Fake streams are your problem too.
You didn't buy bot streams. But the playlist that placed your track did. Now Spotify is looking at your profile.
StreamShield watches every playlist your music lands on and warns you before the damage is done.
No fraud patterns found. Safe to pitch.
Minor anomalies. Monitor over time.
Concerning patterns. Proceed with caution.
Strong fraud signals. Do not pitch here.
Known fraud network. Immediate action needed.
Spotify doesn't care who bought the bots.
When Spotify's fraud systems flag a playlist for artificial streaming, they look at every artist on it. The artist that placed their track there. The artist that got pitched there by a service. Everyone.
Royalties get clawed back. Artist profiles get scrutinised. In the worst cases, music gets removed entirely. And you had no idea the playlist was a trap.
Royalty Clawbacks
Spotify retroactively removes royalties already paid out for streams they've determined were fraudulent. Even months later.
Profile Flagging
Repeated associations with fraudulent playlists puts your artist account on Spotify's watchlist. This suppresses your algorithmic reach.
Music Removal
In severe cases, tracks and entire artist profiles are removed from the platform. Rebuilding takes months - if you get reinstated at all.
You can't pitch your way out of a problem you don't know about.
StreamShield watches so you don't have to.
Every time your track lands on a new playlist, StreamShield scans it. Every day, it re-evaluates your existing placements. When something looks wrong, it tells you immediately.
Automatic Monitoring
StreamShield continuously scans every playlist your tracks appear on. No manual checking. No missed placements. It runs quietly in the background.
ML Risk Scoring
Every playlist gets scored 0-100 using a machine learning model trained on 24 behavioural features. Clean, Low, Medium, High, Critical. No guesswork.
Instant Alerts
High and Critical risk placements trigger alerts in your dashboard the moment they're identified. You'll know the same day your track hits a problem playlist.
Free Playlist Check
Before you pitch to a playlist, run it through our free tool. Paste the Spotify URL and get a risk score in seconds. No account required.
Score Breakdown
Not just a number - we show you exactly which patterns drove the score. Geographic concentration. Skip rate anomalies. Late-night streaming spikes. You'll understand why.
Flag with Evidence
Found a suspicious playlist? Flag it directly from your dashboard with supporting evidence. Helps us refine the model and builds a collective database of known bad actors.
24 ways to spot a fraudulent playlist.
StreamShield's ML model was trained on real fraud patterns from thousands of playlists. It doesn't just look at follower counts or track rotation - it analyses deep behavioural patterns that bots can't convincingly fake.
Each feature is weighted by how predictive it is of fraud. The final score is the weighted sum - with an explanation of which factors contributed most to your playlist's rating.
Why 24 features?
Single-feature fraud scores are easy to game. A playlist can buy real-looking followers but still show bot-like skip patterns. Or have great geographic spread but impossible late-night streaming ratios. We look at all of them together.
Geographic Concentration
Real fans come from many places. Bot traffic clusters from the same countries - often the same data centres.
Skip Rate Patterns
Bots stream tracks but never skip. Or always skip at exactly the same timestamp. Either way, it shows.
Repeat Listen Ratio
Genuine fans replay tracks they love. Bots either never repeat or repeat at suspicious rates.
Streaming Velocity
A sudden spike with no social momentum behind it is a red flag. We compare 7-day and 30-day curves.
Late Night Activity
Real listeners sleep. Bots stream at 3am from timezone clusters. We track the midnight-to-5am ratio.
Device Diversity
Human listeners use phones, laptops, smart speakers. Fraudulent traffic shows unusually uniform device profiles.
...and 18 more features tracked per playlist
Protection, automated.
Connect
Link your Musicata account to your Spotify data. StreamShield starts watching immediately.
Scan
Every playlist your music appears on gets scanned continuously. New placements are checked within hours.
Score
The ML model analyses 24 features and assigns a risk score from 0 (clean) to 100 (critical). With a full breakdown of why.
Alert
High or Critical risk? You get an instant alert in your dashboard with the full score breakdown and recommended actions.
Free Playlist Safety Check
Before you pitch your next track, check the playlist. Paste any Spotify playlist URL and get a risk score in under 10 seconds. No account needed.
Deep House Vibes Vol. 12
1.2M followers - known bot network. Immediate action recommended.
Indie Electronic Rising
Unusual geographic concentration (94% from 2 countries). High late-night activity.
Fresh Electronic Finds 2026
Healthy engagement patterns. No anomalies detected. Safe placement.
Bedroom Pop Collective
Skip rate anomaly. Low device diversity. Monitoring for changes.
See everything. Miss nothing.
Every playlist your tracks appear on. Every risk score. Every alert. All in one view, updated continuously.
When you get a High or Critical alert, click through for the full score breakdown - you'll see exactly which of the 24 features flagged the problem and what to do about it.
Questions?
What is streaming fraud and why does it matter to me?
Streaming fraud happens when fake bot traffic inflates stream counts on playlists. When your track is placed on one of these playlists, Spotify flags the suspicious activity - and your artist profile can be caught in the investigation. The consequences range from royalty clawbacks (Spotify taking back money already paid) to profile restrictions or music removal.
How does StreamShield know a playlist is fraudulent?
StreamShield uses a machine learning model trained on 24 behavioural features per playlist - including geographic concentration, skip rates, repeat listen patterns, streaming velocity spikes, device diversity, and late-night activity. The model scores each playlist from 0-100, with clear risk bands from Clean through to Critical.
Do I need to connect my Spotify account?
You connect via Soundcharts (which Musicata uses for your streaming data). StreamShield then automatically tracks your playlist placements as they appear in your data. The free Playlist Safety Check tool at /playlist-check works without an account - just paste a Spotify URL.
What happens when StreamShield finds a high-risk placement?
You get an instant alert in your dashboard. For Critical-rated playlists, we flag it immediately. You can then take action: contact the playlist service that placed you there, flag it to Spotify directly, or simply avoid pitching to that playlist again.
How many playlists does StreamShield monitor?
Every playlist your tracks appear on, automatically. There is no limit. The free Playlist Safety Check tool lets you manually check any Spotify playlist URL even if you are not on it yet - useful before you pitch.
Is this available on the free plan?
The public Playlist Safety Check tool is free for everyone. Full automatic monitoring of your placements with real-time alerts is included in the Artist tier.
Stop finding out after the damage is done.
StreamShield monitors every playlist your music is on, scores them with ML, and alerts you the moment something looks wrong. Start protecting your streams today.
Free Playlist Safety Check available without an account. Full monitoring included in Artist tier.