Inside the 'Black Market' Where Artists Can Pay for Millions of Streams

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'There is a black market for pay-for-play.” A recording of a phone call between a digital marketer and high-powered managers shows a company offering to artificially manipulate streams for a major-label artist.

Mack tells Blueprint he can jack up artists’ streams — for a price. A salesman operating in an industry that treats hype as standard operating procedure, Mack claims to Blueprint that his “network” can generate “200 million streams a month” spread across its various music clients, a group that he alleges has included nearly a dozen well-known acts and prominent labels.

But despite the new vocabulary, digital marketers say that some streaming manipulation resembles old-school radio payola: Third parties build or gain control of playlists or networks of playlists on a platform like Spotify and then accept payment from artists or their teams for placing songs in those lists.

Artists can be penalized in other ways when their tracks are connected to streaming manipulation. This activity goes against the terms of service for prominent streaming companies, which have systems in place to flag plays they believe to be the result of manipulation. In January, Spotify pulled, claiming that they had racked up “artificial streams.

During Mack’s call to discuss boosting G-Eazy’s first-week numbers, Blueprint Group executives — veteran managers with a stable of high-profile acts — directly asked the marketer about his methods for increasing streams.https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Joshua-Mack-snippet-1.m4a

“If we stop pressing the buttons, the people at the labels would not be able to be getting the type of response and support they’re getting,” Mack says on the audio recording. “That’s the honest truth.”

 

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The te ☕

frustrada e desapontada, mas nenhum pouco surpresa...

Indignada mas não me surpreendeu

o spotify aí

jimineperfect karma is an army

oh , they said so...

Even podcasts aren't tf is happening

we've been dealing with this for years ain't nobody surprised

And I been peeping once Megan drop body and ol girl drop up I notice how the radio stations been pushing Body back when body was getting more plays now radios barley try to play it

You could have just ask BTS ARMY, they've been saying this for years

Lmfaooo please we knew this years ago who’s shocked😟? That’s why these artist free fall badly after a week! Nothing is organic Chile

This ain’t news! it’s a huge racket since analog days, now it’s just gotten more savvier. It should be talked about more everyday so honest artists & fans are more aware. bts_twt organic success is much better and fulfilling .

Armys, pls share & engage w/ this. Get your receipts too. No one else has provided us with actual evidence in print let alone audio of the payola practices in the industry. CB will come again and a certain US music metric org likes to act dumb about this

Wow shocking Army have been telling everyone this for years.

OMG act surprised y'all 😱 Anyways.... Armys just know BTS don't have any on these privileges 🗿 that means we have to work our as* off to get our Streams higher organically. I know the biz is getting dirty but it doesn't mean we don't have space to improve because we do! Stream

as we been saying

And once again ARMYs were correct. y'all laughed/called us delusional. Funny how we constantly keep getting proven right and y'all still act goofy. The industry is VERY threatened of BTS bc even with all the corruption, BTS is beating them. Imagine what it would look like w/o🤭

ARMYs have been saying that sht for YEARS y'all could've just listened to us and it wouldn't have taken yall so long to realise. but anyway-

As usual you will make this about the US artists and ignore that BTSARMY have been yelling about this for years! I’ve been an army for 4+ years and I’ve known it ever since I started following BTS_twt. 🤨 BTSHistoryMakers BTSBestSellingAlbums USartistspayola

But, but, but every radio dj on here has told us maaaany times that there is no payola! Absolutely shocketh! What's next, you're gonna tell me awardshows are rigged!! Emily in Paris is a masterpiece, I refuse to belive it!

Let’s act suprise

epipeny This is such a surprise!

ARMYS the ones they were telling this from 2018, like 4 years ago

Really?! I can't believe it! If they hadn't told me, I'd still be blind. (sarcasm)

we're saying this from past 2 years!🙄 c'mon!👊

Army says it since 2018 🤡

Someone xplain to me in baby language

Nah you don't say?!!

What a surprise omg!

Armys have been saying this since 2018 but y'all didn't pay attention! :3

*pretends to be shocked*

What does it mean?

mandi_ufc I knew there wasn't THAT many people interested in even more songs about Taylor Swift's endlessly failing relationships and the poor saps who are always to blame.

We have been screaming about this but nobody listened to us. Armys are right as usual

Wbk.

we’re literally saying this since day one

wow, we didnt knew this at all. wow, i'm so shocked😐

BTS safe 💅🏼

ARMYs been saying this for years but hey let’s act surprise

Everyone act surprised

Pretends to be shocked.

