Summary

IFPI launched the Streaming Integrity Initiative on 14 September 2026, asking music distributors to adopt five baseline practices against artificial streaming and related fraud. The measures cover customer verification, content screening, fraud detection, information sharing and ongoing improvements.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has launched the Streaming Integrity Initiative (SII), an industry commitment aimed at reducing artificial streaming and related abuses in digital music. Announced in London on 14 September 2026, the initiative asks distributors to follow five baseline practices covering verification, content vetting, enforcement, information sharing and measurement.

The initiative is supported by organisations including Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Merlin, WIN, CD Baby, The Orchard, RouteNote, Symphonic and Zebralution. IFPI is also calling on additional distributors, digital service providers, industry bodies and other stakeholders to support the programme.

Contents

What streaming fraud involves

Streaming fraud uses digital music services to generate plays that are not genuine. According to IFPI, bad actors can upload tracks intended for fraud to digital service providers, often through music distribution services, and then use networks of bots to create artificial plays.

Those plays can draw money from royalty pools and dilute the share received by legitimate artists, songwriters, record labels and music publishers. The activity can also mislead listeners and affect the reliability of artist and track popularity signals on streaming platforms.

IFPI describes the problem as one that operates at scale and across borders. Its campaign argues that distributors, streaming platforms, music companies, law-enforcement authorities and policymakers each have a role in addressing it.

Five practices for distributors

SII sets out five areas of action for participating distributors.

1. Verify customers and rights. Distributors should confirm rights ownership and verify the identity and legitimacy of customers through robust checks, including Know Your Customer, or KYC, processes. This is intended to make it harder for fraudulent operators to enter the distribution system under false or inadequate identities.

2. Vet content before and after distribution. The initiative calls for checks for copyright infringement, fraudulent activity and other risks before content is supplied to streaming services and on a continuing basis. Suggested tools include lyrics and metadata checks, audio-content recognition and comparisons with relevant databases.

The detailed SII practices also cover AI-generated content and possible violations involving an artist’s voice, image, name or likeness. Distributors are encouraged to use current audio, artist and artwork recognition technologies to identify content that could infringe these rights or be used in abusive ways.

3. Detect and act on suspected fraud. Distributors should monitor for unusual streaming patterns, investigate suspected cases and take reasonable steps to stop confirmed fraud and limit its effects. The framework also recommends stronger penalties for repeated violations, including banning a customer across platforms, while allowing immediate bans in appropriate cases.

4. Share high-confidence indicators. Where legally permitted and consistent with data-protection requirements, participants should share information about suspected fraudulent or infringing activity. Cross-partner checks involving streaming and social-media platforms are also part of the framework. The aim is to prevent offenders from simply moving to another service after action is taken against them.

5. Measure and improve. Distributors should regularly assess how effective their anti-fraud systems are and update them as new methods, actors and patterns emerge. This treats fraud detection as an ongoing technical process rather than a one-time screening step.

Why distributors are a key control point

Music distributors connect artists and rights holders with digital service providers, making them an important entry point for content reaching streaming platforms. IFPI says this position gives distributors an opportunity to identify suspicious customers or tracks before fraudulent material is widely distributed.

The initiative therefore focuses on coordinated controls across the supply chain: identity and rights checks at upload, technical screening of content, monitoring for abnormal activity, action against repeat offenders and controlled sharing of intelligence. Its effect will depend on how widely these practices are adopted and how consistently they are implemented as fraud techniques change.

SII is an industry commitment rather than a regulator-led system described in the announcement. It provides a shared baseline, while the participating organisations remain responsible for applying and strengthening their own measures. The initiative’s practical impact will also depend on participation from the wider distribution and streaming ecosystem.

Sources