Spotify, the world’s leading music streaming platform, has taken a firm stand against fake streams and bot-generated plays. The company began removing artificial streaming numbers from artist profiles, with many of these inflated figures traced back to the past three months, from February onward. This cleanup reflects Spotify’s broader effort to ensure fair and accurate representation of artists’ performance on the platform.

Following this action, the public quickly speculated about which artists were affected, with various theories surfacing online. One prominent name that emerged was Kendrick Lamar, particularly after Drake, in a legal dispute with Universal Music Group, accused the label of manipulating Lamar’s streaming numbers for his track Not Like Us using bots. Although these claims remain unverified, many fans and observers believe Spotify’s crackdown may be linked to the ongoing conflict between the two rappers.

Spotify has addressed the issue directly, stating that its fight against artificial streaming is a long-standing, genre-independent effort. The platform uses a combination of automated systems and manual reviews to detect and limit the impact of fake streams. When manipulation is detected, Spotify takes action by removing the false streaming numbers and enforcing penalties such as withholding royalties.