Nine websites that sold fraudulent streams have been taken offline, according to the IFPI and Music Canada.
IFPI, the global recording industry association, and Music Canada, a trade group representing major Canadian record labels, filed a legal complaint with the Canadian Competition Bureau against the sites, accusing them of selling fake games and streams to manipulate streaming service data. The nine linked sites, the most popular of which used the domain name MRINSTA.com, have been taken offline (although you can still see them via the Wayback Machine).
“Flow manipulation has no place in music,” he said Lauri Reichardt, chief legal officer of the IFPI. “The perpetrators and stream manipulators must not be allowed to continue to divert revenue from the artists who create the music.”
As streaming has grown in popularity, so have efforts to game service royalty models. Vancouver-based fraud detection software company Beatdapp estimates that up to 10% of music streams are fake. Fake streams are often created through stream farms, which use bots to automatically stream specific songs and boost their stats.
Canada recorded 145.3 billion flows in 2023. – Rosie Long Decter
Warner Music Canada's head of A&R launches new management company, SWING
Just back in January of this year, Victoria, BC pop-funk artist Diamond Cafe announced his signing to Warner Music Canada. Now, George Kalivasthe man who signed him is striking out on his own to manage him — and building a whole new company around the singer.
SWING is starting as a Toronto-based management company with first artist Diamond Cafe, though Kalyvas says the ultimate plan is to “grow into a full-service record label in no time.”
Kalyvas started in marketing at Warner Canada seven years ago, handling domestic artists signed to the label and international releases signed to affiliates such as Atlantic and 300. But he had “one foot in A&R,” he says, which became official two years ago when Kristen Burke became president of the label.
His first signing was Crash Adams, a Canadian pop duo known for viral TikTok trends. Following the joint release of 91 North Records by Warner Canada and Warner India, Kalyvas helped sign the label's second artist, AR Paisley. A longtime Canadian rapper, Paisley broke into the top 10 of the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 this year with “Drippy,” a posthumous collaboration with the late Punjabi-Canadian superstar Sidhu Moose Wala.
But it was Diamond Cafe that made him realize it was the right time to strike out on his own, Kalyvas says. “I haven't seen a triple-threat artist like him — writer, performer and producer — in 15 years,” he says. “It's next level.”
As publishing and song catalogs become a major profit driver in the music industry, artists like Diamond Cafe who can work both in front of and behind the scenes are highly sought after. For SWING, it is enough to create a completely new company. – Richard Trapunsky
Texas songwriter Livingston makes Canadian Hot 100 debut with 'Shadow'
Texas singer-songwriter Livingston is taking the Canadian charts by storm this week.
The 21-year-old landed on the Canadian Hot 100 for the first time, with his single “Shadow” debuting at No. 100. The ominous tarck, which finds Livingston warning of the dangers we place on ourselves, shows the zone of and falsetto over keyboard stabs and jittery percussion. “Shadow” is also performing well on the iTunes charts and has amassed over one million views on YouTube since its March 7 release.
Livingston's new album, A Homeland Odyssey, also found a spot on the Canadian albums chart this week, debuting at No. 92. Livingston first gained popularity as a teenager on TikTok during the pandemic and was signed to Elektra records shortly after. His website states that he has “regained his independence” from his major label deal a year ago. Homeland Odyssey is released independently.
Independence seems to suit Livingstone very well. Although it still doesn't chart on the US Hot 100 or Billboard 200, sometimes up-and-coming American artists—like Benson Boone—do better in Canada before gaining traction in the United States. – Rosie Long Decter
