News

Ongoing campaign against music streaming manipulation seeks to ensure music creators are properly compensated for their efforts  

7^th October 2020 – IFPI, the organisation that represents the recorded music industry worldwide, and its Brazilian national group, Pro-Música Brasil, have announced a series of successful actions against streaming manipulation sites in Brazil. As a result of these actions, multiple sites, including the prominent site turbosocial.com.br, ceased offering music streaming manipulation services.  

Streaming manipulation involves the creation of artificial ‘plays’ on digital music streaming services that do not represent genuine listening. The practice undermines the accuracy of charts and, ultimately, the accuracy of royalty payments from streaming services to music creators. 

Following a coordinated approach from Pro-Música Brasil, Brazilian anti-piracy body APDIF, and the Brazilian police, the operator of turbosocial.com.br has removed all music streaming manipulation services. Several affiliated sites have also stopped offering music streaming manipulation services (social10.com.br; paineldecurtidas.com.br; instaautomatico.com.br; curtidasface.com.br; conseguirseguidores.com; www.instacurtidas.com.br), and the operator has agreed to refrain from re-starting any music streaming manipulation services in the future.

Six additional sites, unrelated to turbosocial.com.br, withdrew music streaming manipulation services as a result of ‘cease and desist’ letters from Pro-Música Brasil and APDIF (impulsioneme.com; shopmmarketing.com; gramsocial.com.br; igmidias.com; infinitegrowmarketingdigital.com and boommarketingdigital.com). A seventh site voluntarily removed its service.

Frances Moore, chief executive of IFPI, said: “Brazil’s vibrant and streaming-led music market is providing increasingly exciting and diverse opportunities for its artists and fans to share and enjoy music. Streaming manipulation must not be allowed to undermine these developments by depriving creators of revenue and misleading consumers.

“These actions demonstrate the global recording industry’s continuing commitment to fighting back against this practice, which harms the entire music ecosystem. We commend the police and Pro-Música Brasil for their work and cooperation on this positive outcome.”

Paulo Rosa, Director, Pro-Música Brasil, said: “These are positive developments for Brazil’s music community and the first time we have seen successful action against streaming manipulation sites in the country. We would like to thank the police for their work and cooperation on these cases.

“Streaming manipulation diverts revenues away from artists and damages the credibility of digital platforms and charts. For the industry in Brazil to truly combat this practice we need the full cooperation of the entire music ecosystem, from labels to streaming services, to law enforcement.”

These actions are the latest in the global recording industry’s campaign against music streaming manipulation. In 2019, IFPI, its member companies and national groups joined a broad industry coalition in signing a voluntary code of best practice aimed at detecting and preventing streaming manipulation, as well as mitigating its effects in the marketplace. Since then, successful results have been delivered in Germany with injunctions secured against five sites in August and the closure of Followerschmiede.de, in March.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

About IFPI

IFPI is the voice of the recording industry worldwide, representing over 8,000 record company members across the globe. We work to promote the value of recorded music, campaign for the rights of record producers and expand the commercial uses of recorded music around the world.

For further information please contact:

press@ifpi.org | +44 (0)20 7878 7979