Streaming Fraud & Anti-Piracy Policy | Sphoten

This Streaming Fraud & Anti-Piracy Policy (“Policy”) forms part of your agreement with Sphoten (“we”, “us”, or “our”) together with our Terms & Conditions, AI Music Distribution Policy, and the rules of every digital service provider (“DSP”) you select for delivery. By creating an account, uploading content, or using Sphoten, you accept this Policy in full.

Zero tolerance. Streaming fraud and pirated or unauthorized music undermine royalty pools, charts, discovery systems, and honest creators. Sphoten enforces this Policy strictly. Violations can result in immediate takedown across all stores, forfeiture or clawback of royalties, recovery of DSP fines, permanent account termination, and referral to platforms or authorities.

1. Purpose and industry context

Major streaming platforms — including Spotify and Apple Music — actively detect and punish artificial streams and stream manipulation. Industry coalitions such as the Music Fights Fraud Alliance coordinate anti-fraud efforts across the business. DSPs may withhold royalties on fake plays, remove inflated counts from charts and public stats, demote or delist tracks, fine labels/distributors for flagrant abuse, and require distributors to police their catalogs.

As your distributor, Sphoten must protect store relationships and legitimate artists. We therefore prohibit the conduct below and reserve the right to take any enforcement action described in this Policy, with or without prior notice, where permitted by law.

2. Definitions

Artificial streaming / stream manipulation — any stream, download, save, follow, skip pattern, playlist add, or similar engagement that does not reflect genuine listener intent, including bots, scripts, click farms, fake or disposable accounts, automated loops, paid “guaranteed streams/playlists,” coordinated device farms, VPN/proxy rings, or other methods intended to inflate metrics or royalties.
Promotional fraud services — third parties that sell or promise streams, playlist placement, algorithmic boosts, chart positions, or follower growth for a fee in ways that violate DSP terms (whether or not they disclose bots).
Pirated / unauthorized content — audio, artwork, metadata, or releases you do not have the legal right to distribute, including stolen masters, unauthorized copies, ripped commercial releases, unlicensed samples, unauthorized covers (where a license is required), impersonation of another artist, or content uploaded without required rights-holder consent.
Account holder — the person or entity that owns the Sphoten account, including labels, managers, and teams who upload on behalf of artists. You are responsible for the conduct of anyone acting for you, including hired promoters.

3. Strictly prohibited conduct

You must not, and must not authorize, fund, encourage, or turn a blind eye to, any of the following:

3.1 Streaming fraud and manipulation

Buying, selling, or using bots, scripts, farms, or automated tools to generate streams, saves, follows, or playlist adds
Paying for “guaranteed streams,” “chart packages,” “playlist campaigns,” or similar offers that violate DSP rules
Creating or using fake listener accounts, device farms, or coordinated multi-account schemes
Self-streaming, loop playback, or other artificial engagement intended to game royalties, charts, or recommendation systems
Incentivizing others (including fans) to stream in a manner that is deceptive, automated, or non-genuine under DSP policies
Attempting to conceal fraud (spoofed locations, disposable emails/devices, scrubbing evidence, or misrepresenting promotional vendors)

3.2 Piracy, copyright theft, and unauthorized content

Uploading music, artwork, or metadata you do not own or fully control the rights to distribute
Distributing pirated, ripped, leaked, or counterfeit recordings
Impersonating another artist, label, or rights holder, or using misleading names/artwork to exploit another’s brand
Failing to clear samples, interpolations, beats, or other third-party materials where clearance is required
Releasing unauthorized covers, remixes, or translations where mechanical, master, or other licenses are required and not obtained
Submitting knowingly false ISRC/UPC, credits, ownership claims, or rights documentation

3.3 Related abuse

Spam-scale duplicate uploads, content farms, or releases created primarily as vehicles for artificial streaming
Using Sphoten to launder, redistribute, or monetize infringing catalogs
Interfering with investigations, providing false statements, or opening new accounts after a ban

4. Your responsibility for third-party promoters

You are fully responsible for promotional partners you hire. “I didn’t know the playlist service used bots” is not a defense. If a DSP attributes artificial streaming or rights abuse to your content or account, Sphoten may treat that as your violation of this Policy.

Be extremely skeptical of any service that promises streams, playlist placement, or algorithmic boosts for money. Legitimate marketing does not guarantee stream counts or store playlist adds. If an offer sounds too good to be true, treat it as prohibited until proven otherwise.

5. Detection, reports, and cooperation

DSPs continuously monitor abnormal patterns (sudden unexplained spikes, suspicious territories, non-genuine sources, short-lived follower bursts, and similar signals). They may withhold royalties, correct public stats, remove playlist placements, delist tracks, and notify distributors.

When Sphoten receives a fraud, manipulation, copyright, or takedown notice from a DSP, rights holder, collecting society, or law-enforcement body, we may:

Immediately pause payouts and freeze affected balances
Take down one release, multiple releases, or your entire catalog from some or all stores
Demand written explanations, invoices, stems, session files, contracts, and other evidence within a short deadline
Share relevant account and release information with DSPs or rights holders as needed to investigate and protect the Service

Failure to cooperate fully and promptly is itself grounds for enforcement.

6. Enforcement and penalties

Depending on severity, recurrence, and DSP requirements, Sphoten may apply any combination of the following — including for a first offense when the conduct is serious:

Immediate multi-store takedown of flagged tracks, albums, or the full catalog
Withholding, cancellation, or clawback of royalties tied to artificial or unauthorized activity, including amounts already accrued or paid where recovery is lawful
Pass-through of DSP fines and costs (for example platform penalties charged to distributors for flagrant artificial streaming), billed to your account or deducted from balances
Account suspension or permanent termination, including loss of access to uploads, analytics, and payouts
Ban on new accounts linked to the same person, entity, payment method, device, or catalog
Reporting to DSPs, rights holders, collecting societies, payment processors, and/or authorities where appropriate
Refusal to redistribute the same or related content even after “cleanup” attempts

Sphoten is not obligated to provide a detailed DSP forensic report beyond what stores share with us. Reinstatement is discretionary, uncommon for confirmed fraud or piracy, and never guaranteed.

7. Copyright complaints and unauthorized music

If you believe content distributed through Sphoten infringes your copyright or other rights, contact support@sphoten.com with:

Your contact details and a description of the work claimed
The infringing release URL, store links, ISRC/UPC, or Sphoten release identifiers where available
A statement of good-faith belief that the use is unauthorized
A statement that the information is accurate and that you are the rights holder or authorized to act

We may remove or disable access to disputed content pending review. Repeat infringers will have accounts terminated. Counter-notices and restoration, where applicable, follow applicable law and our operational process — they do not excuse fraud or bad-faith filings.

8. Relationship to store and plan rules

DSP policies control storefront outcomes. Even if Sphoten accepts a release, a store may still reject, suppress, or remove it for fraud, rights, spam, or quality reasons. Plan features (including AI music allowances) do not authorize fraudulent promotion or unauthorized content. This Policy applies to every plan and every territory.

9. No waiver

Any delay or decision not to enforce a provision is not a waiver of our rights. We may update this Policy as industry and DSP requirements evolve. Continued use of Sphoten after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy.

10. Contact

Questions about this Policy, fraud reports, copyright notices, or account support: support@sphoten.com or our Contact page.