Greetings, my name is Eric Mitchell and I am a career audio engineer who has already witnessed firsthand the negative impact of Spotify's "fraudulent plays" system on my clients and other artists. Genuine plays as a result of being playlisted by others are repeatedly flagged as false, leading to the unfair removal of songs and albums. This current system leaves artists with no recourse or avenue for appeal, despite these "fake plays" coming from other individuals who run the playlists and the fact that this is not even within the artist's control. Their suggestion that if bots playlist tracks that it's on the artists to remove those songs is also unfair; artists can't control this either.

Spotify is a global platform with over 574 million active users (as of 2024), many of whom are independent artists relying on this platform for their livelihoods when it already doesn't pay out fairly. The current system not only undermines their efforts but also threatens their income.

The problem is not isolated; it has already affected countless artists worldwide. I made a post sharing 1 of those stories on Facebook and within days had multiple stories of the same from other artists; these stories of artists who have not sought "fake plays" having their content removed should not be this common. It's time for Spotify to take responsibility and redesign its "fraudulent plays" system in a way that ensures fairness and transparency for the artists who are responsible for even giving Spotify a product to sell subscriptions to.

We urge Spotify to listen to its user base, particularly the artist community that contributes entirely to why the company even exists and has a product. We demand a fairer system where genuine plays are properly recognized, and artists can confidently share their work without fear of unwarranted takedowns from having tracks added to playlists by others which is not within their control.

Please sign this petition if you believe in supporting independent music creators by demanding fairness from platforms like Spotify. Your signature can make a difference!