Stephen Voyce Instagram – Today I received an email stating that 2 of my songs had been taken down for Spotify Streaming Fraud. At first I thought, no, this is probably another phishing scam, so I was about to ignore it. But it became clear very quickly that it was indeed real. Two songs, fan favorites in fact, ‘Give into Me’ and ‘Blood on your Sleeve’ had been taken down most likely because one (or more) of the playlists they had been added to used fake streams to bloat their numbers? That’s the only logical explanation because heaven knows I don’t farm streams. And because those songs were part of my extended album ‘The Emancipation of Eze: Royal Edition’, the whole project was taken down from all digital stores/platforms. The original album is still there thankfully, but the 7 songs that added to it, and hence wonderful featurings by @clau_music, @swiftkidder, @tabi_yosha, @atoworldwide and @itsluckydinero have been taken down. As an indie artist, this really felt like a blow because how can we stay viable when so many roadblocks and scams are laid out ahead of us, even when you are taking legitimate routes? And all this while I’m working on finalizing my next album. To be honest I felt like quitting today, like trashing all the upcoming songs and just throwing in the towel. Honestly I’m still feeling beyond discouraged, but I’m still fighting. I’ve made an appeal to the music distribution company I distribute my music through, who has been kind and supportive of my career, to hopefully reverse the takedown. I will keep y’all posted. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling pretty fucking defeated right now.
If you’ve enjoyed my music over the years and want to support, please continue to listen to the original version of the album (link in bio). I will continue to appeal to have the extended version restored, even if it means starting the streams from zero, because I don’t care about thousands of streams. What I care about is having my music heard by the people that genuinely enjoy it, that connect to it. | Posted on 06/Mar/2024 05:19:37
