Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says there’s no truth to a recent claim that users could easily game the Spotify accounting system, taking home piles of unearned cash on streaming royalties. … But then again, he would say that, wouldn’t he?

Catch me up: Earlier this week, a Twitter (or X, whatever) user linked to a story in the Financial Times. The article cited “JPMorgan analysts” who said “if users uploaded their own 30-second track to Spotify, and then programmed their phone to listen to it on repeat 24 hours a day, they would receive $1,200 a month in royalties.”

Really? According to Ek, not so much. The Swedish tech titan replied “If that were true, my own playlist would just be ‘Daniel’s 30-second Jam’ on repeat. But seriously, that’s not quite how our royalty system works.”

In the same thread, Complex reports a “record label owner” chimed in to confirm Ek’s response – but he did get Ek to agree that Spotify’s 30-second payout minimum (along with TikTok) has lead to songs becoming slightly shorter overall. So there is some funny business going on – just not this.

The takeaway: Even if it were true, some quick math done by MusicAlly seems to throw cold water on the $1,200 estimate. According to them, a 30-second track on 24-hour repeat would generate 86,400 monthly streams – or more like $300.