Behind the scenes2 min read
Why VYU never rewards listening
A platform could give a fan something for playing your track. We never will. Here is what Spotify and Deezer say, and what we offer instead.
It would be easy. "Play the track five times, earn a badge." The streams go up, everyone is happy. Until the day the platform looks at where they come from.
What the platforms say
Spotify has a page on it, Artificial streaming and paid 3rd-party services that guarantee streams. An artificial stream is defined there as a stream that does not reflect the listener's genuine intent to listen. Services that inflate streams in exchange for payment break its terms. When that is confirmed, Spotify can withhold the associated royalties, correct the public stream counts and remove the track from its playlists.
Deezer says the same thing in its own way. In a January 2026 release: "every fraudulent stream that we detect is demonetized". Manipulated streams are excluded from the royalty calculation.
These rules target bots and phone farms first. But a stream obtained in exchange for a reward is not a genuine stream either. The fan plays the track for the badge, not for the track. And nobody can guarantee you that a detection system will tell the difference. We are not taking that risk on your behalf.
What a forced stream costs you
Even without a penalty, it misleads you. Platforms recommend your music based on the people who genuinely listen to it. Streams that do not come from real listeners blur what they understand about your audience, and the recommendations that follow.
And if a platform has doubts about a track, you are the one who answers for it, not the tool that handed out the badges.
What we offer instead
Two gestures, both sincere.
- Sharing a track. The fan puts their name on it, in front of their followers. Nobody shares a track they do not like.
- Following you on a platform. They follow you on Spotify, Deezer or elsewhere, from their own account. Every stream that follows is a real one.
The post they receive is not a reward for listening. It is the trace of the gesture they just made: saying in public that they like this track.
And the previews on your page
Your page plays thirty-second previews of your tracks, in one tap, so that a visitor can discover you without leaving the page. The full listen then happens on Spotify or Deezer, in the fan's app, signed in to their account, and that is where it counts for you.