SoundCloud Leads Music Streaming Accuracy Rankings, Outperforms Spotify and Apple Music
SoundCloud has claimed the top spot in Legitary's 2023 music streaming accuracy rankings, outperforming industry leaders Spotify and Apple Music. The rankings evaluate DSPs based on their transparency and accuracy in reporting play counts.
Legitary, a Vienna-based AI auditing company, uses 'Anomaly Scores' to measure streaming platforms' reporting accuracy. Lower scores indicate more accurate reporting, while higher scores suggest significant misreporting of stream counts.
Soundcloud logo against black
Top 10 DSP Rankings for Transparency and Reporting Accuracy:
Music streaming services legitimacy comparison chart
Key Findings:
- Deezer and Apple Music showed notable improvements
- YouTube experienced a decline in ranking
- TikTok consistently ranked among the lowest performers, partly due to its viral nature and short-lived streaming spikes
Legitary's methodology focuses on measuring significant under- or over-performances relative to total stream counts. The company analyzes billions of streams across multiple DSPs worldwide, comparing reported numbers against expected figures based on historical data and cross-platform behavior.
Nermina Mumic, Legitary's CEO, emphasizes that smaller DSPs can match or exceed larger platforms in reporting accuracy. She states, "Transparent and reliable reporting is the cornerstone of a sustainable future for the music industry."
The rankings highlight the ongoing need for improved streaming data transparency to ensure fair compensation in the music industry. While some platforms have made significant progress, others continue to struggle with accurate reporting and monitoring practices.
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