Skegss have had a fake song uploaded to Spotify

Garage rock band Skegss have had a song uploaded to Spotify that isn’t theirs, an issue that’s becoming more and more prevalent in digital music.

A new song appeared on the Byron Bay band’s official Spotify profile this week. Titled ‘HOOK’, it even had accompanying artwork, showing a skeleton in a suit, casually sorting its tie. Skegss, though, took to social media to deny that this had anything to do with them.

“Hacked we have been hacked on streaming platforms,” they announced in an Instagram post (see below). “HOOK is not our music.” They emphasised this point in an Instagram Story, writing “Got hacked on our streaming platforms. The HOOK song is not ours.”

Fans expressed their bemusement in the comments. “I was so excited when Spotify notified me “new music from Skegss”, listened and thought ‘damn, I don’t like their new vibe, maybe they’re hacked’,” laughed Olympic swimmer Taylor McKeown.

Skegss, unfortunately, have been in similar circumstances before. The artwork for their debut EP, 50 Push Ups For A Dollar, featured cartoonish flames surrounding the band’s name. Just a few months after its release, U.S. rapper Reese released his track ‘Do It’, a collaboration with Lil Yachty, and the fiery artwork was strikingly similar.

Fake songs sneaking onto streaming platforms is nothing new. Back in 2019, Pitchfork wrote about the increasingly trouble practice: they noted examples of artists like Rihanna having fake albums make it as far as number 67 on the iTunes worldwide albums chart before they were removed from the platform.

It can be a lucrative business, with one leaker telling Pitchfork back then that they made around $60K in royalties in one year after uploading unreleased music by artists including Lil Uzi Vert.

Earlier this year, My Bloody Valentine expressed frustration at Spotify using fake lyrics for their songs without their knowledge.  “Just noticed that Spotify has put fake lyrics up for our songs without our knowledge. These lyrics are actually completely incorrect and insulting,” a tweet from MBV’s official Twitter account stated.

“We’re not sure where they got them from, probably one of those bullshit lyrics sites on the internet.” The shoegaze legends had only been on the streaming giant for less than a year at the time.

At the time of writing, ‘HOOK’ remains on Skegss’ Spotify profile. The song has already been streamed over 1,400 times.