CD Baby should defend its artists and appeal Spotify irregular streaming activity reports instead of immediately taking down flagged releases
I work with a small artist who has distributed three titles via CD Baby so far. Three days ago, CD Baby notified us that Spotify had found irregular streaming patterns associated with one of his releases. The email did not specifically mention which one, but I was able to identify the song through Spotify for Artists. Turned out the track was added to a playlist that the Spotify community has for years raised awareness about for being a source of artificial streams but which Spotify chooses not to delete (it's still live with over 1M saves and counting).
I contacted CD Baby and asked them not to proceed with the removal pending a thorough investigation. I also reported the incident to Spotify for Artists Support, which said the distributor may forward information or evidence to clear us. Instead, just today, CD Baby officially pulled out the whole album that song was on without ever responding to my support ticket and follow-ups.
This needs to change. I am more convinced it's the distributor's choice to stand by its artists or to believe Spotify's flagging system in an instant. CD Baby is in a better position to tell Spotify the artist accused of gaming the system is innocent and has even pointed out this and that playlist as the source of the fake streams so please investigate further.
Read the full statement here.