Artist using fake streams

[throwawayobviou]

Hello, 

I couldnt find a relevant way to report this information, however recently i've come across a forum that has seemingly dedicated itself to inflating the listening streams of artist EBZ and his new single Gator Skin. 

Linked are his fans admitting to faking streams and playing the streamed music with it muted to artifically inflate his numbers.

Theres actually much more I simply dont have time to comb through their forum. 

Please let me know the proper way to report this stream manipulation,

Thanks.

[zan123]

Manipulation? All those pictures are memes. This isn't anything else than a well coordinated (and legal) geurilla marketing by a big community who like the song and want EbZ to succeed. Just like other artists that have big fan bases and have big number of fans supporting them in different means.

Sounds to more that you are jealous that an up and coming artist already has a big fan base by being part of a community that doesn't just include his music.

Also have you listened to the song dood? It's fire.

[LittleYogi]

Hmmm. Just checked this sub forum out, and it has over 100,000 members. The song itself only has about 130,000 plays, according to Spotify. This doesn’t really seem like "fake streams.” There is nothing against a community supporting an artist in the terms of service. 

Also, the first image you posted did have a tag with “meme” written on it, so I’m assuming these are just trolls that have managed to trick you. 

[itsintheeyes]

Maybe it's true...

Go find the most active cities around the word: same name for each artist!

artic monkeystwenty one pilotscoldplayfoo fightersfall out boysimagine dragonsthe killersthirty seconds to mars

[krankenstein]

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@zan123 wrote:

Manipulation? All those pictures are memes. This isn't anything else than a well coordinated (and legal) geurilla marketing by a big community who like the song and want EbZ to succeed. Just like other artists that have big fan bases and have big number of fans supporting them in different means.

Sounds to more that you are jealous that an up and coming artist already has a big fan base by being part of a community that doesn't just include his music.

Also have you listened to the song dood? It's fire.

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I'm sorry but cheating is not OK, even if it's done to support a friend. The most efficient way to support an up-and-coming artist is to buy the albums legally. If he's got 1000 fans, and they each buy one album for £10, that's £10,000 minus expenses, fees etc. How many streams would you need before you'd earn that sort of amount from streaming alone?

Artists seem to get fixated with the play count on Spotify, but album sales count a lot more. 

I have no idea who the artist is. Just speaking generally - if you like them so much and want to support them, buy the singles/albums.