Complaint Review: Artist Signal - Nationwide

ArtistSignal is a platform for emerging artists & bands to showcase their talent and let the world decide on their #1 choice. The top artist each month receives $10,000 to jumpstart their career. This is the answer to the first question on their FAQs page "What is ArtistSignal?". However, if there is one thing AS is NOT about, it is the artists participating, their music and their talent. Also, the prize has often gone to thoroughly established artists who have been on renowned stages across the US and Europe, which means they needed no jumpstart for their careers. Another question on their FAQs: "How do you prevent voting fraud?". Their answer is "We protect artists from voting fraud in many ways. All voter accounts on ArtistSignal are verified through Facebook and thus are required to have a minimum number of social connections and other data that can only be verified through the social services API." Literally hundreds of fake Facebook accounts have been reported and little has been done about them. This is found In the "Community Guidelines": "As an artist or voter, getting your friends, fans, and family to vote is great and in fact, we encourage it. Don't invade others profiles and SPAM their fans or their comment boxes. Spamming makes you and other users look bad, and it could get your account permanently suspended. So, don’t do it. What's spam? Commenting on other artists profiles asking for votes just because you voted for them. Promoting an artist on other artist's profile. If you think it might be spam, it probably is." When my daughter's band joined the site 23 months ago, each artist would vote for others and leave his link on their pages. Now most artists leave their own links AND carry many other artists' links. Again, while many have been reported for spamming, nothing has ever been done. "Terms and Conditions: REQUIREMENTS. Artist must be able to demonstrate with legitimate verifiable facts to the satisfaction of ArtistSignal that artist is indeed an emerging artist trying to be discovered." Month after month, artists signed with record labels who have toured countries and even continents win this competition "for emerging artists trying to be discovered". About "DISQUALIFICATION: ...No monetary incentive or otherwise may be offered by artists to voters in return for their votes. ArtistSignal is using many automated metrics including but not limited to artist’s IP address, general location, e-mail address, frequency of daily votes per account holder based on normal voting patterns the average person would be logically able to produce, and account information, all to prevent fraudulent and abusive voting or the appearance of such. ArtistSignal stores and tracks all voting and determines unusual patterns which are immediately reviewed by the engineering team but not necessarily made immediately public to the artist or account holder allowing ArtistSignal to disqualify anyone at any time." With regard to incentives, this month many artists have been offered 15 votes per vote cast for one of the bands leading the competition. And with respect to "abusive voting" and "normal voting patterns the average person would be logically able to produce" ArtistSignal have done nothing about the thousands of reports sent to them on artists using robots to vote 24 hours a day. In short, ArtistSignal fail to respect their own rules, encourage cheating and support established artists. Plus support requests only receive automated replies assuring "We have received your request and we'll respond to you quickly!" but that never happens.