SoundCloud Leads, TikTok Flails in Legitary’s Streaming Transparency Rankings

As streaming platforms wage war for market share, one metric is emerging as a demonstrative measure of success: reporting integrity.

Legitary, a data analytics firm that provides AI-powered auditing, recently released its latest ranking of streaming services with regard to the reliability of their play count data. Their investigation, which examined billions of streams across major music platforms in 2023, calculates a "Legitary Anomaly Score," a metric designed to measure reporting discrepancies.

The ranking not only highlights operational transparency, but also reveals significant shifts in the streaming ecosystem. SoundCloud's ascension to the top spot is particularly noteworthy, overtaking industry stalwarts like Spotify and Apple Music as the resurgent platform works to strengthen its market standing a decade after near-bankruptcy.

Legitary's analysis "underscores SoundCloud's commitment to transparent reporting practices," according to a press release. Meanwhile, YouTube and TikTok appear near the bottom of the ranking due to purported frequent disparities in their reporting accuracy. Along with iHeartRadio, they round out the bottom three spots in a list of 10.

"This year's ranking reaffirms that innovation and a commitment to quality can disrupt even the most established players," said Legitary CEO Nermina Mumic. "Transparent and reliable reporting is the cornerstone of a sustainable future for the music industry."

You can find Legitary's full DSP ranking below.