Hotkeed says 50 Nigerian artists use streaming farms, warns of exposure
Afrobeats singer Hotkeed claims he knows at least 50 Nigerian artists who use streaming farms to inflate their digital music numbers, saying the practice robs genuine talents of attention and opportunity. In an interview with content creator Jbrandy, Hotkeed warned that if any of those artists offend him, he will expose them publicly. He argued that streaming farms take away streams from real artists, noting: "If 20 artists are stream farming, you have taken 20 genuine artists back. If 50 artists are stream farming, you have taken 50 genuine artists back." Hotkeed said he would rather have 2,000 honest streams than 2 million fake ones, and revealed that promoters of streaming farms have approached him to patronise their services. The claim highlights growing concerns about artificial inflation of music metrics on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, which can distort chart rankings, affect revenue distribution, and undermine trust in the industry. While no names were given, the allegation points to a widespread issue that may require platform intervention and greater transparency from artists and promoters.