Danish ‘artist’ made tons of money through fraud via streaming services

#Danish #artist #tons #money #fraud #streaming #services
AFP

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 13:54

In Denmark, a man is suspected of scamming music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. The man’s music was played an unusually high number of times, according to the court in Aarhus.

According to the Danish broadcaster DR, the man is suspected of data fraud and also of violating copyright law. The 53-year-old man, whose name has not been released, is said to have changed music by other artists with minor adjustments and then recorded it under his own name.

He earned more than 4.3 million Danish crowns, the equivalent of more than 550,000 euros. To earn 1 million Danish kroner, an artist’s song must be listened to about 20 million times. Moreover, all rights for those 1 million Danish kroner should also be in the hands of the artist.

Those kinds of figures are generally only reserved for big international stars. Even the most successful Danish artists such as the band Lukas Graham, rapper Gilli and singer MØ do not reach those numbers of streams.

Twenty users

The fraud is said to have taken place between 2013 and 2019. Justice states that the man’s songs have been played in an “unauthorized manner”. DR says an email from Spotify showed that a song streamed 5.5 million times was played 98 percent of the time by the same 20 users.

Autor, the Danish association for composers, songwriters, lyricists and producers, calls the case “one of a kind”. How the man got so many streams is a mystery, according to the chairman of Autor, but “it could have been done by computer programs or setting up so many devices that played the same songs repeatedly”.

The court in Aarhus is expected to rule on the case next week.