Catch artificial streaming the day it starts
Bot detection alerts watch the artists, releases and playlists you're responsible for, and email you the day a high-risk playlist shows up, whether you manage one artist, a whole catalog or the playlists themselves.
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What Is Artificial Streaming?
Spotify defines an artificial stream as one that doesn’t reflect genuine user listening intent. In practice that means plays, listeners, saves or followers produced by bots, stream farms, botted playlists or paid services that “guarantee” streams, instead of by people who chose to listen.
It almost always travels through playlists. A botted playlist adds real songs, often without asking, so its fake listening looks like normal listening. That’s why it reaches people who never bought a stream: the artist whose song was added, the label and distributor who released it, and the curator whose playlist was targeted.
| What You See | What Might Be Happening |
|---|---|
| Streams jump overnight | A playlist may be sending bot traffic |
| Monthly listeners rise fast | The listeners may not be real or repeatable |
| A playlist gains thousands of followers in days | The followers may have been bought |
| A campaign looks cheap and effective | The promotion may rely on artificial streams |
| Streams later disappear | Spotify or a distributor may have filtered them |
What Happens When Artificial Streaming Is Detected
Spotify and distributors act on artificial streams wherever they came from, and the cost lands on everyone involved:
| Consequence | Who It Hits |
|---|---|
| Flagged streams removed, earning no royalties | Artists and rights holders |
| Royalties withheld while the activity is reviewed | Artists, labels and distributors |
| A per-track charge from Spotify, since April 2024, for flagrant cases | Labels and distributors, who often pass it on |
| Releases or whole catalogs taken down | Artists and labels |
| Playlists dropped from submission platforms | Curators |
At its most deliberate, it’s a crime. In 2024, US prosecutors charged a musician with wire fraud for streaming AI-generated songs with thousands of bot accounts; he pleaded guilty, and in 2026 he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Most of the people affected did nothing wrong. They just found out last.
How Bot Detection Alerts Work
artist.tools · alerts9:14 AM
Bot alert: Nova Lane was added to a high-risk playlist
Nova LaneArtist · 3 high-risk playlists
1 new high-risk playlist
Chill Lo-Fi Focus 24/7by curator_8812 · 48.2K followersLikely Botted
Flagged Oct 14: Massive Follower Spike
Other high-risk playlists
- Study Beats Dailyby beatsdaily · 22.9K followers
- Fresh Pop Finds 2026by popfinds · 9.4K followers
artist.tools tracks more than 32M Spotify playlists and rates them for bot activity. Bot detection alerts watch whatever you’re responsible for:
- Choose what to watch: an artist, single tracks, playlists, or whole dashboard folders, so a roster or catalog is covered with one switch.
- We keep checking: the playlists carrying your music, and the playlists you watch, are checked against those ratings again and again.
- You get an email the day it happens: when a high-risk playlist adds one of your songs, or a playlist you watch starts to look botted.
Each alert names the playlist, its curator and followers, when and why it was flagged, and the other high-risk playlists already on record, with a link to the full history. Alerts are part of the paid plans, and a free account gets one alert to try it.
For Artists and Managers
Act before the notice. A botted playlist can add your song without asking, and your distributor will still hold you responsible. artist.tools shows every high-risk playlist on each of your songs, and alerts you the day a new one appears, so you can ask the curator to remove it while it’s still a small problem.
Already got an artificial streaming notice? Document first:
- Find the likely source: line up the notice’s dates with the high-risk playlists on the track and when they added it.
- Ask to be removed from each risky playlist, and keep a record that you did.
- Pause any campaign or vendor that might be involved.
- Reply to your distributor with what you found and what you’ve done about it.
Our guide on how to get out of a botted playlist walks through it, and how artists use artist.tools shows the rest of a release week.
For Labels and Distributors
Review releases before the report. Platform reports on artificial streaming arrive monthly, after the streams are counted and the royalties calculated. Bot detection gives your team the same signal weeks earlier:
- Watch a roster or a whole catalog through dashboard folders, with every high-risk add dated.
- See who’s behind it: the curator of each flagged playlist, and whether they run other botted playlists, so a promo scam an artist fell for looks different from an organised operation.
- Act with a record: by the time the monthly report lands, your team has already reviewed the releases it’s likely to name.
