Fraudulent streaming remains a serious issue in the music industry, and Apple is tightening its response. Apple Music has now doubled its financial penalties for those who manipulate streams to earn royalties or boost chart rankings. The move signals a stronger push to protect artists and labels that follow the rules.
The most common form of fraud involves bots that stream songs nonstop to inflate numbers and generate payouts. However, manipulation also targets playlists and charts, where higher positions often translate into more visibility and revenue. Apple introduced penalties in 2022 and has continued refining its system to reduce abuse across the platform.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Apple has increased its fraud penalty structure this month. The fine previously started at 5 percent and was capped at 25 percent. It now begins at 10 percent and can reach up to 50 percent of the fraudulent revenue. The report explains, “In layman’s terms, if you engage in streaming fraud amounting to say, $1 million, you’d be fined a maximum $500,000.” Apple also removes and demonetizes manipulated streams.
Apple’s Strategy to Reduce Manipulated Streams
Oliver Schusser, who oversees Apple Music and Apple TV, described the company’s position clearly. He said, “This is a zero-sum game. I would like to live in a world where we have zero fraud on the platform, and this has been a very effective tool. Increasing the penalties takes the money from people who are cheating and puts it back into the system for those who aren’t.”
Schusser added that Apple “removed billions of manipulated streams from the service in 2025 alone.” He acknowledged that fraud remains widespread across the industry but stressed Apple’s focus on quality and fairness. He said, “We look at ourselves as a quality platform, and we don’t like it when people cheat, and we like to give it back to those who don’t cheat.”
With stricter fines now in place, Apple aims to reduce fraud further and ensure legitimate artists receive fair compensation.
