The annual report by the U.S. Trade Representative notes many e-commerce and social platforms did implement "new anti-counterfeiting tools" last year.
Beatdapp also announced partnerships with SoundExchange and Napster
While Spotify is just now moving towards a penalty system, Apple quietly started making "financial adjustments" for repeat fraudsters more than a year ago.
Labels and distributors will be charged 10 euros per song when Spotify determines the overwhelming majority of plays on a track are artificial.
A report alleging that gangs buy fake streams arrives at a time when executives are calling for better monitoring of the streaming ecosystem.
Svenska Dagbladet reported that Swedish law enforcement believes criminals use streaming platforms to launder money.
A coalition of digital distributors, along with Spotify and Amazon Music, have launched Music Fights Fraud to attempt to eradicate the issue.
At an investor presentation, Rob Stringer talked "lowest common denominator" content and AI's potential to open "avenues for commercial exploitation."
The Music Biz conference in Nashville devoted three panels to the issue, which attorney Mona Simonian said is "financially impacting everyone in the industry."
Beatdapp works to prevent fraud from impacting payouts. "It’s already hard to make something," co-CEO Andrew Batey says. "You should get paid correctly."