By Our Reporter
NEW YORK (CONVERSEER) – Streaming fraud is a long-standing problem in the music industry. In a recent interview, Oliver Schusser, who oversees Apple Music and Apple TV, shared Apple’s insights on combating fake streams on Apple Music. Reportedly, Apple has recently doubled its penalties for fraudulent activities on Apple Music.
The most common method of streaming fraud is for musicians or record labels to use bot networks to play their songs continuously around the clock in order to earn royalties. However, in recent years, various other methods of fraud have emerged, including manipulating streaming data to boost chart rankings.
According to IT Home, Apple introduced a fraud penalty mechanism for Apple Music as early as 2022 and has continued to intensify its crackdown in recent years. For example, in 2023, Apple claimed to have reduced streaming traffic manipulation by 30%.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Apple’s strategy to combat fraud in Apple Music employs tiered fines. When first implemented, the fine started at 5% and peaked at 25%. Starting this month, Apple has doubled the fines: the starting point has been raised to 10%, with the maximum fine reaching 50%.
The report explained, “In layman’s terms, if you profit $1 million through fake streaming, you could be fined up to $500,000.” In addition, any revenue generated from fake views would be immediately cancelled.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Schuster elaborated on Apple’s measures to combat fraud on Apple Music: “It’s a zero-sum game. I want our platform to be free of fraud, and this mechanism is really effective. Increasing penalties means taking back the money from fraudsters and redistributing it to those who create honest content.”
Schuster revealed that in 2025 alone, Apple removed billions of manipulated play counts from its platform.
“Most of our competitors are struggling with this. It’s a bit like whack-a-mole,” he said, adding that other streaming platforms like Spotify face similar issues but may lack the enforcement mechanisms of Apple.
“It’s a huge problem across the industry. Everyone wants to top the charts and get on recommended playlists. Even so, billions of plays were manipulated last year alone. We’ve definitely felt that the penalties we introduced in 2022 have worked. Our core focus is on quality, nothing more. We position ourselves as a high-quality platform, we don’t tolerate fraud, and we want to return revenue to honest creators.”
