Ghost Artists and Fake Streams

Platforms host mood-music playlists populated by pseudonymous ghost artists they create, directly draining royalty pools meant for real musicians. In 2023, an investigation found that Spotify’s own curated ambient and lo-fi playlists included 800+ tracks from fake artists, siphoning an estimated 0.5% of total payouts—equivalent to $20 million annually. Unlike typical content, these phantom tracks cost nothing to produce yet earn the platform a cut, making them a 100% margin revenue stream at musicians' expense.