that’s BS and in no way solving their very real bot problem. This wasn’t reported on worldwide, but here in Germany, it got some press due to local hip-hop labels being involved.

Malicious labels use click farms to push up the numbers on their artists, either by manipulating all platforms or locking their artist into Spotify.

This, in addition to other forms of manipulation such as playlists-aaS, isn’t just a ploy to promote their music. As long as farming clicks is cheaper that the payout rate, they can get paid for laundering illicit gains that way.