These past few days, there were some rumors going around where it was stated that giant streaming service Spotify has been creating some fake artists to apparently increase the profit it makes and decrease the payouts for the real artists. In an article that appeared on Vulture, the writer states that this is an “upfront payment” that “saves the company from writing fat streaming checks that come with that plum playlist placement, but tricks listeners into thinking the artists actually exist and limits the opportunities for real music-makers to make money.”
Soon after the aforementioned article surfaced, the company issued a statement on the matter, saying the following:
“We do not and have never created ‘fake’ artists and put them on Spotify playlists. Categorically untrue, full stop. We pay royalties — sound and publishing — for all tracks on Spotify, and for everything we playlist. We do not own rights, we’re not a label, all our music is licensed from rightsholders and we pay them — we don’t pay ourselves.”
What are your thoughts on this situation?