Artificial streaming is activity that doesn't reflect genuine listener intent. Both DSPs and Madverse monitor for it, and the consequences can include royalty withholding.
5.13.1 Definition
Per Spotify's own documentation: an artificial stream is one that doesn't reflect genuine user listening intent, including any automated, bot-driven, or script-based manipulation attempt.
5.13.2 Why this matters even if you didn't do it yourself
Paid third-party services that guarantee streams or guaranteed playlist placement violate DSP terms of service. Using such a service — even unknowingly, for example through a marketing vendor who quietly inflates numbers — puts the affected release at risk, regardless of whether the artist directly purchased the manipulation.
5.13.3 How detection works at the DSP level
DSPs perform ongoing cleaning of public-facing stream numbers to remove detected artificial activity. Spotify shares monthly reports with distributors (including Madverse) on confirmed artificial streaming on their platform.
5.13.4 Consequences
- Royalty withholding for the affected streams
- Correction of public stream counts
- Chart-accuracy adjustments
- Removal from official playlists for the affected release
- In confirmed, repeated, or egregious cases, the DSP itself may remove the content independent of distributor action
5.13.5 Madverse's own detection layer
In addition to DSP-level detection and reporting, Madverse operates its own streaming-pattern monitoring as part of its Trust & Safety processes, looking at growth-rate and engagement signals across a release's lifecycle. See Section 11 for Madverse's own content-policy and fraud-detection framework — DSP-level artificial streaming detection (this article) and Madverse's own internal fraud system are related but distinct layers.
Source: MadDesk article 5.13 (5-13)