I Pulled My Music from Spotify Today. Here's Why.

Apparently, when Spotify’s fraud detection kicks in, instead of tracing it back to the scammer, they flag all the artists who appeared in those bot streams. The scammers pocket their money and the innocent artists get slapped with fines — often more than they’ve earned in years. Unsurprisingly, major label artists are never actually hit with these penalties. Independent musicians, however, are considered disposable collateral. While the fine was small, it showed that this could happen anytime and opens innocent independent artists (99.9% of those on Spotify) up to limitless fines. It is clear that the liability vastly outweighs the benefit.

Spotify may still be the biggest player in streaming, but the exodus is growing at a rapid rate. Obviously artists deserve better than fractions of a cent in royalties and fines for crimes we didn’t commit. But, #BoycottSpotify is always trending and even now is currently in the news for other reasons regarding the CEO's investments in AI warfare. Add to that the fact that the MLC, an organization who collects our mechanical royalties, sued Spotify last year for under-reporting payable royalties by almost 50%. The list of reasons to run for the hills goes on and on, and I fully expect Daniel Ek to be the next Bond villain. I am just the latest artist to drop them ... and won't be the last.

Please support independent artists by buying music if you can. If you must stream, please consider doing so from platforms who are less dedicated to world domination and the destruction of 007.

Spotify was never essential to my career as my niche is composing for TV, film, and other media. Despite their abysmal royalties, I left my work on the platform so anyone who wanted to listen could access it easily. This week, I was on the wrong end of an egregious Spotify policy that has revealed the platform to be a liability for most if not all independent artists. So I have removed my music from Spotify with immediate effect. My music is still available for purchase and streaming at the other more reputable platforms.

So, here's what happened. Recently, my distributor sent me a letter regarding a fine from Spotify for "illegal streams" which left me horrified. After a 1 minute search, I learned that a track of mine had been added without my knowledge to a wavr playlist scam. Here's how it works: Wavr and similar services sell “playlist promotion” or “streaming boosts.” What they’re really doing is blasting songs with bot-generated plays. To make it look less suspicious, they mix in tracks from totally unrelated, legitimate artists so the listening patterns resemble a normal playlist. I was the latest artist to randomly fall victim to these bad actors. Even though my distributor and Spotify both acknowledged that this often happens without the artists knowledge, there is no recourse and no way to appeal. Reporting the playlist to Spotify, as they suggested, does nothing. They simply responded that the fine still stands and the entire album which had the targeted track was immediately removed. Here's the kicker. Spotify doesn't even remove the offending playlist after it is reported.

Here's the actual letter from my distributor, with their name redacted as I still use them. I should point out that NONE of the independent non-major label distributors would have fought for me against Spotify regardless of my innocence. Changing distributor would do nothing.