These actions are meant to protect the integrity of the platform and ensure that all artists compete on a fair and level playing field.
🚨 Key Actions DSPs Can Take:
1. Withholding Royalties
If manipulated or non-organic traffic is detected, the DSP may withhold any royalties generated from those plays.
You won’t be paid for streams flagged as fraudulent.
2. Adjusting Stream Counts
Your official stream counts may be corrected to exclude plays generated by bots or suspicious behavior.
Your numbers may drop to reflect only legitimate activity.
3. Partial or Complete Catalog Removal
In severe cases, the platform may remove a single track, an album, or your entire artist profile — sometimes without prior notice.
Your music could be pulled from all digital stores.
4. Artist Account Suspension or Bans
If fraudulent activity is repeated or extreme, DSPs may suspend your artist profile or ban you from future releases on their platform.
Your presence on that service could be permanently blocked.
🔍 What About Suspicious Upcoming Releases?
📌 The Quality Control teams at DSPs or distributors can:
🔎 Hold the release for review
📑 Request documentation proving authorship, distribution, or publishing rights
🛡️ Reject the release altogether if the rights can’t be verified
This is especially likely if there’s a history of suspicious streaming, or if the release raises red flags from the start.
🧠 In Summary:
DSPs may:
✔️ Withhold payments
✔️ Adjust stream metrics
✔️ Remove your music
✔️ Block your artist profile
✔️ Delay or cancel suspicious releases