This was what we Armyss have been pointing out since ages but no one noticed 😏😏now whatt huhh? Drop the names 🙂💀

Wbk like forever? 😑

Wow really? Its not like ARMY has been saying this for YEARS.

That's some regular shit of fake artists

Pretending to be surprised ... We have been telling this since ages ... But

thekidlaroi

The way armys have been saying this for years 💀

Quick, look surprised.

And yet, they call ARMYs bots. The audacity.

I see stans trembling. Afraid of getting exposed. 🤣

bts sitting pretty with their organic success

armys have been saying this for years but no one listened now let's act surprised

oh my god news flash *surprised pikachu face*

We've been saying this for year

Army pretending to be shooked by your revelation...🤯💜

So you just found out about this... In 2021.... Seriously?!

Yeah yeah whatever 😒😒😒😒 Even if the artists/labels themselves admit on payola, nothing will change.... Payola existed, exists and will continue to exist.

ARMYs are surprised... NOT!

So organic success by BTS_twt gonna blow the music industry

Armys been saying this for years! And y'all just called screaming jobless teenage girls, now I guess the teenage girls have proved to you that they're are way too smart! Anyways, The concerts have always been showing who is the real popular artist that people are interested in!+

*pretends to be shocked*

If they could boost the stream, it's possible they they could retard the streams as well 🤔🤔🤔

Omg

Lol no wonder everyone is afraid of BTS' organic success and got the whole music industry mad. They never needed to pay their way to success.

You don't say!!!

didnt see that one coming

EternallyTaekn better late than never ig 🙄

QUICK ARMY!! Act suprised 😮😮

We r so shocked.. Never heard this before..we only screamed for years! 😁 pretend to be shocked all little 7!

billboardcharts when will radio stream be out of Hot 100?!

When the BTS army has been saying this since 2017

And they call BTS's sells unorganic 😏💜

Pretend to be shocked ARMYs. It's not like we've been saying this for years...

No way!!! Are you serious

Oh they've finally caught up. After years....

Should I act surprised?

We are always 2years ahead of them lmao

ARMYs be like 👀

when army's talked about this shit y'all were like 'army are so delusional'

heard this two years ago when i got into the fandom lmao im not shocked

Owww

Bts remain unbother as always

Isn't that obvious!😒😒

This is truly shit - if this were to determining your grammy nominations or billboard placements - its no use. If compete - compete fairly. No wonder BTS was shaded in terms of radioplay in US 😐😐

We have been talking about this issue for yrs now, but still somebody took the initiative to talk about this!! 👍🏾

How to act surprised 😳😳 We have been telling this since yrs now 🤣🤣...

Quick yall, act surprised.

How to pretend shocked? 😅 🤯😱🙀🙊👀 😣😵🙉👽🧠

BTS ARMY have known this. Best way to tell what act is truly popular is how many pple show up at a concert. When I was baby ARMY I was shocked to hear so many huge names in pop only played in arenas, and not even selling out. Proud that BTS sell out stadiums all over the world.

Tells us something we don't already know 😂😂

See how when armys and bts exposed all these dirty job? Yea. Bts organic success 💅

lmao army always said this but yall decide to blind

I could hear suga's voice from nowhere screaming 'win no matter what!'

If you respect yourself and respect your craft, this wouldn't be an issue. Greed is an ugly thing.

😮 ohhh... I'm really shocked 😱 Correction: *Pretending to be shocked😌

Ahh drop the names, if it was an foreign artists their names be all over the article but we kind of knew who these artists.

najisujhojitajk We as Army have been saying this for years, no one believed us and now look where it is now. 😒

I'm more surprised at the people who don't know this exists.

WBK

.WatersOnAir 🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐

Not surprising!

Drop the names

Duh.. we've been saying this for years

They should just make great music with amazing performances like BTS does then people all around the world 🌎 will stream their songs.

We have been saying this for years

Notice mostly armys are interacting with this? Cause we know our sh¡t! We've been screaming into the void about this only to be dismissed as stupid fan girls.

You're trying to make it look like it just started now? Western industry doing it since forever.. please if you wanna act, act better.

Me looking at the ratio betwedn stream count vs. the artist's fan count.

And we saying this from last 3-4 yrs

Me pretending i know don't know about this

Armys seeing this right now after years knowing.

