The email usually arrives with no warning. Your distributor says a release has been flagged for artificial streaming. Maybe the streams were removed, maybe the royalties are being held, maybe the release is already gone from Spotify. And you're sure you didn't buy a single fake play.
I spent a decade as employee #2 at DistroKid. This is the guide I'd want an artist to read before writing back to their distributor: what a flag means, what to do in the first few days, the exact email to send, and what to expect after.
What "artificial streaming" means
Spotify defines an artificial stream as one that doesn't reflect a real listener choosing to hear your music, including plays generated by bots, scripts or other automated tricks. You can read the full policy on Spotify for Artists.
The important part for you: the policy is about the streams, not your intent. A track can be flagged because of plays you never asked for.
How it can happen when you didn't cheat
- A paid playlist or promo service. Some services that promise "real" playlist placement deliver bot plays instead. Spotify's own guidance says services that promise streams or playlist placement in exchange for money break its terms.
- A playlist you were added to without asking. If a playlist is padded with fake listeners, the tracks on it can pick up that traffic.
- A fan or friend who "helped." Leaving a track on repeat overnight, or running it on several devices at once, may look automated to detection systems.
What actually happens when a track is flagged
Spotify describes a range of consequences depending on severity. Flagged streams don't earn royalties, don't count toward public play counts or charts, and don't feed the recommendation algorithm. Beyond that, a track can lose its playlist placements, and in serious cases the distributor can warn you, charge you, suspend the account or take the release down.
Since April 2024, Spotify has also charged labels and distributors a fee per track when it detects flagrant artificial streaming on their content. Whether that fee reaches you depends on your distributor. FUGA, for example, says publicly that it deducts that fee, €10 per track, from a client's next royalty payment. Check your own distributor's terms, and ask them directly (the email below does).
The first 72 hours
- Save the notice. Keep the original email or dashboard message, with its date and any case or reference number.
- Don't re-upload yet. Sending the same release again under a new title, or through a different distributor, can look like an attempt to get around enforcement. Ask your distributor what your options are first.
- Read the notice carefully. Note exactly which tracks and platforms are named, whether streams were removed or the release was taken down, and whether money is being withheld.
- Pull your data, and know its limits. In Spotify for Artists, look at when plays spiked, where listeners came from and which playlists drove them. Screenshot it before anything changes. Spotify says it sometimes removes confirmed artificial streams before they ever reach your dashboard, so no visible spike doesn't mean nothing happened.
- List everything you paid for. Every promo service, playlist pitching site, ad campaign or PR firm you used around the release, with dates and receipts.
- Deal with suspicious playlists. Report them to Spotify with its playlist reporter, and ask the curator to remove your track. Keep a record of both.
- Pause any promotion you aren't sure about.
The email to send your distributor
Send one complete message rather than a string of short ones. Support teams can act on a full picture much faster. Copy this and fill in the brackets:
Subject: Artificial streaming notice: [Release title], [UPC]
Hi,
I received your notice on [date] (reference [number, if any]) about artificial streaming on the release below. I did not buy, generate or arrange artificial streams, and I'd like to understand the finding and the next steps.
Release: [Title], by [artist name]
UPC: [UPC]
Tracks named: [Track title, ISRC] for each track
What the notice said: [streams removed / royalties held / release taken down]
Promotion I used around this release: [service or company, what it did, dates, link or receipt]. If none, say so.
Playlists I believe caused this: [playlist name and link, date added]. I've reported these to Spotify and asked the curators to remove my tracks on [date].
Could you tell me:
1. What evidence or data you can share about the flagged activity.
2. How your review process works and how long it usually takes.
3. What I need to provide to request that the release be reinstated, if it was removed.
4. Whether any penalty fee applies to my account, and how it was calculated.
5. Whether this affects my account or other releases.
Screenshots of my Spotify for Artists data are attached. Thank you for looking into this.
[Your name]
[Account email]
What happens after you send it
Keep two things separate in your head. Investigating the flag means working out where the plays came from and stopping them. Getting the release reinstated is a separate decision that your distributor, and sometimes the streaming service, makes on its own terms. Removing the source of the plays is the right thing to do, but it doesn't guarantee the release comes back.
While you wait:
- Follow up once, in the same thread. If they gave you a timeframe, wait for it to pass. If they didn't, a short, polite follow-up after about a week keeps your case visible without restarting it.
- Add new information as it comes in, such as a curator confirming they removed your track.
If reinstatement is refused, ask for the decision in writing and get answers to these before you do anything else:
- Is this decision final, or is there a way to have it reviewed again?
- Does it apply only to Spotify, or to every platform?
- Is my account in good standing, and are my other releases affected?
- Are any royalties or fees still being held or owed?
- Am I allowed to release this music again later, through you or anyone else?
That last answer matters most before you consider re-releasing anything.
How to avoid it next time
- Vet every promo service. If it guarantees a number of streams or placements for a fee, skip it. A legitimate PR firm or playlist pitching service will explain exactly how it reaches people. Our guide to pitching playlist curators covers how to do it yourself.
- Watch your stats after every release. Unexplained spikes from places you've never had listeners, or a sudden jump in followers, are worth reporting early.
- Ask fans to listen, not to loop. Saves, shares and playlist adds help you. Overnight repeat plays don't.
- Build an audience you can reach directly. Email addresses and a page you control matter more than any one platform's numbers. More on that in why your link-in-bio should be the destination.
If you got the notice today
Save the notice. Write down every promotion you used around the release, with dates. Report any suspicious playlists. Then send your distributor one complete email using the template above, and wait for their answer before re-uploading anything.
Keep your music in front of fans while you sort it out
If your release disappears from Spotify, every Spotify link you've shared stops helping fans hear it: the one in your bio, in old posts, in your newsletter. A Gatefolded page gives you one link to share, with your music playable directly on the page, so you can keep promoting while you work through the issue with your distributor.
Fans listening there won't add to a flag, either: plays on Gatefolded don't count as streams on any streaming service. Only put up music you own or have the rights to share; if the takedown involves a rights dispute, settle that first.