Independent Musicians Hit by Algorithmic Dispossession on Digital Platforms

The digital music industry, once marketed as a globally democratizing force, is now dominated by automated algorithms that act as overseers of catalog distribution. Independent artists report that their songs are frequently placed in indexing limbos, face unjustified territorial exclusions, or disappear entirely from services such as iTunes, iHeartRadio and Anghami.

Because these creators must also cover fixed fees to aggregators and often sustain themselves with other jobs, the lack of transparency and notification when a catalog is removed harms both their reputation and income. As one artist put it, “This is not a simple server glitch; it is a direct attack on eligibility and reputation.”