Im from Portugal. Here I'm one of Spotify's biggest advocates, as a journalist, music producer, songwriter and radio host. I lived in Sweden in the 80s and I like the idea of Spotify. Until now.
Now I started to get the information, and it happened to me too, that despite not using any external promotion service (bots) after some songs are played more than normal in a short time, Spotify decides, that the owners of the songs are cheating. However, this is an unfounded accusation and one that Spotify cannot prove in the same way that artists cannot prove that they did not cheat.
It's a deaf conversation.
The distribution says that Spotify ordered the songs to be removed and Spotify, (contacted at the user service), states that the distributor was the one who removed the songs because they just complained, after all, both are escaping responsibility and proving any culpability on the part of the artists. Naturally, although none of them could prove that they did not cheat and that they did not use external promotion services (bots), they had already been threatened at the beginning of the year that if they were discovered doing it they would suffer this.
But as a journalist, composer and music producer, I understand the position in which both (Spotify and Distribution) send the artist to, not the most comfortable, since there is no right to a response or a second chance (not being able to prove that are not guilty) as well as both (Spotify and Distribution) do not present any proof that the artist committed a fraud, they can only imagine the number of passages faster than normal, not appearing in playlists supported by Spotify or simply due to a case of luck or an algorithm failure.
I remember that at the time of Covid 19, there was an increase in all of my artists/productions, more than 20 projects, that reached more than 25 thousand listeners per month... Just for one month... Possibly an error in the Algorithm... If it had happened today, Spotify would have removed all my music and all other artists who had had an increase in listeners like that due to a Spotify's bug! You must understand that I don't get so many euros monthly on Spotify and to share that money with the other members of those projects, it a bunch of peanuts... We join for a dinner once a year, and have allwys to add some money... I believe that Spotify has to find another solution so as not to penalize small artists and those with few plays, who, when they reach more than 3,000 streams, end up being banned without a proven reason.
(This is also a great solution for spotify, stop paying those streamings, imagine 5000 stream, times, some thousand artists around the globe, it's a lot of money).
This can take down an artist career and kill a song that can be an Hit...
Around the world there is a movement of musicians who are against Spotify and who say bad things about the service every day, how can I defend Spotify and say that this streaming service is one of the best things that have happened to independent artists, producers, composers in a market that had no solution...
I don't understand and I can't accept being declared guilty without being able to defend myself! (And this is not just happening to me).
The problem is that accepting that the artist is guilty the distribution takes down the music from all other streaming services wich is unfair and undemocratic.
Completely outside of what I learned in Sweden, where Fairplay, Honesty and Justice live together.
It's wrong!
I Know that neither Spotify neither the Distribution will do a step back on this issue.
They don't accept that they can be wrong or that artists aren't guilty.
Guessing that an artist is guilty is not the right thing!
That is unfair!
There must be another fair solution.
I'm open for a converstation... Is Spotify?
Daniel Ek: Remember, there's always the Karma.
Staff / Moderator/ 3 years ago in Social & Random