THE GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

Spotify is rumored to be filling its most popular playlists with stock music attributed to pseudonymous musicians, or 'ghost' or 'fake' artists, presumably to reduce royalty payouts. The company might be making the tracks itself. Playlists created by the company are becoming crucial sources of revenue for independent artists and labels. Spotify denies claims that it is creating its own fake-artist tracks. This article looks at these ghost artists and the evidence pointing to Spotify's role in them.