Gang members in Sweden have reportedly been utilizing Spotify to launder cash, in line with a Swedish newspaper.
The publication, Svenska Dagbladet, reported that gang members convert cash acquired from drug offers, robberies, fraud, and assassination missions into Bitcoin, which they then use to amass faux streams for artists with gang associations. They then gather the cash paid out to these streams at a later date.
One supply Svenska Dagbladet spoke to mentioned that Spotify is “excellent for recruiting functions,” since gang members can use well-liked artists, significantly in Sweden’s gangster rap scene, as a entrance for his or her actions. “For those who’re a community and also you need to entice children and you’ve got a rapper who’s going massive, that’s half the job for you,” the supply mentioned.
One French research discovered that 3 per cent of streams on providers like Spotify are recognized to be fraudulent. The overwhelming majority of these detected in 2021 – 84.5 per cent – had been discovered to be from hip-hop artists. Nonetheless, hip-hop is the preferred style within the French streaming market, and solely 0.4 per cent of the entire hip-hop streams recorded within the nation in 2021 had been decided to be fraudulent.
Spotify declined to remark for the Svenska Dagbladet story and insisted that that they had “no proof” that cash laundering happens on the streaming platform.
In different Spotify information, Taylor Swift has made historical past by turning into the primary feminine artist to hit 100million month-to-month listeners on Spotify.
Earlier this yr, the streamer elevated its subscription costs for the primary time, affecting customers within the UK and the US.
For the UK, the Premium plan now prices £10.99 per thirty days, up from the earlier worth of £9.99 month-to-month. Numerous plans for a number of customers have additionally gone up by £1 per thirty days, with a Duo subscription now priced at £14.99 and a Household plan – overlaying six individuals – now faring at £17.99. Up to now, the one plan to stay unchanged is the Spotify pupil subscription, which stays at £5.99 every month.
