Each Apple Music account is tied to an Apple ID, which is tied to a credit card. Creating enough (which may be more or fewer than a zillion) to get your money back probably isn't worth the extra revenue.
Back in the day it was a lot easier to rig the charts. I remember a story about the members of a boy band (maybe boyzone or westlife) who approached their very controlling manager. They said that because they had so many fans, they wanted to have more say in how the band was run. The manager opened the back of the car, and showed them five boxes of CDs he'd bought that week and said "Here are your fans." They meekly eft him to do his job.
So now I always remember the "Here are your fans" remark whenever I see anything remotely popular. There are clear metrics, like ticket sales at a live show, or how many people turn up, which are a good indication of popular appeal. But anything like music sales, streams, followers, likes, views, etc? "Here are your fans" says a bot network admin.
Here are your fans can turn into real fans, though. Your fake fans get you on the charts. Then the radio starts playing your song or iTunes/Spotify put you on the front page. Then you get invited to perform on TV. Then people have heard your song so much it gets in their head. And then they buy your concert ticket.
That initial push might not work, but often it's exactly what you need. Look at how many apps have had huge, and perhaps undeserved, sales because they were on the front page of the app store.
Spending your money on "here are your fans" is often a much better investment than advertisements everyone will ignore.
Oh yeah, I know the lesson to take from it. It's good marketing. My point was that it used to be easier to rig music charts when the only metric was single sales. Now each individual metric might be hackable, but each is just a small part of the overall signal.
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Back in the day it was a lot easier to rig the charts. I remember a story about the members of a boy band (maybe boyzone or westlife) who approached their very controlling manager. They said that because they had so many fans, they wanted to have more say in how the band was run. The manager opened the back of the car, and showed them five boxes of CDs he'd bought that week and said "Here are your fans." They meekly eft him to do his job.
So now I always remember the "Here are your fans" remark whenever I see anything remotely popular. There are clear metrics, like ticket sales at a live show, or how many people turn up, which are a good indication of popular appeal. But anything like music sales, streams, followers, likes, views, etc? "Here are your fans" says a bot network admin.
That initial push might not work, but often it's exactly what you need. Look at how many apps have had huge, and perhaps undeserved, sales because they were on the front page of the app store.
Spending your money on "here are your fans" is often a much better investment than advertisements everyone will ignore.
(unverified image)
EDIT: Even the YouTube Gaming app recognizes it.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/29/9634500/youtube-red-free-trial-revenue-compensation
Who wants views?