Khaberni - A new lawsuit has accused the music streaming platform "Spotify" of overlooking huge networks of fake accounts that are used to inflate listening numbers for global stars such as artist Aubrey Drake, at the expense of less famous artists.
According to the lawsuit filed in a federal court in the United States, Canadian rapper Drake earns millions of dollars from these fake streams, while "Spotify" gains commercial value by appearing to have more users than in reality.
The lawsuit, filed by rapper RBX, stated that "this widespread fraud in streaming causes substantial financial harm to artists, composers, producers, and legitimate rights holders."
The suit was filed collectively on behalf of other artists, songwriters, producers, and music rights holders, and targets Spotify - dominant in the music industry - which "its inaction causes severe financial damage."
Spotify is the only defendant in the case, where it is accused of not wanting to combat fraud, and seeking to expand its user base whether they are real or fake.
In response, Spotify indicated that it could not comment on an ongoing case, but it denied gaining any benefits from fraudulent operations.
In a statement, Spotify said that it invests heavily in developing advanced anti-fraud systems, and implements strict measures to protect artists' rights such as deleting fake streams, withholding revenues, and imposing financial penalties.
