How To Spot Fake Playlists – LyricalMind – Premium Spotify Promotion

How To Spot Fake Spotify Playlists

When you choose to pay for Spotify promotion, you’re potentially walking into two big traps:

Trap 1:

You hand over your money to the promo company, and they do zilch.

This scenario sucks, and it’s more common than you’d think. Some companies (like Playlist Push and SubmitHub) admit that this can happen right upfront. However, others are more slippery and will happily take your money and sprint in the other direction.

Trap 2:

The promo company puts your song into botted playlists. This scenario is even worse and here’s why:

Bots equate to fake accounts. Landing on botted playlists can mess with your music’s algorithmic potential Spotify in a big way.

Bots don’t offer genuine interaction or feedback. They merely inflate numbers. If your music is being played by bots, you’re missing out on genuine audience engagement, which is crucial for your growth as a musician. To get your music on Spotify’s algorithmic playlists like Discover Weekly or Release Radar, you MUST get real engagement.

Sadly, plenty of companies use botted playlists to promote your music. But wait, don’t pack up your guitar and call it a day just yet! There’s a silver lining here: It’s actually not too tough to tell if a playlist is botted.

How, you ask?

Well, bots aren’t exactly that hard to recognize. They’re terrible at replicating the behaviour of actual listeners, and bot-loaded playlists show clear red flags.

The best part? You don’t have to sit around waiting for suspicious streaming data to pop up in your Spotify for Artists account to tell if a playlist is fishy. You can pick up on these hints before your music ever hits the playlist.

With that said, here are 6 red flags to look out for.

RED FLAG 1 🚩SUDDEN PLAYLIST GROWTH

One of the biggest red flags that a playlist could be fake is if you notice sudden and irregular increases or decreases in the number of followers.

Real, authentic playlists don’t have quick jumps up or sudden drops down in the number of their followers.

To tell the difference between real and fake, or ‘botted’, playlists, it’s really important to keep an eye on how the playlist’s follower numbers change over a period of time.

There are some tools on the internet that you can use for free to help you with this.

One great tool you can use is called isitagoodplaylist.com.

Here’s how you use it:

First, set up an account.

Next, find the link to the playlist that you’re interested in and make a copy of it.

Then, paste that link into the tool.

Following these simple steps will show you how the number of followers on the playlist has grown over the past weeks or months.

The image you see below shows what a typical fake playlist looks like. Pay attention to how dramatically the number of followers changes – these sudden shifts aren’t normal and are a sure sign that a bot has been used.

But if you look at the image above below, you can see what a real, authentic playlist looks like. The growth in followers is steady and happens slowly over time. This is what you’d expect to see with playlists that attract followers naturally because people are genuinely interested and engaged.

FLAG 2 🚩MAJORITY OF SMALL OR BEGINNER ARTISTS

Another red flag that could point to a fake playlist is if there are mostly small, not very famous, or just starting out artists on the playlist.

While there’s definitely a place for these artists and they might even be hidden talents, if a playlist is mostly filled with them, it could be a reason for concern.

Think about it from the viewpoint of someone listening:

Would listeners keep interacting with a playlist that’s mostly made up of small, less experienced artists? – It’s not very likely.

Many times, fake playlists have a lot of artists who aren’t very well-known, and some might be new and not as skilled in music as more famous artists.

It’s very likely that these artists have paid to get on the playlist.

The picture below is an example of a playlist that’s mostly small or beginner artists.

This doesn’t mean it’s fake for sure, but playlists like this often don’t control their quality very well and might not match what listeners want.

Even if it could be real, a playlist like this probably won’t keep listeners engaged and interested for very long. As a result of being on such a playlist, you will most likely not get a lot of engagement or streams.

When you’re trying to get your music on playlists, look for those with a lot of famous artists, ideally 50%-70% of the total. An artist with over 100,000 listeners a month would be considered ‘famous’.

Keep in mind, even though a playlist can be a great way for new artists to get noticed, its main purpose is to entertain the people who listen to it. It should have a good balance of popular, established artists and newer ones who are just starting to make a name for themselves.

RED FLAG 3 🚩VAGUE PLAYLIST NAMES

Another red flag that shows a playlist might be fake is its name. In a lot of cases, fake playlists have strange or unclear names that listeners probably wouldn’t search for on Spotify. These playlists often have basic titles that don’t say what kind of music it is, letting the curators who made it add any song they want without sticking to a specific kind of music.

