24 August 2020 – IFPI, representing the recording industry worldwide, and its German national group, BVMI, announced today that injunctions have been issued by German courts against the operators of five websites responsible for music streaming manipulation.

The injunctions order the operators to stop offering manipulation services for online music services. Streaming manipulation, the creation of artificial ‘plays’ on digital music services that do not represent consumption by genuine consumers, denies music creators fair compensation for their work and investment.

Four injunctions have been issued by separate courts; the first by a court in Bremen to the operator of Socialnow.de, the second by a court in Hamburg to the operator of the sites socialgeiz.de and likergeiz.de, the third by a court on Cologne to the operator of Netlikes, and the fourth by a court in Darmstadt against likesandmore. An additional site, fanexplosion.de, stopped offering artificial plays following receipt of a cease and desist letter from BVMI.

These actions are part of a broader campaign to tackle the issue of music streaming manipulation, including successful action against Followerschmiede.de, which closed down in March this year. Last year, IFPI, its member companies and national groups, including BVMI, joined a broad industry coalition in signing a voluntary code of best practice aimed at detecting and preventing stream manipulation, as well as mitigating its effects in the marketplace.

Frances Moore, chief executive of IFPI, said: “The recorded music sector continues to invest in and drive the development of the legitimate digital music market around the world, working to ensure that those who create music are remunerated fairly and accurately for their work. Streaming manipulation companies deprive right holders of revenue and mislead consumers. We are committed to tackling this problem.

“These latest legal actions in Germany are an integral part of our strategy of taking on these sites wherever necessary around the world.”

Dr. Florian Drücke, Chairman & CEO of BVMI added: "For fans and artists, confidence in digital music services is crucial, not least because music is now a predominantly digital medium. Against this background, there is no room for anti-competitive influence large or small, and these important court decisions once again demonstrate the music community’s determination to continue to take consistent action in this area.”