Most music fans adore their favourite artist so much that they would come together on social media when a new song is released. They would strategise on how to buy the songs of their favourite artist many times and then stream the songs on repeat. This is to make sure that the tracks are pushed up charts. However, artists do not encourage that their fans practice these tricks to boost their song’s performance on several platforms.
It was noticed that Justin Bieber took to his Instagram page, last night, to repost a guide one of his fans had posted that explained how to game various platforms. This is to boost Justin Bieber’s new single, ‘Yummy.’ No one knows if Justin Bieber had made the post or one of his team members had done so. The post had been deleted from the singer’s page.
Yesterday, one of Justin Bieber’s fans had put up the post with the caption:
Justin really wants that #1 and he is really excited about it as he said yesterday in his livestream. If you don’t want to do any of this it’s totally fine, just ignore the post. These are tips for people who actually want to do an extra effort!
The tips explain that a Spotify playlist will be created with ‘Yummy’ and the song would be played on repeat. It will also be bought on iTunes and Justin Bieber’s website. Instead of reposting, it will be linked to the YouTube video. A VPN should be used for streaming by someone who does not reside in the US because only streams coming from US IP addresses are recognised by Billboard charts. This trick is to ensure that Justin Bieber’s ‘Yummy’ is listed on Billboard charts.
Several incidences have been recorded of fans trying to manipulate play counts. For example, fans of Harry Styles had performed a similar act to promote his single, ‘Sign of the Times.’
A Public Relations representative for Nielsen, that calculate Billboard charts’ numbers said in 2017:
Nielsen and its partner data providers have mechanisms in place to protect against this kind of activity.
He, however, did not explain in detail.
The post that had been reposted on Justin Bieber’s page is unethical because it encourages fans to use a VPN or listen to the songs in sneaky ways. Encouraging fans to buy a single is okay but when a sneaky method is deployed, then it becomes unethical.
This explains why the post was deleted from Justin Bieber’s Instagram account.