On the other hand, real playlists usually have clear keywords or types of music that listeners are actually looking for. Names like “Rock Classics,” “Indie Pop Hits,” or “Rap Music 2023” make a lot more sense and are normal for real playlists.

The screenshot below shows an example of a strange playlist name. Even though it might sound unique or interesting, it’s pretty much unsearchable on Spotify.

It’s important to remember that the Spotify algorithm gives priority to keywords and phrases that users are actively searching for. Odd or unclear names like “Player One” are not likely to be a common search, making playlists with names like this seem suspicious.

On the other hand, the picture below shows playlists with clear, specific genre names. These are more likely to be real playlists that cater to a certain group of listeners and provide a more enjoyable listening experience.

Remember, a real playlist’s name isn’t just about being cool or catchy; it should reflect the content and line up with what listeners are probably searching for. A weird or nonspecific name could very well be a sign of a fake playlist.

RED FLAG 4 🚩UNUSUAL LISTENER LOCATION

Another red flag that a playlist might be fake is tied to where its listeners are. You’ll need to do a little bit of detective work to uncover this:

Choose an artist from the playlist who ideally has fewer than 5,000 listeners each month.

Go to their Spotify profile (on a computer) and scroll down to the ‘About’ section.

Check out the list of the top 5 cities where the artist’s listeners are.

If you see many listens from cities like Helsinki, El Paso, Sarasota, Los Angeles,
and New York, then there’s a good chance you’ve stumbled upon a fake playlist.

This is because these cities are often where most bot streaming software operates. So, if you see lots of streams from these places, it’s a good idea to avoid that playlist.

RED FLAG 5 🚩LOW PROFILE FOLLOWER COUNT

Another potential red flag that could point to a fake playlist is related to the Spotify profile of the person who owns the playlist. In many cases linked to fake playlists, you might notice that the owner’s profile only has a few followers.

The picture below shows an example of a profile with a small number of followers. Real playlists with tens of thousands of listeners usually have at least 100 followers on the owner’s profile. Sometimes there might be even more followers, but rarely just a couple.

While this isn’t a sure sign – because even profile followers can be faked – a small number of followers can make you suspicious. If the profile looks real in terms of the number of followers, you can click on “followers” to look closer at the users following the person who made the playlist.

Be careful if you find suspicious followers with strange names and no profile pictures.. This could be a hint that the playlist might not be as real as it first seemed.

RED FLAG 6 🚩SAME NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS ON ALL PLAYLISTS

Building an active following for a playlist is hard work and requires time. This is especially true if the person who made the playlist manages many playlists. With real playlists, you would usually see different numbers of followers on each one.

However, if you see a curator with a lot of followers on all their playlists, and these numbers are about the same, it could suggest the playlists might not be real.

The picture above shows a playlist maker’s profile where all the playlists have around the same number of followers. This isn’t normal and might suggest the playlist maker is using bots for their playlists.

It’s not usual for all playlists from one person to have the same number of followers, especially if the playlists have different types of genres or moods.

CONCLUSION

In this blog, we’ve discussed the rampant issue of fake Spotify playlists and how they can mislead artists and fans alike. We’ve learned how to identify such playlists by observing red flags such as sudden playlist growth, an overabundance of small artists, vague playlist names, unusual listener locations, low follower count on the owner’s profile, and identical follower counts on all playlists.

A RELIABLE SOLUTION

After learning how to spot fake playlists, you might be thinking about the next step: getting your music on real playlists. Indeed, spotting fake playlists is half the battle; the next part is ensuring your music is heard by genuine listeners. For this, you need to connect with authentic, trustworthy playlist curators.

This is where LyricalMind comes in.

At LyricalMind, we understand the challenges you face as an artist. We’ve experienced the negative consequences of fake playlists firsthand, including song takedowns, wasted promotion budgets, and valuable time lost. That’s why we’re dedicated to providing a transparent, reliable service to get your music on real playlists.

We work closely with a broad network of playlist curators, and each one is thoroughly vetted and verified by us. We ensure that all the playlists we work with are organic and authentic.
Our primary goal is to help you connect with real fans who appreciate and engage with your music.

When you choose LyricalMind, you’re choosing quality and integrity. You’re choosing a service that values your music just as much as you do. We’re here to help you navigate the world of Spotify playlists with confidence and ease.

Interested in trying out our service? Click here to start a promotion campaign

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LyricalMind is not affiliated with or funded by Spotify. All names and logos of third parties, including Spotify, are trademarks of their respective owners.