Afrobeats singer Hotkeed has raised concerns about the growing use of streaming farms in the Nigerian music industry, arguing that the practice could be hurting emerging and genuine artists who rely on organic audience support.
The singer claimed that he knows at least 50 Nigerian artists who allegedly use streaming farms to inflate the number of plays their songs receive on digital streaming platforms.
Hotkeed made the allegation during a recent interview with content creator Jbrandy, where he explained that artificial streaming could give users of the practice an unfair advantage over artists whose numbers are generated through genuine listeners.
“If 20 artists are stream farming, you have taken 20 genuine artists back. If 50 artists are stream farming, you have taken 50 genuine artists back. It’s that bad,” he said.
According to the singer, inflated streaming figures can create a false impression of an artist’s popularity and potentially affect the visibility and opportunities available to other musicians competing for attention on digital platforms.
Hotkeed questioned why some artists would choose to artificially increase their streaming figures rather than wait for their music to grow organically.
“Why can’t those who are using streaming farms wait to gain genuine streams? Why are you in a hurry? You will rush to social media to brag about doing numbers after using streaming farms,” he stated.
The singer further claimed that his knowledge of the alleged practice came partly from people involved in providing such services. He said some individuals who allegedly run streaming operations had approached him and even encouraged him to patronise their services.
“I know those who are stream farming because the people doing it for them approached me and told me to see what they have done for them and that I should also patronise them,” Hotkeed alleged.
He also issued a warning that he would publicly identify any colleague involved in the practice if they had a personal disagreement with him.
“If any of those artists using streaming farms ever cross my lane, I would expose them. I know at least 50 Nigerian artists who use streaming farms,” he said.
Hotkeed maintained that he would rather have a smaller number of authentic listeners than present inflated figures that do not reflect the true performance of his music.
“I will rather have 2,000 streams than deceiving myself with 2 million fake streams,” he added.
Streaming farms have become a subject of increasing discussion within the global music industry, as artificial plays can distort streaming figures and potentially undermine fair competition among artists. However, Hotkeed did not publicly identify the artists he alleged were involved in the practice.