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Spotify

Spotify is a popular digital music streaming platform that allows users to access a vast library of songs, podcasts, and other audio content. With Spotify, users can listen to music on demand by streaming songs directly to their devices, such as smartphones, tablets, or computers. Spotify offers both free and premium subscription options. The free version is ad-supported and provides limited features, such as shuffle play and occasional audio ads. The premium subscription removes ads, allows unlimited skips, and provides additional features such as offline playback, high-quality audio streaming, and the ability to select and play specific songs on-demand.

​SPOTIFY DAILY TRACKING IS FROM  8:00 pm - 7:59 pm EST  |  9:00 am - 8:59 am KST

You can create a Spotify account using any valid email address and activate a 30-day free trial. A payment method is required at signup, but you won’t be charged until the trial period ends. We recommend selecting the Family Plan Free Trial, which allows you to add up to five additional Spotify accounts to your “family,” giving all of them access to Premium features.

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Important Policy Updates:

  • Spotify now limits the number of free trials you can activate per registered payment method.

  • There is growing indication that Spotify also considers factors such as billing address and IP address when determining free trial eligibility.

  • Additionally, cancelling your free trial early will immediately revoke Premium access—you will no longer retain the remaining trial period once auto-renewal is disabled.

To maximize your trial period, we strongly recommend keeping auto-renewal active until the final day of your trial.

 

If you have never used Spotify before you can watch these video tutorials to walk you through:

• Installing/ Downloading Spotify 

• Creating an account and navigating the platform

'Filtered, Unfiltered who cares? Stream however you want!'
Why Proper Streaming Methods Matter for Stray Kids

TOP 3 REASONS IT MATTERS

  • Stray Kids don’t get paid when you stream in ways Spotify deems fraudulent.

  • Stray Kids are penalized on the platform which makes it harder to boost their visibility.

  • Could STAYs proudly say that Stray Kids are an organic group if the fandom resorts to unethical methods just to boost numbers for bragging rights? Beyond a momentary spike on a public counter, there’s no real value in inflating unfiltered numbers.

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It might seem like filtered vs. unfiltered streams is just a technicality, but it’s actually a big deal—for both artists like Stray Kids and their fans. Let’s break down why this matters and how we can support them effectively.

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1. Filtered Streams Reflect Real Listener Engagement

Filtered streams are the ones that truly count—toward Spotify and Billboard charts, royalty payments, and even Spotify’s algorithms for recommendations and playlist placements. When fans use risky methods like looping songs on mute or streaming non-stop on a single track, Spotify flags those streams as inauthentic and removes them from the metrics that matter. Stray Kids do not get paid for streams that Spotify deems fraudulent, and those streams do not count toward their visibility or success, award shows are not using the Spotify Counter to aggregate criteria.

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2. Streaming Is Relevant, Even When Not Charting

Just because a song isn’t on the charts doesn’t mean filtered streams stop being important. Spotify is always monitoring listener patterns. High-risk tactics like looping or muted playback can lead to streams being filtered, reducing the overall count. Worse, repeated use of these tactics can cause the platform to flag our fanbase’s behavior as manipulative, making it harder for Stray Kids to gain visibility in recommendations, search results, and algorithm-driven playlists. Think of it as building trust with Spotify—when we follow their guidelines, every stream we contribute helps Stray Kids succeed.

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3. Artificial Streaming Hurts Stray Kids in the Long Run

Platforms like Spotify actively monitor for manipulation. When they detect suspicious activity—like excessive looping or streams coming from stream farms—they don’t just filter those streams out. Repeated manipulation can lead to penalties, like Stray Kids being removed from playlists, adjusted stream counts, or, in extreme cases, songs being taken off the platform. These consequences hurt Stray Kids’ long-term success, making it harder for them to grow and reach new audiences.

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4. Organic Streaming Builds Credibility

Filtered streams prove to Spotify and the world that Stray Kids’ popularity is genuine. Organic engagement helps secure better playlist placements, more exposure, and award recognition. It shows that STAYs are deeply invested in their music, and that’s the kind of momentum that lasts. Wouldn’t we rather see Stray Kids rise because their music is truly loved, not because we gamed the system? Inflating unfiltered numbers for bragging rights doesn’t help them succeed in meaningful ways.

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5. Why High-Risk Methods Like Looping Are Counterproductive

When STAYs loop songs excessively, Spotify’s detection algorithms flag that activity as suspicious. Playing the same song repeatedly, especially on mute or at low volume, signals artificial streaming patterns that result in filtered streams or even penalties. Here’s how it impacts:

  • Detection Algorithms: Spotify filters streams detected as artificial, reducing the overall count.

  • Charting and Exposure: Even if we see high numbers on the public counter, only a fraction of these streams count toward official metrics like charts and playlists.

