Wow, this is really relevant to some experiences I've dealt with, in watching contests that seemingly could only (most easily?) be "won" through dishonest means

Wow, this is really relevant to some experiences I've dealt with, in watching contests that seemingly could only (most easily?) be "won" through dishonest means. I'm specifically thinking about "music contests" where an initial threshold is basically a view-count. Could using dishonest means have down-the line effects on a band or music act? Here's some sample text from the Vince Gill contest being put on by Guitar Center: >ROUND ONE:During the Contest Period, the Contest platform will track each Submission’s popularity using a proprietary ranking algorithm ("online activity"). Online activity tracking will be measured weekly throughout the Contest Period. Each week during the Contest Period, the Contest platform will identify the ten (10) Entrants with the highest online activity during that week (the "Top Ten Weekly" and the "Weekly Ranking" respectively). Each Entrant who’s Submission (i) is in the Top Ten Weekly (in the highest Weekly Ranking) as determined by Administrator and (ii) also meets the Submission Requirements is guaranteed to have at least one (1) Submission be reviewed by the Judging Panel in the Finalist Round. In the event that an Entrant has a Top Ten Weekly ranking in the Weekly Ranking on more than one occasion, the Judging Panel shall also review the next highest ranked Entrant so that there are a total of one hundred (100) Entrants that are guaranteed to have their Backing Track video in their Submission be reviewed by the Judging Panel in the Finalist Round, additional Submission videos, may or may not be reviewed. Any attempt by a Designated Agent or an Entrant and/or his or her family/friends to use fraudulent mechanisms to unfairly affect the outcome, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, shall give Sponsor the right to disqualify the Entrant. Entrants will not be notified if they are being judged in the Finalist Round. I participated in a similar contest earlier using the same platform (Zedd if you're at all curious). There was rampant click fraud being done by numerous contestants, most of it simple click-for-click type stuff, but there were obvious attempts to get way ahead. Considering how frequently I come across "services" that guarantee listens/likes/clicks through different platforms (Twitter, SoundCloud, DatPiff, YouTube, etc) I'm highly skeptical of how well such contests are policed. In returning to the OP article, if dishonest means were the method to winning, and it follows that dishonesty will rise again, I wonder how that plays out in the music environment.