Spotify removes streams of No. 1 song in US after suspected manipulation, says British newspaper

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Spotify removed more than half a million plays of the song "Earrings", by singer-songwriter Malcolm Todd, after identifying signs of manipulation in its performance on the platform.
The track had reached first place in the United States chart.
According to the British newspaper Financial Times, the sudden increase in reproductions coincided with an unusual jump in bets on the Kalshi prediction market, which already indicated a possible peak in the song's performance before the rankings were released.
Artificial explosion and leadership in the ranking
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The reproductions of "Earrings" in the United States grew by around 70% between Sunday and Monday, taking the track to the top of Spotify's North American chart.
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The song had originally been released in 2024 and gained traction on social media again before the spike.
The previous week, Kalshi traders estimated Malcolm Todd's chance of reaching number 1 on Spotify in the US by the end of June at just 2.5%.
Following the investigation, Spotify released an update to the rankings on Wednesday, with the removal of reproductions considered suspicious.
Without the numbers inflated, the track would fall to fourth position on the day analyzed.
Bots and stream manipulation
According to Spotify, the removed reproductions would have been generated by bots - automated systems programmed to play songs repeatedly and artificially inflate the popularity of tracks.
The platform stated that it has detection systems to identify this type of activity and declared that it does not make royalty payments on streams considered manipulated.
There is no indication of involvement by Malcolm Todd or his team in the attempt of inflating the song numbers.

Source: G1