I Think This Is What They Call 'Gaming The System'

[crunchee]

Musician charged with using bots to boost streaming revenue (bbc.com)

[Steve Haynie]

Let me take you down

'cause I'm going to

AI fields 

Nothing is real

[Jimbilly]

if he was smart enough to do all that, you'd think he would have created a false identity that the royalties would go to, in some foreign country with low chances of getting legally expedited, if I'm saying that right.  "I'm ___  _____, here to collect my royalties!"

[veatch]

A false identity, like "Mr. Smith"?

: )

[tbonesullivan]

Spotify and other streaming services, claim to have been "cracking down" on stuff like this, but I think some people have been unfairly targeted. There were also some albums made particularly to support charity, so I could see why a third party might unleash an army of bots, though the creator might have no idea this is happening. I expect we can see more stuff like this as streaming becomes a larger source of revenue.