Startup DreamersStartup Dreamers
  • Home
  • Startup
  • Money & Finance
  • Starting a Business
    • Branding
    • Business Ideas
    • Business Models
    • Business Plans
    • Fundraising
  • Growing a Business
  • More
    • Innovation
    • Leadership
Trending

‘The Bad Guys 2’ New On Streaming This Week, Report Says

August 17, 2025

Warren Buffett’s ‘Mystery’ $1.8 Billion Investment Revealed

August 17, 2025

How to Run Multiple Businesses — From a CEO Who’s Doing It

August 17, 2025
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Newsletter
  • Submit Articles
  • Privacy
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Startup DreamersStartup Dreamers
  • Home
  • Startup
  • Money & Finance
  • Starting a Business
    • Branding
    • Business Ideas
    • Business Models
    • Business Plans
    • Fundraising
  • Growing a Business
  • More
    • Innovation
    • Leadership
Subscribe for Alerts
Startup DreamersStartup Dreamers
Home » One Man’s Army of Streaming Bots Reveals a Whole Industry’s Problem
Startup

One Man’s Army of Streaming Bots Reveals a Whole Industry’s Problem

adminBy adminMarch 29, 20240 ViewsNo Comments3 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

A man in Denmark was sentenced to 18 months in prison today for using fake accounts to trick music streaming services into paying him 2 million Danish kroner ($290,000) in royalties. The unusual case reveals a weak spot in the business model behind the world’s biggest music platforms.

The 53-year-old consultant, who had pleaded not guilty, was convicted of data fraud and copyright infringement after using bots to listen to his own music through fake profiles on both Spotify and Apple Music, collecting royalties in the process. The data fraud took place between 2013 and 2019.

Fake or “artificial” streams are a big problem for the streaming industry. Between 1 billion and 3 billion fake streams took place on popular music platforms in 2021, according to a study by France’s National Music Center. Fake streams are a problem, according to the music industry, because they divert royalty payments away from real artists and pollute streaming platforms’ data.

“This is an example of a problem that’s becoming a liability within the music industry,” says Rasmus Rex Pedersen, an associate professor in communication at Roskilde University in Denmark, who researches music streaming. “The streaming services have had several years to develop tools to combat this type of fraud and apparently they haven’t been doing a very good job.” There are still services advertising sales of fake streams, he adds.

In February, a court in the Danish city of Aarhus heard how the man, whose name was withheld, was accused of using bots to generate a suspiciously high number of plays on 689 tracks, which he had registered as his own music. In one week, 244 music tracks were listened to 5.5 million times, with 20 accounts responsible for the majority of the streams. The defendant had previously argued these playbacks were linked to his job in the music industry. He plans to appeal, his lawyer Henrik Garlik Jensen told WIRED.

The man created software that played the music automatically, claims Maria Fredenslund, CEO of the Danish Rights Alliance, which protects copyright on the internet and first reported the case to the police. “So he didn’t really listen to the music. No one really listened to the music.” According to the Danish Rights Alliance, the defendant had 69 accounts with music streaming services, including 20 with Spotify alone. Due to his network of accounts, he was at one point the 46th highest-earning musician in Denmark.

While the defendant created much of the music himself, 37 tracks were altered versions of Danish folk music, where the tempo and pitch had been changed, adds Fredenslund, who attended court.

Starting in 2016, Danish artists noticed altered versions of their tracks circulating on streaming platforms. They reported the suspicious activity to Koda, a Danish organization that collects and distributes fees for songwriters and composers when their music is played online. In an investigation, Koda uncovered how amounts paid to the consultant went from zero to substantial sums in a short time. Koda then reported the case to the Danish Rights Alliance, which investigates fraudulent behavior. “It’s not just immoral, but blatantly unfair to manipulate payments that should rightfully go to dedicated and hardworking music creators,” says Jakob Hüttel, legal chief at Koda.

Read the full article here

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Articles

Donald Trump Orders Crackdown on Politically Motivated ‘Debanking’

Startup August 17, 2025

Trump Is Undermining Trust in Official Economic Statistics. China Shows Where That Path Can Lead

Startup August 16, 2025

Inside Dylan Field’s Big IPO—and His Even Bigger Plans for Figma

Startup August 15, 2025

What Does Palantir Actually Do?

Startup August 14, 2025

OpenAI Scrambles to Update GPT-5 After Users Revolt

Startup August 13, 2025

Uber’s Drive to Become the Kleenex of Robotaxis

Startup August 11, 2025
Add A Comment

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Editors Picks

‘The Bad Guys 2’ New On Streaming This Week, Report Says

August 17, 2025

Warren Buffett’s ‘Mystery’ $1.8 Billion Investment Revealed

August 17, 2025

How to Run Multiple Businesses — From a CEO Who’s Doing It

August 17, 2025

Donald Trump Orders Crackdown on Politically Motivated ‘Debanking’

August 17, 2025

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Clues And Answers For Saturday, August 16th

August 16, 2025

Latest Posts

Friends’ Kitchen Side Hustle Surpassed $130,000 in 3 Days

August 16, 2025

Trump Is Undermining Trust in Official Economic Statistics. China Shows Where That Path Can Lead

August 16, 2025

Apple’s Robot Strategy Revealed, Grok Adds Spicy GenAI Video, 3D Instagram In Meta VR

August 15, 2025

3 Traits You Need to Succeed as a Franchisor

August 15, 2025

Struggling to Find New Clients? Use the ‘Lumberjack Strategy’.

August 15, 2025
Advertisement
Demo

Startup Dreamers is your one-stop website for the latest news and updates about how to start a business, follow us now to get the news that matters to you.

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest YouTube
Sections
  • Growing a Business
  • Innovation
  • Leadership
  • Money & Finance
  • Starting a Business
Trending Topics
  • Branding
  • Business Ideas
  • Business Models
  • Business Plans
  • Fundraising

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest business and startup news and updates directly to your inbox.

© 2025 Startup Dreamers. All Rights Reserved.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Press Release
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

GET $5000 NO CREDIT