Instead, we recommend mixing songs in playlists, taking breaks, and always streaming with the volume on to ensure every play is counted.

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6. Why We Avoid Risky Methods Seen in Other Fandoms

While it might seem like other fandoms get away with risky streaming methods, these often result in high filtering rates and penalties over time. Every artist’s platform performance is unique, and what works for others may not align with Spotify’s policies and could harm Stray Kids. Our goal isn’t to hold back their growth—it’s to ensure their success is sustainable, steady, and impactful. 

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7. Our Role as STAYs

As a fanbase, our mission is to support Stray Kids in ways that respect platform rules and deliver lasting results. Every stream you contribute matters, and by following the best practices, we ensure that Stray Kids’ success is recognized and rewarded. While we’re open to feedback and evolving methods, we avoid tactics that could harm Stray Kids' long-term growth.

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Let’s work together to keep Stray Kids’ rise authentic, impactful, and sustainable. They deserve recognition for the love their music genuinely inspires, not artificially inflated numbers.

Deep Dive into Spotify

Understanding Filtered and Unfiltered Streams on Spotify

Spotify, as one of the world's leading music streaming platforms, tracks song streams to evaluate an artist's popularity and influence on its charts. Two key metrics—filtered streams and unfiltered streams—determine how Spotify calculates plays and ensures the integrity of chart positions, royalty payments, and listener engagement statistics. Let’s dive into what these terms mean, their implications, and how Spotify processes and authenticates streams.

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Unfiltered Streams: The Raw Numbers

Definition

Unfiltered streams represent every recorded play of a song, regardless of:

  • The type of account (free or premium).

  • The method of playback (e.g., playlist, album, search).

  • The source of the stream (human listeners, bots, or artificial methods).

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These streams are a raw count of every time Spotify's system registers a "play," capturing all listener activity, including legitimate listens, bots, or stream farms.

 

Characteristics

  • Inflated Numbers aka Higher Counts: Since unfiltered streams include all plays, they often reflect higher numbers than filtered streams.

  • No Checks for Authenticity: Unfiltered streams don’t distinguish between genuine and suspicious activity.

  • Temporary Count: These streams may eventually be filtered out during Spotify's verification process.

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Unfiltered streams are reflected in metrics such as the public play count visible on a song’s Spotify page. However, these numbers may include both legitimate and illegitimate streams.

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Filtered Streams: Refined and Verified

Definition

Filtered streams represent Spotify's refined count of plays after removing inauthentic activity. These streams pass various verification checks to ensure they reflect genuine listener engagement.

 

Characteristics

  • Authenticity Focus: Filtered streams exclude:

    • Plays from bots or stream farms.

    • Repetitive plays that indicate manipulative patterns.

    • Streams originating from suspicious IP addresses or geographic clusters.

  • Key Metric for Charts: Filtered streams are the foundation for Spotify’s official daily, weekly, and global charts and are shared with external platforms like Billboard.

  • Reflect True Popularity: By focusing on genuine engagement, filtered streams provide a more accurate picture of a song’s organic reach and listener interest.

 

Filtered streams are used for:

  • Chart rankings.

  • Royalty calculations.

  • Playlist placements and algorithmic recommendations.

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Why the Distinction Matters

Chart Integrity

Filtered streams ensure fair competition by excluding artificial boosts from bots or organized efforts to inflate numbers. This protects the credibility of Spotify’s charts and external metrics like Billboard rankings.

 

Artist Strategy and Revenue

Artists are incentivized to focus on authentic engagement rather than artificially inflating their play counts. Tactics like encouraging fans to share playlists, engage on social media, or promote songs through organic campaigns are more likely to succeed under Spotify’s filtering system.

 

Filtered streams also directly impact royalty payouts, ensuring that artists are compensated for genuine listener activity. 

 

Key Takeaways

Unfiltered Streams: Reflect raw, inflated numbers including all plays, both genuine and artificial.

Filtered Streams: Represent authentic listener engagement, excluding bots and manipulative methods.

Impact on Charts: Filtered streams are used for Spotify’s official rankings and royalties, ensuring fair competition and compensation.

 

By combining cutting-edge technology with consistent monitoring, Spotify ensures its charts and royalties reflect true listener interest and engagement. This system benefits both artists and listeners, maintaining the platform's credibility in the competitive music streaming industry. 

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Conclusion

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Spotify’s distinction between unfiltered and filtered streams serves a critical role in maintaining the integrity of its platform. By employing advanced machine learning, geographic and behavioral analysis, and rigorous filtering processes, Spotify ensures that only genuine listener activity influences charts, royalties, and playlist placements.

