Spotify uses machine learning to detect fake streams — plays generated by bots or streaming farms to inflate royalty payments — and removes those streams from royalty calculations and charts.

Analyzes behavioral anomalies (listening spikes, uniform patterns, muted playback, zero saves), IP data, and completion rates. Starting April 2024, Spotify began charging distributors a €10/month penalty per flagged track. In September 2024, a musician was charged with $10M+ in royalties fraud using AI-generated songs and 1,000+ bot accounts — the first DOJ criminal case of its kind. Spotify co-founded the Music Fights Fraud Alliance in 2023.