Pimpyourfollower: Music industry pushes manipulation service off the grid

According to the German Music Industry Association (Bundesverband Musikindustrie, BVMI), the Düsseldorf Regional Court has classified several offers from online service provider Pimpyourfollower.de as anti-competitive and banned them, which included the purchase of streaming views (plays), likes and subscribers for various media platforms such as Spotify, YouTube and SoundCloud. For the first time worldwide, the judges also ordered the operator to pay damages, the BVMI is pleased to report. The prohibited services are said to have aimed to manipulatively simulate the popularity of songs and artists through the purchased activities. At worst, such illegitimate influences could have an impact on the charts. In addition, all legally acting artists and labels would be disadvantaged "because their share of the revenue generated by the platforms is reduced".

The URL Pimpyourfollower.de currently redirects to the apparently comparable website RatingHero. According to the imprint, the operator behind both offers is Mediaboost24 from Essen, which also claims to be known from Socialbooster24.de and Likefame.de. RatingHero is advertised as "the secret tool for influencers", which promises "real followers" for alleged bargain prices for Instagram, TikTok, Meta Threads and other social networks in addition to the major music streaming portals. The terms and conditions state: "The product descriptions contained in the seller's online store do not constitute binding offers" on the seller's part. They serve only "for the submission of a binding offer by the customer". The operator reserves the right to accept such an offer from an interested party within five days.

The current case is already the tenth German case in which the BVMI, together with its international umbrella organization IFPI and member companies, is taking action against providers of streaming manipulation. In October 2023, for example, the partners succeeded in getting the Aachen-based service SP-Onlinepromotion.com taken offline following a successful warning.

IFPI hopes to send a signal to fraudsters

In 2021, the BVMI and IFPI succeeded in summary proceedings before the Frankfurt Regional Court, which prohibited the operator of sites such as likeservice24.de from generating fake streams and other manipulations for music on Spotify & Co. as a service. Similar decisions were made by the regional courts of Berlin, Darmstadt, Bremen, Hamburg and Cologne in August 2020: the providers of socialnow.de, socialgeiz.de, likergeiz.de, netlikes.de and likesandmore.de had to discontinue their services. In March 2020, both associations had already enforced an injunction against followerschmiede.de. The duo also claim to have "successfully taken measures" internationally. They are working with government authorities and interfaces in many countries, such as Brazil.

"There is no place for streaming manipulation in the music industry", emphasized IFPI boss Victoria Oakley on Friday. Those who engage in or support this "unfair practice" should "neither be allowed to divert revenue from creators and their partners nor distort the actual listening experience of fans". She hopes "that this renewed success in Germany sends a clear message to those who continue to offer such services". Ultimately, "the credibility of the digital market" is also at stake, added Florian Drücke from BVMI. This is why the association recently launched an additional service to detect streaming anomalies ("Anomaly Detection") with the market research institute GfK and the Vienna University of Economics and Business. In November, MEPs also called for tougher action against paid playlists.

(vbr)