IFPI chief executive Frances Moore has spoken out against streaming manipulation in the wake of injunctions being issued against five German companies.
IFPI’s German group, BVMI, has announced that German authorities have issued orders against five websites for creating artificial plays on DSPs and denying the artists fair remuneration.
A Bremen court issued an injunction to Socialnow.de, while in Hamburg orders were served to socialgeiz.de and likergeiz.de. A court in Cologne issued one to Netlikes and a court in Darmstadt did the same to Likesandmore. One further site, fanexplosion.de, stopped offering artificial plays following a cease and desist letter from BVMI.
Followerschmiede.de was successfully closed earlier this year and the campaign against streaming manipulation continues.
Streaming manipulation companies deprive right holders of revenue and mislead consumers
Frances Moore, IFPI
Frances Moore, chief executive of IFPI, said: “The recorded music sector continues to invest in and drive the development of the legitimate digital music market around the world, working to ensure that those who create music are remunerated fairly and accurately for their work. Streaming manipulation companies deprive right holders of revenue and mislead consumers. We are committed to tackling this problem. These latest legal actions in Germany are an integral part of our strategy of taking on these sites wherever necessary around the world.”
Dr. Florian Drücke, chairman & CEO of BVMI added: "For fans and artists, confidence in digital music services is crucial, not least because music is now a predominantly digital medium. Against this background, there is no room for anti-competitive influence large or small, and these important court decisions once again demonstrate the music community’s determination to continue to take consistent action in this area.”
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