How do I detect fake playlists/streams and verify curator legitimacy (red flags, audits, due diligence)?
TL;DR - Fake playlists and click-farm curators leave obvious fingerprints: overnight follower spikes, lopsided geography, low save-to-stream, and sky-high skips. Run every playlist through a 3-stage audit (Pre-Pitch → Mid-Campaign → Post-Campaign) and apply the Rule of Two: if two red flags appear at any stage, pull the track and blacklist the curator.
1 │ Pre-Pitch Checklist — 10-Minute Bot Detector
• Follower Growth — Green: gradual climb | Yellow: one +20% bump | Red: 10k+ overnight spike | Verify: Chartmetric graph
• Save-to-Stream — Green: ≥ 10% | Yellow: 4–9% | Red: < 4% | Verify: SpotOnTrack sample or curator screenshot
• Skip (< 30 s) — Green: < 25% | Yellow: 25–40% | Red: > 40% | Verify: Spotify for Artists after trial add
• Country Mix — Green: top 5 genre markets | Yellow: one odd market ≥ 40% | Red: 80%+ from single low-CPM region | Verify: Chartmetric or curator stats
• Follower-Per-Track Ratio — Green: 50–150 | Yellow: 30–49 or 151–299 | Red: < 30 or > 300 | Verify: playlist page count
• Curator Footprint — Green: active socials + biz email | Yellow: sparse bio | Red: “DM 4 placement” Gmail | Verify: Google and socials
• Payment Method — Green: escrow platforms (SubmitHub, Groover) | Yellow: tip jar | Red: crypto or PayPal DMs | Verify: pitch chat
Rule of Two: any two reds = hard pass.
2 │ Mid-Campaign — Live Audit Playbook
Stream Source Spike — S4A → Music → Source: any single playlist > 50% of daily streams is a red flag
Save-to-Stream — healthy ≥ 8% | pull track if < 4%
Skip Rate and Geography — skip > 40% or sudden surge from one country = assume bots
Immediate Action — remove track, request refund or credit, document with screenshots
3 │ Post-Campaign Forensics
• Listener-to-Stream — Healthy: 1.3×–2.0× | Suspicious: > 3× loops or < 1.1×
• Algorithmic Lift — Healthy: Discover Weekly or Radio uptrend | Suspicious: no lift despite big spike
• Royalties vs Streams — Healthy: normal payout ($0.003–0.004) | Suspicious: $0 withheld
• Follower Growth — Healthy: +10–25% MoM | Suspicious: flat after spike
Archive CSVs and screenshots. They protect you in royalty disputes.
4 │ Due-Diligence Toolkit
• Chartmetric (free tier) — follower graph, country mix
• IsItAGoodPlaylist.com — bot-score heuristic
• SpotOnTrack — playlist history, track stats
• Spotify for Artists CSV — saves, skips, listeners
• Google Sheets + Looker Studio — central audit dashboard
5 │ Red-Flag Scenarios and Fast Responses
• Curator hides stats or refuses answers → walk away
• Playlist jumps 10k → 40k followers overnight → pull track and report to distributor
• Streams soar but royalties = $0 → file fraud ticket with distributor and attach evidence
• Curator offers “guaranteed placement” for crypto → decline; violates DSP policy and risks purge
Key Takeaways
Bots leave patterns — spikes, weird geos, low saves, high skips
Audit in three stages — pre-pitch, mid-campaign, post-campaign
Rule of Two — two red flags = eject, no exceptions
Ask for proof — legit curators share save rates and top countries
Document everything — screenshots and CSVs are your insurance if royalties get clawed back