{"id":384,"date":"2022-09-09T21:04:48","date_gmt":"2022-09-09T21:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playlistmap.com\/blog\/?p=384"},"modified":"2023-02-15T23:13:16","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T23:13:16","slug":"fake-playlists-on-spotify-how-to-avoid-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playlistmap.com\/blog\/fake-playlists-on-spotify-how-to-avoid-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Fake playlists on Spotify: how to avoid them? (2023)"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you already know, Spotify playlists are a great growth engine. Aim your music at big, robust playlists, contact the curators, and get streams and exposure. But not every playlist is quite what it claims to be. Sometimes a 25K followers playlist won\u2019t get a 25K-followers-playlist\u2019s results.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Unfortunately, many playlists on Spotify use bots as followers and buy bot-generated streams. This is dangerous to you and your music for reasons we will explain right away. We will also teach you how to detect and avoid these harmful playlists, and what you can do to make sure you get your music on the right (and legal) playlists.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why are fake playlists dangerous?<\/span><\/h2>\n

First, fake playlists – Spotify playlists that use bots for streams and followers – mislead you about how your music performs on Spotify. They appear to be popular and alive, and even show some nice stream numbers to artists, when in fact these followers and streams aren\u2019t real. Seeing thousands of streams on your Spotify for Artists is nice, but it doesn\u2019t help you when there are no real fans behind it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Even worse – if it does work, these \u201cfollowers\u201d listen to your music and it gets noticed, who will the algorithm recommend it to? Right. To more music-tasteless bots, meaning 0 new real listeners or streams through algorithm exposure. The platform will also link you to the other artists on the playlist, again misleading the algorithm and damaging your exposure and promotion effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

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As an artist, your real fanbase is your most important asset. They are the people who love your music, play and share it and engage with the content you make. When they\u2019re gone – what\u2019s the point in numbers?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Second, fake playlists are illegal. Buying streams or followers is against Spotify’s terms of use and may lead to punishment against the user. In the case of playlists, that will also affect you in two ways:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Spotify will remove the fake songs and streams generated on the playlist. I.e. your numbers will drop, especially the number of streams, and the monthly listeners as a result.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    1. Because your song got bot-generated streams, Spotify might take actions against your songs and artist page. In other words, buying streams may lead to <\/span>less <\/b>exposure by the algorithm, a bad reputation, and sometimes even removal of the song from Spotify!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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      Beyond the direct damage that might be caused by a fake playlist, it also damages the industry and your career. You don\u2019t want to be identified as \u201cthe one who uses fake followers\u201d or \u201cthe stream buyer\u201d. Building legitimate and robust relationships with playlist curators and artists is much better, both in terms of reputation and real, rewarding promotion.<\/span><\/p>\n

      How to detect (and avoid) fake Spotify playlists?<\/span><\/h2>\n

      The first and most important tool for detecting fake playlists are graphs and metrics about the playlist. Followers over Time graph is the first indicator you\u2019d like to check, as it\u2019s the easiest way to detect bot-followers. Try to find any peaks or weird boosts. If a playlist gets new 10K followers in one day, they probably use bots.<\/span><\/p>\n

      After that, you\u2019d like to go deeper to either be sure it\u2019s OK or confirm your suspicions. You\u2019d like to see if the tracks on the playlist indeed match the genre or mood they\u2019re supposed to, if it features artists you want to be connected to, and assure the curator isn\u2019t some stream-selling \u201cpromotion\u201d service.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Here are some things to check and questions to ask, so you can have a better idea of the playlist’s<\/span><\/p>\n