Spotify removes streams of No. 1 song after suspicious Kalshi bets

Spotify has removed streams of a song that shot to the top of the charts on Wednesday after it discovered that suspicious bets related to the music track had been placed on the prediction market Kalshi. 

The song “Earrings” by musician Malcolm Todd soared 70% overnight Sunday, earning it the top spot on Spotify’s U.S. streaming chart, the Financial Times first reported. 

Spotify on Wednesday removed streams of the song, which it said it doesn’t believe came from genuine listeners.

“All streaming services face ever-changing stream manipulation. Spotify has best in class detection and mitigation practices for manipulated streams, and we don’t pay out associated royalties,” a Spotify spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News. 

A spokesperson for Kalshi told CBS News that the company is “in touch with Spotify” and is investigating the matter. 

The incident adds to growing concerns about whether prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket have adequate safeguards against market manipulation or the misuse of nonpublic information. Critics have warned that people with inside knowledge or the ability to influence an event’s outcome could potentially profit from those markets.

In January, a suspiciously well-timed bet placed on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro’s capture raised questions about the integrity of the platforms. A U.S. special forces soldier involved in the military operation that led to Maduro’s capture later pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he used classified information about the mission to make the bet.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal agency, is charged with regulating prediction markets, which have raised billions in venture capital.