Can providers of fake streams really be decommissioned? The IFPI has successfully targeted a platform called Pimpyourfollower.de in Germany, but a decidedly similar site, Ratinghero24.de, has already taken its place. Photo Credit: DMN
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is touting another successful legal action against a fake streams seller in Germany – but shuttering the operation entirely could prove difficult.
The IFPI and Germany’s Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) reached out today with word of the courtroom win, which marks the latest in a line of efforts to curb the prevalence of artificial play providers.
October of 2023, for instance, saw the same industry representatives formally announce the takedown of SP-Onlinepromotion.com in Germany, where streaming is playing an increasingly significant commercial role.
Now, against the backdrop of AI music generators’ ongoing rise, the focus on eliminating fake streams has intensified. To be sure, Universal Music-levied complaints last year reportedly resulted in the removal of thousands of Boomy-generated AI songs from Spotify due to alleged artificial plays.
The streaming giant subsequently instituted distributor fines for fake streams under a highly controversial royalty recalibration spearheaded by the majors. Not long thereafter, Boomy went ahead and tapped Warner Music’s ADA for distribution.
Boomy “artists” have now pumped out an astonishing 20,064,182 tracks, according to the appropriate website, which rather directly encourages users to upload “songs to streaming platforms and get paid when people listen.” While it perhaps goes without saying, Boomy is hardly the lone music-focused generative AI service around.
Returning to the newest attempt to stop fake streams, the Düsseldorf Regional Court is said to have issued an injunction against Pimpyourfollower.de, thereby blocking it from selling artificial plays.
“There is no place for streaming manipulation in the music industry,” IFPI CEO Victoria Oakley summed up. “It’s a fraudulent practice and those who engage in it, or support it, should not be allowed to divert revenue away from creators or distort music fans’ experience of listening to and supporting artists.
“We continue to work on behalf of our member record labels to prevent this activity and hope that this new success in Germany sends a clear message to those who continue to offer these damaging services,” concluded Oakley, whose organization indicated also that Pimpyourfollower.de is on the hook for damages.
Notwithstanding this damages order, and in a testament to the difficulties associated with decommissioning providers of fake streams completely, the platform still appeared to be offering non-organic interactions (albeit via a different domain) at the time of writing.
As things stand, navigating to Pimpyourfollower.de simply redirects one to Ratinghero24.de, which, a homepage banner spells out, is tied to the former domain as well as others yet.
All these sites evidently offer non-organic interactions (not solely streams); powered by Shopify, the service seemingly requires one to provide only a payment and a link to the work or page that will receive the boost.
(Particularly in light of the allegedly untrue streaming-manipulation allegations that have caused massive headaches for proper artists, this easy access raises serious questions about the ability to sabotage entire careers with little more than a click. And in general, many have long alleged that moves to eradicate fake streams at the behest of the majors ultimately shortchange indies in practice.)
1,000 Spotify streams are priced at €4.99, for example, compared to €39.99 for 20,000 streams and €249.99 for a quarter of a million plays, with several different packages in between.
Also offered are Spotify followers and monthly listeners (both being a bit costlier than streams), YouTube views (€5.99 per 500 views), TikTok plays (just €1.99 for 500 views), Twitch followers (€4.00 for 100 followers), and a whole lot else.
