[Playlists] Solution to false/abusive reporting

[CloudlightRec]

Whenever someone reports a playlist - the title and cover art are removed immediately. This is often abused to hurt record labels and playlist curators. After contacting support - the account of someone who abused this system gets taken down. This person then creates another email and free Spotify account and repeats the process. 

There is a simple solution to the problem - enable reporting feature only after 10 hours of music/podcasts were streamed using the account. It won't change the experience for a normal user but makes copyright abuse impractical. It's cheap and easy to implement and would stop 95% of false claims.

Thank you for your consideration. 

[yaktam]

Search the Community for "Playlist Takedown Notification". There is a thread that was started by lukesp_ that now has over 120 replies. Including some that led me to create and post a PYTHON script into that same thread, that you can copy and run on your WINDOWS computer (you can probably do the same on a MAC) every hour if need be. That automagically renames your Spotify playlist (and even adds back the comments if needed) back to what it was before the "TAKEDOWN." You just need to delve into the world of programming a wee bit. But trust me, the results have been fabulous.

I was having someone target 2 of my playlists incessantly for weeks. After running this script every hour for 3 weeks, they just gave up. Imagine taking the time to MANUALLY report a playlist, to see it come down, and then see it come back up within the hour. Demoralizing, for sure. Effective, 100%. I don't run it anymore, but I have it in my arsenal if I need it.

Good luck! Or make your own luck, and run that script!

[hanaleann]

I have a playlist that I made for me and friends that has been under the same name since 2018. I don't get anything from it. Recently, it keeps getting reported. The playlist name vanishes and I can't find it in the app. I have to go to a desktop to add the name back and it's then that I can see it on the app again. The false reporting is GENUINELY ruining my experience. I have debated moving to Apple Music a few times for other issues but if Spotify doesn't get this under control, this might be my final straw. This idea was submitted in April of 2020...it's been almost FOUR YEARS and Spotify developers still haven't gotten it together. 😞

[yaktam]

I hear ya. You can give up and move to Apple Music. Or fight back. With the script that ChatGPT helped me create.

I know in a perfect world we shouldn't have to fight. But unfortunately, this ain't a perfect world. And until the woken wake up, they've thankfully given us a backdoor to slam on the idiots abusing the system. 

And slam it, the script does wonderfully.

If you run into issues with the script, post them in the thread mentioned above.

Good luck!

[Dravode]

Hey Yaktam,

Regarding the Python script, do you have to run it every hour yourself or does it run automatically every hour in the background?

The make.com solution does the same thing (we'd have to pay to update more than 1 playlist though).

And, if it's automatic, why would you run the script every hour and not let's say every minutes?

[yaktam]

Hi Dravode,

I use Task Scheduler on my computer, to run it every hour. It's more than enough, as I was only trying to counter the person who was doing the reporting 3 times a day. My 24 renames a day, made the entire experience for that person, well, let's say, not so enjoyable.

I run it only 24 times a day, as it does open your default browser with a message that the script run was successful. Which uses up a bit of resources. But if I don't close the browser, the unecessary usage of my resources adds up pretty quickly.

Moreso if you don't have much RAM.

[Proletariado]

One of my playlists was reported by someone and Spotify accepted it.  However, the name of the playlist is the name of the Brazilian punk rock band "Garotos Podres", which already has more than 1,500 likes.  If anyone searches, they will find several playlists with the same name.  Why did Spotify accept this decision without any opposition?  Without me being able to defend myself?

[Proletariado]

This is already getting ridiculous. Someone is maliciously reporting my playlist that does not violate Spotify's policies. The name of my playlist is "Garotos Podres", the name of a punk band in Brazil. There are several playlists on Spotify with the same name, the difference is that my playlist has more than a thousand likes. Now Spotify has sent me an email message saying that if I insist on the name, I may have the account DELETED. What should I do?

[yaktam]

Proletariado,

Please post the message here, in its entirety. 

That is a new and yet unheard of narrative.

Thanks!
yaktam

[Proletariado]

Sorry, yaktam, it's not the playlist, but worse: my account. The message says: "Abuse of our reporting and appeals processes may limit your ability to submit requests in the future. Repeated violations of Spotify’s Platform Rules may result in your account being suspended or terminated."

 

[Proletariado]

This is ridiculous. Someone can report your playlist because they "didn't like it" (amazingly there is this reporting option) and I can't defend myself because I don't live in the EU. The playlist has more than a thousand likes and, apparently, someone decided to dispute the name of the playlist with me. Pathetic.