Ghanaian music producer and manager, Bulldog, has alleged that many Ghanaian artistes are inflating their streaming numbers by using stream farms to create a false image of success.
Speaking on the state of the music industry, Bulldog challenged the popular notion that "numbers don’t lie," claiming that in today’s industry, numbers can indeed be deceiving.
They used to say numbers don’t lie. Today, numbers are lying. They are buying the numbers [from] streaming farms. So don’t let them start talking about numbers. It doesn’t make any sense again.
Bulldog supported his claims by highlighting the disconnect between artistes’ high streaming numbers and their real-world performance. He noted that some artistes, labeled as A-list in Ghana, boast millions of followers on social media but struggle to attract significant audiences for their shows, especially outside Ghana.
We are on the ground; we see people with 1 million followers on Instagram and all that stuff. When they release music, they don’t even get streams up to a thousand or two thousand. That should tell you that the numbers are lying. When they do shows, nobody will come. We’ve seen it. When they go abroad, they can’t do [anything]. And these are considered A-list artistes here.
Bulldog's allegations have sparked debates among stakeholders in the Ghanaian music industry.