You can always trust data.
cheating, data, playlists
Last week
Swedish radio took off their Digilist, the top list over most streamed songs.
This after a couple of weeks with rumors around cheating. Then an artist did a
experiment and showed in a big newspaper how easy it was to buy 100 000 streams
in a two week period.
Swedish radio took off their Digilist, the top list over most streamed songs.
This after a couple of weeks with rumors around cheating. Then an artist did a
experiment and showed in a big newspaper how easy it was to buy 100 000 streams
in a two week period.
To be
honest, I don’t know why this comes up right now. Already in 2013, I knew about
some serious cheating done to both Itunes and Spotify. My guess is that this is
because the cheating has escalated so much that even the majors are beaten in
the game.
honest, I don’t know why this comes up right now. Already in 2013, I knew about
some serious cheating done to both Itunes and Spotify. My guess is that this is
because the cheating has escalated so much that even the majors are beaten in
the game.
“You can
trust data”, was Jay Frank’s comment. And was said during Billboards new prize
The Jay Frank Award to honor a digital music pioneer. And I would have loved to
have a discussion with Jay around this situation, I still miss those talks. We had
them before, so I somehow know the answer. When the Bulgarian guy was cheating
a couple of years ago, we had that discussion. Jay just laughed and said, it’s
like pointing a finger against a lonely guy with a handgun while you have twenty-five
super big cannons shooting in the background.
trust data”, was Jay Frank’s comment. And was said during Billboards new prize
The Jay Frank Award to honor a digital music pioneer. And I would have loved to
have a discussion with Jay around this situation, I still miss those talks. We had
them before, so I somehow know the answer. When the Bulgarian guy was cheating
a couple of years ago, we had that discussion. Jay just laughed and said, it’s
like pointing a finger against a lonely guy with a handgun while you have twenty-five
super big cannons shooting in the background.
We both knew
how much the majors were cheating. We all know they did it on a big scale and
with different methods. When some creative person did it, well then Spotify
acted. Neither Jay nor I approved of the cheating. Instead, Jay looked on a tool
that was genuine to get real listeners and real fans and build Digmark a PR
service to get playlisted in real playlists.
how much the majors were cheating. We all know they did it on a big scale and
with different methods. When some creative person did it, well then Spotify
acted. Neither Jay nor I approved of the cheating. Instead, Jay looked on a tool
that was genuine to get real listeners and real fans and build Digmark a PR
service to get playlisted in real playlists.
What happened
two years ago inside Spotify, nobody knows. Suddenly all human playlisters jumped
off. Everything became algorithm-driven. And it seems like o no one reacted on
cheating. I spoke to several distributors that said the same. Less notice of cheating
coming from Spotify. And we saw more and more unknown artist just sail on to the
charts. All this time no one said anything, so my puzzle is why know?
two years ago inside Spotify, nobody knows. Suddenly all human playlisters jumped
off. Everything became algorithm-driven. And it seems like o no one reacted on
cheating. I spoke to several distributors that said the same. Less notice of cheating
coming from Spotify. And we saw more and more unknown artist just sail on to the
charts. All this time no one said anything, so my puzzle is why know?
So, can we
trust data? Jay would have laughed at this one as well. Yes, you can. Already
now there are several services that can measure data from several points. Look
on post a couple weeks ago around that we need a new top chart. Like I wrote there
things are ongoing. If you cheat on your numbers on one field, let’s take
Spotify as an example, other figures give it away. Your Facebook/Instagram followers
are intact and won’t move. Or your streams on YouTube won’t move. And your name
is not mentioned in social media. Yet your Spotify streams are on full rise!
trust data? Jay would have laughed at this one as well. Yes, you can. Already
now there are several services that can measure data from several points. Look
on post a couple weeks ago around that we need a new top chart. Like I wrote there
things are ongoing. If you cheat on your numbers on one field, let’s take
Spotify as an example, other figures give it away. Your Facebook/Instagram followers
are intact and won’t move. Or your streams on YouTube won’t move. And your name
is not mentioned in social media. Yet your Spotify streams are on full rise!
All this
can be measured easily by these new services and for free. It’s kind of easy to
check if your numbers in several ways. If you do it for real, the numbers add
up. You cheat, and it will cost you so much to keep everything on track. Yes,
all these numbers can be manipulated but it’s very hard and costly to do all of
them at the same time.
can be measured easily by these new services and for free. It’s kind of easy to
check if your numbers in several ways. If you do it for real, the numbers add
up. You cheat, and it will cost you so much to keep everything on track. Yes,
all these numbers can be manipulated but it’s very hard and costly to do all of
them at the same time.
The data is
why you cheat, it also gives away that you cheat. Data just tells what’s in
there. But this is the same as you are buying a “real” Chanel bag from the guy
on the street for a fraction of the price of the ones in a real Chanel store. The
risk that an unknown Canadian rapper has millions of streams, but no one knows
him (Hello Manafest!) is too good to be true. And no, these cheaters will not make
a career. In the end the game comes back and bites them in the rear. Their songs
are not good enough neither their live shows. A career is built on trust with
a real audience.
why you cheat, it also gives away that you cheat. Data just tells what’s in
there. But this is the same as you are buying a “real” Chanel bag from the guy
on the street for a fraction of the price of the ones in a real Chanel store. The
risk that an unknown Canadian rapper has millions of streams, but no one knows
him (Hello Manafest!) is too good to be true. And no, these cheaters will not make
a career. In the end the game comes back and bites them in the rear. Their songs
are not good enough neither their live shows. A career is built on trust with
a real audience.
The problem we have right now is that money is going to the pockets
that should not have them. The part of the industry that has shoveled their heads
in the sand, telling us that the problem is not that big (Hello PRS:s, Ifpi,
Spotify) has just by ignoring probably crashed the path for several artists
that was up and coming and really had what it took but didn’t cheat and because
of that never saw the light to a bigger audience.
that should not have them. The part of the industry that has shoveled their heads
in the sand, telling us that the problem is not that big (Hello PRS:s, Ifpi,
Spotify) has just by ignoring probably crashed the path for several artists
that was up and coming and really had what it took but didn’t cheat and because
of that never saw the light to a bigger audience.
I just
wish I was wrong on the last one, but I guess not. In the end, yes you can
trust data, so use the data to flush the cheaters out. You can do that and yes
you will be stepping on toes. Still can you please add in the majors. It’s not
fair they have a monopoly on cheating.
wish I was wrong on the last one, but I guess not. In the end, yes you can
trust data, so use the data to flush the cheaters out. You can do that and yes
you will be stepping on toes. Still can you please add in the majors. It’s not
fair they have a monopoly on cheating.
