IFPI joins music industry coalition to tackle stream manipulation and endorses the Anti-stream manipulation code of best practice. IFPI has joined a broad coalition of major and independent labels, publishers and artist organisations in signing up to an industry ‘code of best practice’ which aims to detect and prevent stream manipulation as well as mitigate its effects in the marketplace.
The code outlines guidelines for stopping inauthentic plays on streaming services that are designed to manufacture improved chart positioning, market share, royalty payments and more. The initiative comes in the wake of numerous stream manipulation allegations and in particular the alleged hyping of Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo and Beyoncé’s Lemonade on Jay-Z’s TIDAL streaming service which published streaming figures of 250 million and 306 million streams respectively despite only having 3 million subscribers at the time. The allegation which TIDAL denies is currently being investigated by the authorities in Norway.
Commenting on the issue of stream manipulation, Frances Moore, IFPI CEO, said: “Stream manipulation can undermine the accuracy of charts and, ultimately, the accuracy of royalty payments from streaming services to music creators. Those who create music – from artists and songwriters to labels and publishers and beyond – must be remunerated fairly and accurately for their work and investment. Any stream manipulation undermining that fairness cannot be tolerated.
“We are committed to working with stakeholders across the broader music community to prevent stream manipulation.”
Other music associations, record companies, streamers and artists’ organisations have signed up to the code and include amongst others Amazon, the American Association of Independent Music, Artist Rights Alliance, Deezer, the Recording Academy, RIAA, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Sony Music Entertainment, Spotify and Universal Music Group.
You can read the full text of the code here.
