Prepare the master
Export the final mix as an uncompressed WAV file — the standard is 24-bit / 48kHz. Listen to the file all the way through, from beginning to end, on headphones and on a phone speaker. Check the start and the end for clicks, and don't leave extra silence at either end.
Cover art that passes review
Your cover art travels with the release to every store. The spec is 3000×3000 pixels, RGB. Keep text minimal and readable at thumbnail size, and avoid platform logos, account handles, prices and links — stores reject cover art that carries them.
Metadata and codes
Metadata is how the world finds you: an artist name spelled the same way on every release, the real title with no decoration, and the correct language and genre tags. The codes — ISRC for the recording and UPC for the release — are assigned during preparation; you don't need to buy them anywhere.
Choose the release date
Give yourself room. A date several weeks out leaves space for review, delivery and pitching before day one. Line the date up with anything you control — a video, a show, a run of posts — so the release lands with support behind it rather than alone.
Request your invite
Mazufa works by invitation only. Completed applications enter a human review queue as capacity allows. Submitting does not create an account; those accepted may receive a dedicated preparation invite.
After acceptance
After preparation, your release is packaged to spec and delivered to every platform, and its data is pitched to the appropriate editorial and algorithmic surfaces. From there, watch your dashboard: streams, saves and playlist adds, per platform and per country.
The fingerprint code every recording carries — it tracks streams and earnings worldwide.
Your release barcode — one per single, EP or album.
Digital service provider — Spotify, Apple Music, Anghami and every store on earth.
The problem in one line
If you notice a sharp drop in your earnings, or they vanish from your payment report, the cause may be fake streams linked to your account. What happens behind the scenes, and how do you protect yourself?
How do the services detect fake streaming?
Services such as Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube use automated detection systems that monitor listening patterns continuously. When a service closes a listener's account for using bots or stream farms, it retroactively cancels every stream attributed to that account during the accounting period.
The signals that alert detection systems include:
- The same track played thousands of times from a single IP address within a few hours.
- Accounts that listen to nothing but your tracks.
- A listening pattern with no pausing, skipping or natural repetition.
- A sudden spike in streams that does not match any documented promotional activity.
What exactly happens to your earnings?
When the fake listener account is deleted, every stream tied to it is deleted with it, so its earnings are not counted in the final report. If the service has already issued a payment based on provisional figures and then discovers the fraud later, it may deduct the difference from your future payments.
More serious is the possibility that your own artist account is suspended. Spotify's terms of service state explicitly that an artist may have their music removed or their account suspended if they are found to be involved in stream manipulation, whether directly or through a third party.
Three possible scenarios and what they mean
- Scenario one – detection before payment: The fake streams are deleted and you receive nothing for them. Your loss is limited to the money you paid the fake streaming service.
- Scenario two – detection after payment: The service may recover the amount by deducting it from your next earnings, and may ask your distributor to return part of the payments.
- Scenario three – music removal: In the most serious cases your tracks are removed from the service, which means any future income from it stops until the dispute is resolved.
The distributor's role in this equation
The distributor is the intermediary between you and the service. When a service decides to recover money or cancel streams, the message reaches the distributor first, and the distributor passes it on to you. If your distributor does not communicate with you transparently in these situations, you are in a weak position.
At Mazufa, we notify you as soon as any notice arrives from the services concerning your account or suspicious streams, because transparent reporting is a basic right you have as an artist.
Practical steps to protect yourself
- Do not pay any service that promises a set number of streams in advance, however legitimate it looks. Guaranteeing figures unconnected to any real promotional activity is a clear sign of fraud.
- Review your listening reports weekly through Spotify for Artists or Apple Music for Artists, and watch for any sudden unexplained spike.
- Keep a record of all your genuine promotional activity — ads, campaigns and paid placements — so you can prove that any spike was legitimate if you are asked.
- Contact your distributor immediately if you notice a sudden drop in earnings with no explanation, and ask for a breakdown of the report.
- Read the service's terms of service on stream manipulation; these documents are publicly available and set out what counts as a violation.
Summary
Fake streaming does not only harm other artists by shrinking their share of the royalty pool — it harms you directly when your tracks are used in these operations. The solution starts with one decision: build your audience for real, because every genuine stream stays in your account.