Honestly in this day and age radio should not be counted for any charts. It supposedly shows “what people are listening to” when people aren’t listing to songs they chose, it’s a curated playlist of the same 10 songs over an over. Streams and purchased songs/albums are much +

armys act surprise 😮🤭

hmmm is that so

Took you years to finally find out

What a shocking article! 🙄🙄🙄 😏😏😏

The only Fandom under the reply is ARMY, Not even a single OTHER Fandom.. And I love To see it

1M YT streams - $12000 BTSARMY streams - priceless💜

Armys pretends to be shocked 😂

Armys, let us act surprised 😂

ARMYPRINT BEEN SAYING THIS SINCE DAY 1

no way? I am bamboozled by this information that i did not know or suspect in any way...

But when armys talk about this they call us kids 🤦🏽‍♀️

Shocking......

ARMYs: i told y'all 😌

875noonamayee Really?

ARMY4everPurple yall could have just asked army💀could have told you this back in 2017😭

Wbk...

Army has known this sh!t for years but hey we're mad teenager, our opinion doesn't care 🤡

Finally... You really took ur time uh

I read about some artist's name already in Payola & now this...why am I even surprised when I have wondered about many how they get so many streams...some really deserve it but some are shitty..them making records of streams aren't really records it seems..more like money

Acting surprised. 🙄

Yeah. We’ve known for ages, but no one listened to us because BTS ARMY are crazy 🙄

ARMY been saying this since 2018.. no surprise.

Thats why we buy BTS Album too.. 1MOTS7IFPIAlbumAllFormat 🙄🙄🙄

You don’t say......

you don’t say?

You write about this from time to time lmao, now spill the name of the labels and the artists

Wow...shocking 😒 We could’ve told you this information in 2018. This is also why I stopped listening to many big artists and big playlists because most of the time there’s payola involved with getting their names up there.

army: act surprised 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️

Jan main2!!

we've been saying this for years 🤷🏻‍♀️

'...but wouldnt it be better to make music with more honest ways?' - Kim Seokjin

OMG !

Thats why we buy albums, coz bots can’t buy!

We know

BTS has been placed in a high ground where they are now coz of their talent and humility and as true artists, they are supported by millions of fans who truly love them and want them to succeed, with no payola at all! ARMYs are all out for them to truly shine

We’ve been saying this for years 💀 no wonder the industry likes to think we are rabid fans. I mean. We are uncovering their schemes like Scooby Doo

🤭

🙄

AMRYS knew this since birth. BTS would’ve gotten their 1 long ago if it wasnt for these fake ass media playing managers

and water is wet

eh mesmo menina!? não me diga.... tô chocada 😱

This is what BTS is up against. Maddening, frustrating. The last barrier to take.

Who is surprised? Not me

hurry up, gather everyone and act shocked!!!!

Album buys.. Waaa

I'm not surprised but let's pretend.

Oh no

no sh!t sherlock

Shocking, can we finally ban radio play from charts now 🤷‍♀️

oh my, really?! IMAGINE THAT! 🙄 NOW that that's done, tell us something we don't already know.

WatersOnAir as you were saying?

no way! totally not like we were telling everyone about that for like 2 years now

armys have been talking about this, just like they did in 2017 when YouTube started stealing streams from BTS.

No big surprise here, but this is about an incident 2 years ago. What's going on NOW👀👀

omg no way

Oh really, who would have thought? 🤔

everyone act surprised, we were saying this for years

Act surprised ! ' wow we have never ever talked about this before wow '

We know there are some YT farms and now Sp farms to make this kind of jobs, using VPN or not, they can replicate the same Ph method in another country, I'm glad to know this issue can be disclose and fixed because new artists deserve an fair place to compete for audiences

armys:

Nah, really?

gonna acting suprised

Someone please tell me what happen?

📞bangpd get a load of this new intel

Is it Bieber? Lol

REALLY you don't say

no way!! who would have thought?

congratulations.. y’all r the last people to find out 🙂

whoa really imagine that now if only a certain group of bots had called this years ago🙂

92fuzzy92 ARMY tried to tell y’all

Revelation of the year. O M G 🙄

YALL ARE 3 YRS LATE

Rolling stones I'll get you a piece of hobi's bread, if you leak me a few already suspected names

*pretend to be shocked*

Justin caught red handed

ARMYS the ones they were telling this 2 years before.

Та неужели?

MrsTOH2O

Let me pretend to be shocked right quick.

ARMYs look shocked.

Nooooooo! Say it ain't so... Ya mean we were right TWO YEARS AGO in 2018? You know when we were screaming about it and ya'll thought them teenagers know nothing? 🤓💜👇 BTSARMY BTS_twt

except for bts they stay winning no matter what

No way 😮

Shocking. 😒

Who would have thought

This isnt news

Interesting read

Uhhhh... duh.

Artificially?

Explains why certain “artists” appear to be much more popular than they deserve.

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