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For artists, understanding this system is vital for strategizing promotions and maximizing organic growth. For listeners, it helps maintain a credible platform where popular music reflects true engagement. As Spotify’s system evolves, its goal remains the same: balancing fairness, accuracy, and authenticity in a dynamic, global music industry.

Detecting Inauthentic Streams

How Spotify Processes Streams

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Spotify applies a combination of real-time and batch processing to analyze and filter streams:

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  • Immediate Verification and Initial Addition of All Streams (Including Bots and Stream Farms)

    • 30-Second Rule: A stream only counts if the listener plays a song for at least 30 seconds. When a song is played, Spotify’s system registers it as a stream almost immediately, and this preliminary stream count includes every play, regardless of its source. This is why streams from bots, stream farms, or other suspicious sources might briefly appear in the public play count on a song’s page.

    • This approach is common because Spotify processes millions of streams in real-time, and immediate screening of every stream would be computationally intensive and delay updates.

    • Preliminary Filters: Basic checks remove obvious signs of manipulation, such as rapid skipping or extremely short plays.

  • Deeper Filtering: Delayed Filtering and Adjustments

    • Spotify then applies more thorough filtering checks in the hours or days after the streams are initially counted. These checks use algorithms to detect unusual or suspicious streaming activity, such as:

      • Behavioral Analysis of user patterns for signs of repetition, such as looping the same song for hours.

      • Geographic and IP Checks looking for patterns from clusters of suspicious IP addresses or regions known for stream farms.

      • Device Signatures checking whether multiple accounts use the same device in a way that suggests artificial streaming.

      • Time-based anomalies, like continuous streaming during odd hours.

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Once Spotify’s system identifies streams as potentially inauthentic, they’re flagged and removed from the official, filtered stream count. This filtered count is what Spotify uses for chart positions, official metrics, and royalty calculations.

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  • Chart and Royalty Timelines

    • Daily Charts: Filtered streams for daily charts are verified and published within 24 hours.

    • Weekly Charts: Aggregated weekly charts take 1–2 days to finalize.

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Spotify’s system is designed to process large volumes of data quickly while maintaining accuracy, so while initially all streams are counted they all quickly go through various checks within a short amount of time.

Advanced Techniques for Detecting Inauthentic Streams

Spotify uses advanced machine learning models and behavioral analysis to identify and exclude artificial streams:

  • Streaming Patterns:

    • Minimum Play Duration: Only streams longer than 30 seconds are considered.

    • Skipping Behavior: Frequent skips or identical listening patterns can signal manipulation.

    • Diversity in Listening Habits: Genuine listeners tend to explore different songs and artists.

  • IP Address and Geolocation:

    • Clustering: Streams from a single IP or geographic location may indicate manipulation.

    • Global Spread: Authentic streams typically show geographic diversity. Organic streams tend to have a global spread.

  • Device and Account Activity:

    • Device Signatures: Multiple accounts playing the same song on one device may trigger flags.

    • Account Type: Free accounts with premium-like behavior (e.g., uninterrupted playback) may indicate suspicious activity.

  • Temporal Patterns:

    • Time-of-Day: Bots often play songs continuously 24/7, unlike human users.

    • Growth Trajectory: Organic streams show gradual increases and follow a more gradual trajectories with spikes from promotions or playlist placements, or a viral trend whereas artificial methods cause abrupt spikes.

 

Spotify’s filtering system uses advanced AI and machine learning  techniques to refine stream counts:

  • Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs): Detect repetitive streaming patterns over time.

  • Anomaly Detection: Flags outliers that deviate from standard user behavior.

  • Training on Historical Data: Models are trained on past cases of confirmed artificial streaming to adapt to new tactics.

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Examples of Filtering in Action

  • Organic Spikes:

    • A song promoted on social media sees a sudden but diverse and time-based increase in streams.

    • Streams are authenticated as genuine.

  • Artificial Boost:

    • A song shows thousands of plays from a single IP address.

    • These streams are flagged and removed from all metrics.

Adjustments and Deletions of Streams

Spotify may not just filter streams but permanently delete them if confirmed to be inauthentic. This affects:

  • Public Play Counts: The play count shown on a song’s page may still include some of these unfiltered streams, particularly in the short term. However, Spotify does update these counts periodically, so if there is a major adjustment (like a significant reduction in streams due to filtering), it can reflect on the public count.

  • Chart Counts and Royalty Metrics: Official charts, like Spotify’s Top 50, and any data shared with external charts or used for artist payouts, only use the filtered stream count. So even if a bot or stream farm inflates the initial public play count temporarily, it won’t affect these official metrics.

  • Artist Penalties: In severe cases, Spotify may penalize artists involved in manipulating streams, such as song removal or reduced visibility for the artist.

 

Why Does Spotify Allow Temporary Inclusion of All Streams?

  • Resource Efficiency: Filtering every stream in real-time is resource-intensive and could delay updates. By capturing and analyzing data in batches, Spotify ensures efficient processing.

  • Flexibility for User-Driven Spikes: This approach allows legitimate fan engagement (like fans replaying a favorite song) to count initially and only removes streams when clear signs of manipulation are present.

Broader Implications

Playlist Dynamics

  • Curated Playlists: Placement in Spotify’s curated playlists (e.g., “Discover Weekly”) can drive organic growth, with streams more likely to pass filtering.

  • Third-Party Playlists: Streams from user-curated playlists might face scrutiny if sourced from manipulative promotions.

 

Regional and Cultural Impact

Spotify’s algorithms account for regional differences in listening behavior, ensuring that legitimate spikes from fan-driven campaigns in specific areas are not unfairly flagged.

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Fan-Driven Efforts

  • Streaming Parties: Organized streaming by fans can be flagged if patterns resemble bot-like activity. Encouraging diverse, organic listening habits is key.

  • False Positives: Overly strict filtering might inadvertently exclude legitimate fan engagement, particularly for smaller or independent artists.

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Balancing Accuracy and Fairness

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Spotify strives to filter out manipulative streams without unfairly penalizing genuine fan-driven engagement. The system is continually refined to differentiate between:

  • Natural Repeats: Passionate fans replaying a favorite song.

  • Artificial Manipulation: Bots or organized efforts designed to inflate counts.

Timeline for Stream Processing

  • Real-Time Updates: Public play counts updates quickly but include unverified streams.

  • Daily Chart Processing: Filtered streams for charts are verified within 24 hours.

  • Final Adjustments: Spotify does a clean-up on all songs every month on the 1st. Weekly charts and royalties reflect fully verified data.

FLAGGED ACCOUNTS

The Simple answer, if a flagged account stops using fraudulent methods and starts behaving normally, they are not permanently excluded in most cases. Spotify likely monitors these accounts for a period, and if they demonstrate genuine activity over time, their streams should start counting again. However, continued suspicious behavior could lead to more severe actions, including permanent exclusion.

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Spotify's system is designed to prioritize accurate detection and ensure fair streaming practices, so while flagged accounts, devices, or locations may face temporary scrutiny, they are not necessarily permanently excluded if fraudulent behavior stops. 

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Temporary vs. Permanent Flagging

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  • Temporary Flagging: When Spotify detects anomalies (e.g., excessive looping, unusual IP activity), it flags the account, device, or location for closer monitoring. During this period:

    • Suspicious streams are filtered out.

    • Genuine streams might also face temporary filtering if they come from the flagged source, but this is not permanent.

  • Permanent Flagging: If an account, device, or location continues exhibiting suspicious behavior after multiple warnings or flags, Spotify may decide to permanently exclude streams from that source.

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Behavioral Monitoring After Flagging

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  • Once flagged, the account or device is likely monitored for future activity. If it stops fraudulent methods and starts streaming in a way that aligns with normal user behavior, it may eventually regain normal status.

  • Spotify’s algorithm would look for:

    • Diverse listening patterns: Using playlists, listening to different songs, and avoiding excessive repetition.

    • Varied engagement times: Streaming at realistic intervals instead of 24/7 or with minimal breaks.

    • Legitimate account usage: Avoiding multiple simultaneous streams from the same IP or device.

  • Outcome: Genuine streams might be recognized again after consistent normal behavior.

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How Long Does the Flag Last?

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  • The exact duration of a flag isn’t publicly disclosed, but it likely depends on:

    • The severity of the anomaly: More extreme or repeated fraudulent behavior might result in longer flagging.

    • Subsequent behavior: If the flagged account quickly returns to normal patterns, the flag could be lifted within days or weeks.

  • Spotify would aim to avoid unfairly penalizing users who genuinely stream, so accounts showing clear, organic activity should eventually regain trust.

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What If Genuine Streams Are Still Excluded?

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  • In cases where an account has stopped fraudulent activity but streams continue to be excluded:

    • It’s possible that the device or location itself remains under scrutiny (e.g., an IP address previously associated with many flagged accounts).

    • This can sometimes cause a lag in reinstating filtered streams for genuine activity.

  • Resolution: To overcome persistent filtering:

    • Changing the IP address (e.g., resetting the router or avoiding shared public networks).

    • Using a new, unflagged device or account to establish a clean pattern of behavior.​

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Permanent Exclusion Scenarios

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  • Permanent exclusion is rare but might occur if:​

    • The account is linked to known botting operations or mass streaming farms.

    • There is evidence of malicious intent, such as deliberately inflating streams for manipulation.

  • Fraudulent behavior persists despite warnings.​

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