Hangout FM, a social music platform owned by Turntable Labs, has announced a partnership with Beatdapp, a blockchain-based music streaming fraud detection company, to combat streaming fraud.
This collaboration aims to protect artists and ensure they receive fair compensation for their work by preventing fraudulent activity on the Hangout FM platform.
Streaming fraud has become a major concern in the music industry, with artists often losing out on significant revenue due to fake streams and accounts. Beatdapp says its technology analyzes massive datasets to detect fraudulent streams. In 2023, the company said it analyzed more than 2 trillion streams and 20 trillion data points.
Through the new partnership, Hangout FM, which is slated to launch this year, will use Beatdapp’s tools and expertise in blockchain technology to detect and prevent fraudulent activity. Hangout FM will have access to Beatdapp’s fraud detection models, behavior predictive models for identifying fraud before it happens, and stream tracking tools.
Hangout FM says this will allow it to weed out suspected bot accounts and identify if a user’s account has been taken over or hacked.
Hangout FM plans to offer users an online interactive environment reminiscent of a 24/7 club experience. Users will be able to customize their avatars, curate their own virtual rooms (Hangouts), and take turns as virtual DJs, sharing their favorite tracks while discovering new music from fellow enthusiasts.
The platform will also serve as a creative space for artists to engage with fans through live performances, DJ sets, and real-time interactions.
Joseph Perla, Founder and CEO of Hangout FM, said, “We take potential streaming fraud very seriously at Hangout FM; that’s why we’ve teamed up with Beatdapp to make sure our platform is fighting the good fight against fraud from launch day.”
“We take potential streaming fraud very seriously at Hangout FM; that’s why we’ve teamed up with Beatdapp to make sure our platform is fighting the good fight against fraud from launch day.”
Joseph Perla, Hangout FM
“Between Beatdapp’s technology and our focus on creating an environment for active rather than passive listening, we are confident that plays on Hangout FM will not only be legitimate but also lead to improved discovery for music fans seeking their next favorite band.”
“We’ve seen Hangout FM’s dedication to fighting streaming fraud first-hand and are happy to help them reach their goal of launching with the most accurate, legitimate plays possible,” said Pouria Assadipour, CTO and Co-Founder of Beatdapp.
“We’ve seen Hangout FM’s dedication to fighting streaming fraud first-hand and are happy to help them reach their goal of launching with the most accurate, legitimate plays possible.”
Pouria Assadipour, Beatdapp
“We hope this relationship inspires other platforms to fight streaming fraud by working with Beatdapp to prevent and combat the problem head-on.”
Negotiations are currently underway with major record labels and music rights organizations to build a music library for Hangout FM, the platform said.
The development comes just weeks after Beatdapp announced that it raised USD $17 million in funding and formed a strategic partnership with Universal Music Group.
“While streaming has been the most significant technology advancement in music in many years, fraud fueled by a flood of uploads with no meaningful engagement, including non-artist noise content, has necessitated a more sophisticated, coordinated, proactive approach to mitigating streaming fraud, to foster a thriving music ecosystem,” said Michael Nash, Chief Digital Officer & Executive Vice President of UMG.
SoundExchange and Napster also recently collaborated with Beatdapp to tackle streaming fraud, with Matt Eccles, SVP and General Counsel, Napster, calling it an “industry-wide problem that requires an industry-wide solution.”
Beatdapp had earlier conducted an analysis of California-based generative AI music startup Boomy’s entire distributed catalog, less than a year after Spotify temporarily pulled down numerous Boomy-distributed tracks from its platform over concerns about streaming fraud.
Music Business Worldwide
