Apple Music found out how to deal with phony streams and the fraud fell by 30%

Apple is keeping a close eye on Apple Music and for the last year, it has cranked up its protection against so-called streaming manipulation (via 9to5Mac).

The anti-fraud measures have been so successful that the fraud rate has fallen by 30%, says a new report by Billboard.

Streaming fraud can take many forms, the most obvious one is where a musician uses bots to stream their music 24/7 in order to obtain royalties. Apple says it has detected other examples as well!

“Apple Music quietly rolled out its own strengthened fraud protections — including hitting repeat offenders with “financial adjustments” — more than a year ago, according to an email obtained by Billboard that the platform sent to music industry partners in March. Apple Music’s internal metrics indicate that the policy has already led to a 30% drop in streaming manipulation”, reads the report from Billboard.

Another type of fraud is the 31-second song albums – Apple pays a royalty per track, with a proviso that a track of 30 seconds or less isn’t included in the deal. Some have created entire albums of 31-second songs just to hop over the 30-second limit.

“To help labels and distributors figure out where fraud is occurring, Apple Music’s email says the platform started sending daily reports detailing “a content provider’s albums with streams held in review.” “After each review,” the email goes on, “we remove manipulated streams and release legitimate plays. At the end of each month, content providers also receive a report with all excluded streams.” (Spotify has now also ramped up the reporting it provides to labels and distributors, according to one executive at a distribution company, “adding a new dimension of seeing repeat offenders.”)”, says the Billboard report that quotes Apple Music officials.