, but I want to emphasize the importance of always using legal tools and considering at least a small budget in the releases strategies to apply to these services, as well how to land a fan base that is loyal to your project and does not expire in time.
If at any time you have any questions or need more information regarding this blog, visit our FAQ’s page and do not hesitate to contact us.
See you in the future!
