Spotify removes bot streams after betting spike

Spotify has removed more than 500,000 fake streams of “Earrings” by Malcolm Todd after detecting bot activity that briefly pushed the song to No. 1 on its US daily chart. 

The manipulation was first flagged by Kalshi trader Caleb Davies, who analyzed Spotify data and claimed that bots were inflating streams to influence prediction markets tied to music charts.

Spotify confirmed it found evidence of artificial streaming and adjusted its rankings, dropping the song from first to fourth place. 

However, prediction platform Kalshi had already settled its market before the correction. Kalshi said it is investigating the incident with Spotify and has removed the music streaming platform’s logo from related markets to avoid confusion.

Spotify said there is no evidence that musician Todd or his team were involved in manipulating the streams. The company added that it continues to use advanced systems to detect fake streams and does not pay royalties on artificially manipulated plays.

The incident has raised fresh concerns about possible market manipulation involving prediction platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket.