You’re reading a classified leak. Or maybe it’s a public service announcement. Either way, welcome.
Signal Dept. is a hand-curated, human-filtered electronic music digest — a playlist disguised as a listening post, now disguised as a zine.
Each edition scans the lesser-heard zones of the underground: strange EPs, stealth drops, lo-fi bangers, detuned pads, icy synths, heat haze basslines — and the producers operating just outside the frame.
We’re not chasing hype. We’re tuning in to the pulse beneath it.
The Streaming Deception
Today we dedicate the entire special edition to delve deeper into the murky and deceptive practices of the music streaming industry with a first-hand account from JP Silver that has brought to light serious and deceptive systemic failures in the streaming ecosystem, above and beyond the known extractive practices employed to exploit artists.
Artist Sovereignty, Part 3: Data Without Accountability — The LANDR Case
Recap: Parts 1 & 2
Part 1 exposed the Aggregator-Streaming Complex: per-play payouts measured in fractions of a cent; ~30% platform rake before pro-rata pooling; artists receiving pennies while intermediaries multiply. We contrasted that with direct-support channels (Bandcamp, Patreon) and showed how pro-rata accounting divorces a fan’s spend from the artist they actually listened to.
Part 2 shifted from diagnosis to practice: a sovereignty toolkit. We mapped real alternatives—Bandcamp’s direct sales (tempered by recent ownership turbulence), Resonate’s co-op stream-to-own model, netlabels, artist collectives, and self-hosting (Funkwhale)—plus staged strategies from gentle exit to full ecosystem. The throughline: diversify, document, and reduce single-platform risk.
Now, Part 3 moves from system-level critique to a specific, documented case: JP Silver vs. data transparency failure at LANDR (March–July 2025).
Part 3 — The LANDR Case (March–July 2025): A Factual Retelling by JP Silver
Context.
LANDR is the digital distributor JP Silver uses to deliver releases to platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. LANDR aggregates usage data and displays stream counts in an artist dashboard—figures that inform both visibility and royalties. Between March and July 2025, JP Silver documented repeated, unexplained reductions in already-reported stream counts with no notification, no audit trail, and no recourse.
The pattern first appears in March.
On March 8, 2025 at 07:15, the LANDR dashboard showed 49 streams for March 1. Less than an hour later—08:07—that figure read 28. By March 11 at 10:26, it was 27. The same date, three different totals across several days, with no explanation provided in the product UI and no alert that historical data had changed. On March 12, JP Silver filed a formal complaint with timestamped screenshots, establishing the baseline evidence that reported counts were being revised downward after the fact.
Initial responses.
On March 18–19, a support agent (“Joey”) replied with a generic explanation: platforms may remove “artificial streams.” No audit details accompanied that claim—no metadata, timestamps, or store-level rationale. When challenged on March 19, the response was restated at a similar level of generality, again without any documentary trail tying the removals to a specific detection event by a specific DSP. At this stage, LANDR’s position was effectively: we display what the platforms send; if they reduce counts, the numbers go down here.
Escalation in June: larger, sequential drops.
On June 12, the release “Technology x Nature” showed 1.1K streams and JP received an official notification from LANDR. Over June 13–16, the count stepped down in sequence: 1.1K → 1.0K → 770 → 696, a 37% reduction across four days. The size and cadence reinforced that the issue wasn’t a one-off sync delay. On June 13 (07:29), JP Silver sent an urgent escalation noting the systemic nature of the problem. On June 17 (01:59), a duplicate urgent ticket was filed to ensure visibility, followed at 02:21 by an escalation to management reflecting extreme frustration at the absence of audit evidence. On June 20 (08:38), a second support agent (“Diego”) replied, advancing the theory that a promotional service might have been involved, again without platform-specific proof. On June 23 (14:23), support consolidated multiple tickets, but the substantive answers remained unchanged.
Contact with management in July.
On July 4 (10:33), Diego reiterated that no further action was possible from LANDR’s side and referenced the FAQ. On July 7 (17:52), Jerome Cadieux (Director of Customer Operations) provided the first management response. On July 8 (09:04), JP Silver sent a detailed rebuttal: if historical, revenue-impacting data is fluid, artists must receive notifications, and the intermediary must maintain audit trails to preserve trust and enable dispute resolution. Later on July 8 (16:35), management issued a final position: no audit trail exists for such changes; LANDR receives no explanatory logs from platforms; they could not provide additional verification and offered a refund. At 21:23 the same day, JP Silver declined the refund and announced intent to pursue external escalation.
Positions, side by side.
LANDR’s stated position
The dashboard reflects data “as received” from streaming platforms.
Platforms may retrospectively remove “artificial” or “non-genuine” plays without notifying LANDR or the artist.
LANDR maintains no audit logs explaining why counts change and does not notify artists when historical totals are revised.
Artists should contact any promotional services they used.
No further action is possible from LANDR’s side.
JP Silver’s position
If data is revised, artists must be notified when historical counts change.
Revenue-impacting changes require an audit trail—timestamps, source platform, and reason.
As the royalty intermediary, LANDR has a duty to provide transparency or to advocate for it with DSP partners.
The current system enables undetectable error or abuse because there is no visibility, no auditability, and no process to dispute.
Why this matters.
The March series (49 → 28 → 27) and the June series (1.1K → 696) are not cosmetic variances. They directly affect royalty calculations and undermine confidence in past statements. Without notifications, artists can’t even tell when the ledger moved. Without audit trails, there is no way to verify whether a reduction was justified or a pipeline issue. Without a dispute mechanism, there is no venue to test the claim of “artificial streams” against facts.
Technical diagnosis (from the record).
Four structural gaps emerge from LANDR’s own responses:
No audit trail of inbound changes;
No notification when historical data is altered;
No dispute workflow to compel explanation from DSPs;
No verification capability to distinguish legitimate fraud detection from error.
Those gaps create an accountability vacuum: the aggregator is the artist’s interface to the platforms, yet the aggregator offers neither a trail nor a challenge path. The result is revenue-impacting opacity.
Industry context.
JP Silver’s case cites similar complaints from other artists (e.g., Reddit/forums), suggesting this is not isolated. Possible upstream causes (platform-side fraud sweeps; distributor pipeline issues; systematic under-reporting) cannot be distinguished—precisely because no logs are kept or shared. The pattern implicates not just one artist or one distributor, but the governance norms of the aggregator layer.
Escalation beyond support.
With internal avenues exhausted, JP Silver flagged rights organizations (e.g., SAMRO, SAMPRA, SOCAN), potential legal counsel, and media focused on artist rights. LANDR’s final management response (July 8) confirmed the essential fact pattern: no logs, no notifications, no further action; refund offered. The artist declined the refund to pursue accountability, not compensation.
What this establishes.
This is a documented, verifiable account of stream-count reversals and the absence of auditability at the intermediary level. It identifies a real, fixable surface area: implement audit logs of every inbound change; trigger notifications when historical data is revised; provide an artist-facing dispute mechanism; publish transparency reports on platform-initiated adjustments. Until such measures are adopted, artists remain unable to validate the numbers that pay them.
Call to Action: Add Your Case to the Record
If you are an artist who has experienced unexplained stream or sales reversals, missing notifications, or unverifiable data changes—through LANDR or any other aggregator—add your voice.
Please send:
Timestamped screenshots showing before/after counts,
Dates/times of changes,
Release identifiers (UPC/ISRC),
Ticket numbers and support correspondence,
A brief permission statement for us to reference your case (publicly or anonymized).
Submit via theswingcafe@gmail.com. These accounts will be compiled into a verifiable dossier to share with rights organizations, journalists, and—if necessary—legal counsel. The goal isn’t outrage; it’s auditability. The more documented cases we gather, the harder it becomes for opaque practices to persist.
Art is a relationship. Accounting should be, too.
📡 Signal Dept. & Solarpunk Creative Systems
Signal Dept. is more than just an electronic music zine — it's an integral part of the decentralized, regenerative creative ecosystem that’s the backbone of the Solarpunk ethos. It aligns with the core principles of decentralization, community sovereignty, and anti-capitalism, while rejecting the noise and commodification found in algorithm-driven platforms.
At its core, Signal Dept. is committed to fostering and amplifying human connection through sound. In a world where the music industry is increasingly driven by data-driven decision-making, Signal Dept. offers an alternative: a space where artists and curators are in control of their own narrative, where the value is placed on culture and authenticity over popularity or profitability. This aligns perfectly with Solarpunk values that emphasize regeneration over exploitation, community over individualism, and craft over commodification.
Subscribe & Stay Tuned
Signal Dept. isn’t just another zine. It’s a signal in a sea of noise. We’re curating music that challenges the mainstream, that resonates with a sense of purpose and community. If you believe in culture over commodification, in the power of authentic sound and storytelling, join us in this broadcast.
📝 Browse the SIGNAL DEPT ELECTRONIC MUSIC NEW RELEASES playlist for more discoveries
FIND SIGNAL DEPT on Bluesky
🌀 Share on socials, email, or directly with your music community
📂 All issues you may copy, remix, circulate freely. Just don't sell it.
Art is a relationship, not a product. Let's build the systems it deserves.
[END OF SIGNAL DEPT. — Edition 5]