Spotify would be filled with fake artists. This is confirmed by a survey by a Swedish daily, which notably points to the label Firefly Entertainment. Behind 500 of the artists who are affiliated with it, it would actually hide about twenty musicians using many pseudonyms. Up to 62 false names, for one of them.
The Swedish label Firefly Entertainment has a specialty: bombarding Spotify with tracks, composed by artists invented from scratch, to get a place in the most listened to playlists. We talk about this music by the kilometer, made to accompany meditation, work, or other, and thus tailor-made for ambient playlists. This is often signed with pseudonyms, making it seem like a crowd of composers where there are only a handful. As a result, artists who do not exist accumulate millions of streams. The company also claims a catalog of more than 7,000 songs (there were only 2,000 in 2018), and more than 5 billion streams in total. In 2020, Firefly Entertainment thus generated the equivalent of more than 6 million euros. This turnover was ten times less than barely three times before.
All this has been revealed in a survey published on March 28 by the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, very important in Sweden. Above all, we learn the extent of the phenomenon. The media has thus drawn up a list of 830 “fake artists” listed on Spotify, including 495 included in playlists directly created by the platform. And the figure is probably much higher, the journalists having examined only a hundred playlists. They also claim that behind about 500 of these pseudo-musicians are actually hiding about twenty artists only. One of them has no less than 62 aliases. The practice is not illegal, but remains questionable nonetheless. What control is exercised by the platform over its content? How to verify the identity of artists and be certain that they really exist? The credibility of both Spotify and the music industry is at stake. Sweden’s main musicians’ union has also called for an official investigation to be carried out.
Also to read
Spotify donated $7 billion to the music industry in 2021
The existence of these fake artists on the platform has been the subject of many rumors for several years. In particular, some have suspected Spotify of having secret deals with Firefly and other similar companies, trading a presence on playlists for a lower share of royalties. But there is nothing to confirm it. On the other hand, the massive presence of Firefly artists on these playlists raises the question: how do they achieve this? The Swedish daily highlighted a direct link between a founder of the label and a former Spotify executive, Nick Holmstén, who left the company in 2019. The label denies any form of favoritism in their favor and claims that this link does not does not affect their business. Spotify also claims to have signed the same contracts with the company as with any other label.
Another musician caught the attention of another Swedish daily: Christer Sandelin. A former country star, he now runs a similar label to Firefly named Chillmi. We do not know if he is the only composer behind all the “artists” he represents. But if this is the case, he would thus be the author of no less than 2,500 songs since 2015. But what shocks the press is the way in which Sandelin started his activity: in 2015, Spotify had him directly hired to compose songs for their playlists. The streaming giant had however denied having used such a practice, which could be considered unfair by the rest of the industry. This could in particular undermine their communication on the money donated to the music industry: of these 7 billion euros, would Spotify try to keep a share?
(Visited 1,151 times)
–
