BTS member Jimin has recently come under scrutiny as Korean netizens accuse him of benefiting from fraudulent streaming practices on Spotify, The controversy revolves around his latest single, WHO, which has seen a massive deletion of streams, leading to widespread speculation about artificial manipulation.
In February, Spotify removed over 52 million streams from WHO, citing detection of what it labeled as fraudulent activity, However, the issue escalated on March 1st when an additional 42 million streams were deleted, bringing the total number of removed streams to nearly 100 million.
This unprecedented reduction has fueled debates within both the K-pop community and the wider music industry.
Some netizens argue that these deletions are indicative of streaming farms being used to artificially inflate the song’s numbers, a practice that violates platform guidelines.
They claim that such activities could be an attempt to boost Jimin’s chart performance and maintain his competitive standing in the industry, However, Jimin’s loyal fanbase, ARMY, has fiercely defended him, questioning the legitimacy of Spotify’s detection methods and demanding transparency in how the platform identifies and removes fraudulent streams.
Fans argue that mass streaming by dedicated supporters should not be classified as fraudulent activity, and they believe the removals unfairly target certain artists. Many have called for Spotify to clarify its policies and provide evidence supporting its claims.
This is spotify playing monopoly & abusing its power by deleting streams from free users & artists who are not industry plants. Full on stealing money by avoiding to pay royalties to artists, song writers & labels by deleting streams considered them “artificial”. Spotify is… pic.twitter.com/2E3V9lSUgC
— Jimin History (@jiminhistory) March 3, 2025
This situation has sparked a broader discussion about streaming ethics and the role of digital platforms in regulating chart performance. With concerns over fair play in the music industry, the debate over WHO’s streams continues to divide opinions, leaving many awaiting further clarification from Spotify.
Spotify has once again deleted almost 50 MILLION streams from Jimin’s “WHO”.
— 💗 (@lostincrave) March 2, 2025
It’s the song that lost the most amount of fraudulent-detected streams ever (over 110 MILLION).
