LOS ANGELES, July 3 -- Malcolm Todd did not ask anyone to manipulate his chart position. The streams came, surged 70 percent in a single day, pushed his single "Earrings" toward the top of Spotify's daily U.S. chart. Then Spotify took them away.

The streaming platform removed approximately 500,000 plays from "Earrings" this week after determining the surge was artificial, connected to what it identified as a scheme by prediction market bettors on Kalshi who allegedly bought positions on the song's chart performance and then pumped its stream count to make those positions pay off, The Hollywood Reporter reported Thursday. Todd, described by the publication as one of the fastest-rising acts in the industry, was not implicated in the manipu...