Spotify Purges Half-Million Streams From Viral Indie Track After Bot Investigation

Spotify removed more than 500,000 streams from Malcolm Todd’s single “Earrings” in June. The company determined the song’s numbers had been manipulated by bots. This action followed a 70% overnight surge in listenership that pushed the track to the top of the Spotify USA charts. The Financial Times reported that this spike aligned with active bets on the Kalshi prediction market, where users wagered that the song would be the most-streamed track of the month.

The controversy over digital authenticity has expanded beyond chart manipulation to include marketing strategies and live ticket sales. In March, the co-founders of the digital marketing agency Chaotic Good Projects told Billboard that they created fake fan accounts to drive engagement for artists on their roster. Their client list included indie band Geese and pop stars. Eliza McLamb, an indie musician, highlighted the irony of alternative artists benefiting from these manufactured campaigns. The story gained traction after WIRED published an article titled “The Fanfare Around the Band Geese is a Psyop.”

Cameron Winter, the frontman of Geese, reacted to the news with surprise in an interview with Rolling Stone. “We were just like, ‘Oh, my God. The whole f***ing thing is fake.’ We were having a meltdown,” Winter said. He added that the band emailed their label to ask how long their fan base had been artificial. The label explained that it hired Chaotic Good to repost performance clips and boost algorithmic visibility, not to generate fake accounts. Geese has since sold out its headlining tour for 2026.

Ticketmaster addressed similar issues in the live market in April. The company canceled thousands of tickets for Harry Styles’ 30-night residency at Madison Square Garden. Ticketmaster identified scalpers who used fake identities to bypass purchase limits. Saumil Mehta, the global president of Ticketmaster, stated that the tickets would be resold to verified fans at face value. This move occurred as a federal antitrust trial against Ticketmaster and its parent, Live Nation, concluded. The trial involved dozens of states accusing the company of exercising excessive market power and overcharging consumers.

Streaming platforms are also adjusting to the volume of artificial content. Deezer reported in June that AI-generated songs made up more than 50% of its daily uploads. However, these tracks accounted for less than 3% of total streams, with a majority of those plays deemed fraudulent. Luminate, an entertainment insights firm, found that listeners are growing less comfortable with generative AI content despite the flood of new material. Spotify stated that it uses detection practices to identify manipulated streams and does not pay out royalties for associated plays.

Gracie Abrams faced scrutiny over her background during the July press tour for her album “Daughter From Hell.” The 27-year-old singer-songwriter addressed the “nepo baby” label in an interview with The New York Times’ Popcast. “I had a safety net, and that allowed me the ability to experiment and to concentrate,” Abrams said. Her album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Most major stops on her upcoming tour are already sold out.

The Rolling Stones released the single “In the Stars” this summer to promote their 25th studio album, “Foreign Tongues.” The accompanying music video featured deepfake versions of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood. The AI visuals were created by Deep Voodoo, a startup founded by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The group appears as younger versions of themselves performing in a warehouse setting alongside actress Odessa A’Zion.