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People are paying for Soundcloud plays...

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Paulski

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« on: June 14, 2018, 01:42:30 AM »
I know that's not news - most people know that already.

For example like this guy - usually his track plays add up to the same paltry numbers mine do, but suddenly his latest track has 57,000 plays! Must be a fantastic song - right? You be the judge..

My question is "What do you think of them doing it", and I guess, "Would / have you ever done it?"
I'll reserve my thoughts until later so as not to sway the discussion...  :D

Paul
« Last Edit: June 14, 2018, 03:03:03 AM by Paulski »

Miuzia

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« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2018, 06:49:33 AM »
I think that’s sad.  I would never nor have I ever paid for plays or views, Likes, or the generation of any viewership/ listenership.  The music will always speak for itself.  If it’s good...people will buy it.  If it’s not they’ll just make spoofs of it.
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Boydie

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« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2018, 08:08:33 AM »
Great points by @Miuzia (welcome to the forum by the way)

I can understand the motive for someone doing this as some sections of society are so focussed on "how many likes / friends" you have

There is also a feeling that "success breeds success" so if this person was looking for interest from a label/publisher then the stats would appear to support the feeling that there is a "buzz" around the artist

However, the industry is not that naive and any success will be based on how good/commercially viable a song is

It is not something I would consider myself as I have a strong "self sense" of worth so do not need the validation of "likes" - but I do understand others like to have "bragging rights" and are happy to pay/cheat to have them so I wouldn't say I particularly have a problem with it

If I was launching a new Facebook page for a commercial venture - e.g. A new band - and there was a way to start with a healthy following (rather than 1 or 2 friends) then I think I would definitely give some thought to looking to apply an early "boost" by paying for friends (which sounds really sad!!) as launching a new venture with thousands of friends would help with the perception (and is it different from posting here/to your existing friends asking for follows to a new page?)

So I guess my own moral compass is - if it is personal then I wouldn't consider it but if it was for commercial/business reasons I would definitely give it some thought - although I am still not sure whether I would actually pull the trigger or not
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Miuzia

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« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2018, 08:19:38 AM »
Thanks for the welcome @Boydie :-)  ...enjoyed reading your take on the situation as well.
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mickyplankton

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« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2018, 11:28:05 AM »
Paul.  Are you sure he is paying for it?

it might be a glitch. i had a song get 600 plays overnight once which just cant possibly have happened as i had done nothing to promote it and it was buried in my feed.

its quite possibly a big glitch in the Soundcloud algos.

MichaelA

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« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2018, 01:00:35 PM »
If you Google 'Buy SoundCloud Plays' there are quite a few providers. I expect they just send Bots onto your page as you can buy plays cheaply. But just like people who have been allegedly caught out buying Twitter followers- eg reportedly Hilary Clinton, Martha Lane Fox, Paul Hollywood - if you get discovered doing this I guess your credibility would be shot to pieces.


Anyway, I like getting 5 views a day. It means I can get to know all my listeners - it's a much more personal service!  ;)
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redrhodie

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« Reply #6 on: June 14, 2018, 01:32:57 PM »
I think they also try to get you by sending out a feeler "like". I'm guessing that's what's going on when I post a song and get a like before I get a single play. Unless I'm just so excellent you don't even have to listen to know you're gonna love it. Yeah. That must be it. Haha.

The hearts are sweet, but I think the true measure of whether someone likes a song is if they listen multiple times. That doesn't happen that much with my songs, but there is a guy in Cairo who has listened to one of our covers over 150 times. I think he must be crazy. Haha.

Skub

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« Reply #7 on: June 14, 2018, 02:30:27 PM »
Yo Paulski.

Yeah soundcloud is littered with boyos selling stats to the gullible. It's a crock,imo.

You can spot the fake from a quick glance and among the 'real' soundcloud community these folk are viewed with disdain and most regulars will not follow,nor listen,so if the object was,'a crowd gathers a crowd',then it backfires big time.

I do most of my listening on s/c and that's why some folk listen/comment to my stuff. It's exactly the same as this forum. If you listen and comment on the music of others,then they will do the same for you. You get to know who the core of music lovers and creators are,but you also get to know all the follower collectors. Their mode of operation is to get you to follow them,then after a while they unfollow you. this keeps them away from the 2k maximum allowed to follow. They can be spotted by have 7k followers and are following 35 or some other paltry number.

Used right s/c is great. I love hearing new stuff and 'getting to know' and collaborate with music lovers worldwide. It's not much different from this place,in that it has lots of cool/helpful people.

Anyway Paul,the short answer is,I think buying plays sucks. It wastes money,it does nothing for promotion and makes you look like a silly noob.

Davy.

Skub

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« Reply #8 on: June 14, 2018, 02:35:59 PM »
Using myself as an example of an 'honest' s/c user Paul,you can see my followers and who I follow are similar numerically. The plays/likes/comments are also in balance. If any of these are dramatically out of kilter,then it's usually indicative of fakery.

https://soundcloud.com/skub1955

Bill Saunders

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« Reply #9 on: June 14, 2018, 03:55:37 PM »


Anyway, I like getting 5 views a day. It means I can get to know all my listeners - it's a much more personal service!  ;)

I’m with you mate, 5 in a day is great. When I hit the magic five I know my well oiled marketing machine is in full flow. Get to 10 and I’m looking at taking on more staff  ;D

RealKevM

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« Reply #10 on: June 14, 2018, 05:34:33 PM »
This kind of thing really winds me up, similar to paying for Twitter and Instagram followers.
In the end it might look impressive that someone has 60k plays or 250k followers and certainly something impressive to put on your one sheet/press releases but it's cheating yourself. Those thousands of followers aren't real people just bots and thus have no interest in your music, You can't sell to them or interact with them.

Paulski

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« Reply #11 on: June 15, 2018, 12:28:15 AM »
Hmm I may have rushed to judgement here - the SC user tells me he didn't pay for all those plays - maybe it is a SC bug or he's the recipient of a kind bot network  ;D They certainly look like bot-work (they all have the same track posted and about 2 followers)
I suppose we should wait until the truth stumbles in  ;D

Jenna

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« Reply #12 on: June 16, 2018, 07:39:59 PM »
I've had bots like the two or three things I've put up to SC. Here's what bothers me about it, if the algorithm of the site is set to elevate or promote the music with the most shares/follows/etc., it's going to ensure the crap drowns out the honestly good work. I hope they've done something to ensure their continued success to combat the problem. What's more, it drives up the cost of getting noticed for everyone else. I'm surprised that SC hasn't done anything to put an end to the bot stats climbing, if that's the case, as it's not going to help the platform succeed. I'd also think it would cost them more to pay for extra hosting expenses from the bot traffic.

Side note: there are groups on Facebook you can join where everybody supports each others work, regardless of whether or not they listen to it. "Post your song here and I'll like, share, follow, etc." It's skewing the stats. It's like business in the US, so many people cheat in their businesses that everybody else has to take on the same technique to stay alive. It's disappointing, frustrating, and expensive if you get caught. Tax cheats, insurance fraud, you name it. It's part and parcel of doing business today if you want to survive and it sucks.