Distributors and playlist platforms can bring the same playlist ratings into their own review systems through the enterprise API. See how fraud and catalog teams use artist.tools.
For Playlist Curators
Know before the platforms do. Bots don’t only target artists. A playlist can be hit with fake followers to make it look bought, and submission platforms like SubmitHub, Groover and PlaylistPush drop playlists that show bot activity.
Watch your own playlists and you’ll know the morning it happens, with the follower history that shows the spike, so you can explain it to the platforms you earn from before they act. How curators use artist.tools.
For A&R and Scouts
Check the history before you sign. Bought growth and real growth look the same from the outside. Before an offer, check every high-risk playlist an artist’s tracks have landed on, and when. Exposure isn’t a verdict on the artist, since bots add songs without asking, but it’s a question to ask early. How A&R teams use artist.tools.
How to Spot a Botted Playlist
No single signal proves a playlist is botted, but several together are hard to ignore:
| Signal | For Example |
|---|---|
| Follower patterns | Overnight spikes, mass purges, growth that flatlines |
| Audience signals | Far more or far fewer listeners than the follower count suggests |
| Curator patterns | No or suspicious following of their own, other flagged playlists |
| Curation signals | Unthemed tracklists, terms tied to bot networks |
| Network ties | Links to patterns that recur across known bot networks in our data |
artist.tools weighs signs like these alongside many other checks of its own, plus human review, to give each playlist one rating: Likely Bot-free, Undetermined, Possibly Botted (flagged by our system) or Likely Botted (human-verified). To check a single playlist before you pitch, partner or sign, use the free Spotify bot checker.
Keep exploring
FAQ
Plainly answered
What is artificial streaming?
Artificial streaming is streaming activity that doesn't reflect genuine listener intent, in Spotify's words.
It includes plays, listeners, saves or followers produced by bots, stream farms, botted playlists or paid services that "guarantee" streams.
Can labels and distributors monitor a whole catalog?
Yes. Add a roster or catalog to dashboard folders and turn on alerts for them, and every high-risk playlist add is dated as it happens. Distributors and playlist platforms can also bring the same playlist ratings into their own systems through the enterprise API.
Can I get in trouble for fake streams I didn't buy?
Yes. Spotify and distributors act on artificial streams wherever they come from, so a botted playlist that added your song on its own can still lead to removed streams or withheld royalties.
The best protection is to find out early, ask the curator to remove the song, and keep a record that you did.
Does Spotify charge for artificial streams?
Yes. Since April 2024, Spotify charges labels and distributors per track when it detects flagrant artificial streaming on their content.
Some distributors pass that charge on to the artist's account. Spotify hasn't published the amount.
Can Spotify remove bot streams?
Yes. Spotify and distributors can filter, remove or discount streams they believe are artificial, and those streams earn no royalties.
In some cases, suspicious activity can also lead to royalty holds, warnings, takedowns or account-level issues.
Is artificial streaming illegal?
It breaks the terms of every streaming service and distributor. At its most deliberate, it's fraud: in 2024, US prosecutors charged a musician with wire fraud for streaming AI-generated songs with thousands of bot accounts, and he was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2026.
How can I tell if a Spotify playlist is botted?
Look for sudden follower spikes or drops, months without any growth, a curator with almost no followers of their own, and a curator who runs other flagged playlists.
To check one playlist, use the free Spotify bot checker.
What should I do if my song gets fake streams?
Find the likely source by lining up recent playlist adds, campaigns and stream spikes. Save the evidence, ask the curator to remove the song, pause any risky promotion and explain what you've done to your distributor.
Our guide on how to get out of a botted playlist walks through it.
Are bot detection alerts free?
Bot detection alerts are part of the paid plans, and a free account gets one alert to try it.
The bot checker is free for anyone, with no account needed.
What happens if bots hit my playlist?
Submission platforms like SubmitHub, Groover and PlaylistPush drop playlists that show bot activity, even when the curator didn't buy anything. Watch your playlists with bot detection alerts and you'll see a suspicious follower spike the day it happens, with the history to explain it.
Can artist.tools guarantee a playlist is bot-free?
No tool can guarantee that a playlist is completely bot-free.
artist.tools identifies risk signals and rates playlists on the evidence available, so a rating is a probability, not an absolute verdict.
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