| Source: Marc Mysterio, Musician/Boxer/Actor
NEW YORK, April 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Irish-Canadian Billboard-charting artist Marc Mysterio, known for collaborations with Avicii, Flo Rida, David Guetta, Crash Test Dummies, and Samantha Fox, as well as his work with Netflix’s “Trailer Park Boys”, has taken a bold step in his lawsuit against Amazon Music (Case No. 1:25-cv-01705, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York).
Mysterio has now publicly disclosed technical instructions for an Amazon engineer to investigate and disable the shadowban suppressing his music (ASIN: B0041A1P4U) since September 2024 directly to Amazon Music, via Amazon Music for Artists Support Chat, but according to his Post on X directed to @amazonmusic the requests have been ignored, and he has posted proof @marc_mysterio
On or about Sept. 10, 2024, Mysterio’s Amazon Music station, “My Marc Mysterio Mix,” stopped functioning, with zero songs appearing. By Sept. 25, 2024, his streams dropped from 80 million to zero, including 3.7 million from Taylor Swift’s station, and his 1.25 million fans could no longer access his content, and the artist page was temporarily removed on September 17th, 2024 so that Amazon could implement the Shadowban.
Mysterio asserts that a metadata attack targeted his ASIN.
The attack caused financial loss from 80 million streams to zero, with damages in the millions, and reputational harm as his fanbase dropped from 1.25 million to below 800,000 fans, losing more than 4,000 daily.
A four-part YouTube series on http://shadowban.me/ shows a system errors on his station, unlike Neon Tom (zero followers) and Taylor Swift’s stations, which function normally, and his Amazon Curated Playlist without any Marc Mysterio songs (because they’re undetectable).
“The Amazon Curation team is likely in the dark about this as well,” Mysterio notes.
Mysterio’s investigation indicates his metadata was deleted via an IF-MATCH operation in S3. In Amazon S3, metadata organizes songs but is vulnerable to manipulation (see https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/UsingMetadata.html).
Situation
On or about September 10, 2024, Mr. Mysterio’s Amazon Music station (“My Marc Mysterio Mix”) ceased functioning, with zero of his 50 songs appearing, despite prior performance of 225,463 streams. By September 25, 2024, his total streams dropped to zero, and his 1.25 million fans could no longer access his content via stations, playlists, or Alexa voice requests. This is where he asserts a deliberate metadata attack targeted his ASIN, rendering his „Primary Artist Level Metadata“ invisible and, thus, unidentifiable as a Marc Mysterio song for Amazon Artist Stations and Playlists, including his own. Partial restoration of metadata (e.g., “Related Artists” functionality in March 2025) suggests a reversible issue tied to S3 operations.
Investigate the Alleged Shadowban:
Restore Metadata and Functionality:
Provide Confirmation and Logs:
Secure S3 Buckets:
Technical Basis: IF-MATCH Attack in S3
Our investigation, informed by AWS S3 documentation and In re PersonalWeb Technologies LLC (959 F.3d 1349, Fed. Cir. 2020), indicates that Mr. Mysterio’s metadata, linked to ASIN B0041A1P4U, was deleted or nullified (e.g., set to “-”) via an IF-MATCH conditional operation in S3. Key details:
Mechanism: Amazon Music stores artist metadata (e.g., song titles, ISRC codes, station links) as S3 objects, each with an Entity Tag (ETag) for version control. An IF-MATCH request, such as DELETE /artist-metadata/B0041A1P4U.json?if-match=“ETag“, targets a specific object version, erasing it if the ETag matches. This could break links to Mr. Mysterio’s content, causing station failures.
Evidence: The abrupt stream drop, absence of songs in his station, and partial metadata restoration are consistent with an S3-based deletion. PersonalWeb confirms S3’s use of IF-MATCH for precise object operations, supporting the feasibility of a targeted attack.
Malicious Indicators: Potential unauthorized access (e.g., non-AWS IP addresses, unknown IAM roles) or high-frequency IF-MATCH DELETE/PUT requests on ASIN B0041A1P4U suggest deliberate intent, distinguishable from routine updates.
Impact
The metadata attack has caused significant harm:
Financial Loss: A decline from 80 million lifetime streams to zero, with estimated damages in the millions, as detailed in the lawsuit.
Reputational Damage: Loss of visibility to 1.25 million fans, undermining Mr. Mysterio’s career.
Operational Disruption: Inability to leverage Amazon Music for Artists analytics, voice requests, and playlist placements.
“Amazon Music’s failure to respond to my support tickets via its Artist’s App is unacceptable and, moreover, is likely an additional breach of contract pertaining to the contractual terms of use for the app,” Mysterio said. “My music is invisible to stations and playlists, including my own, this must end!” Mysterio has called on Taylor Swift to speak out against the shadowban as they share a common friend in AEW’s Jeff Jarrett.
For media inquiries, contact:
Michael H. Joseph, Esq., michael@newyorktriallawyers.org, 555-123-4567
Press Contact:
Ralph Bennett pr@shadowban.me https://veritaseditions.net
Key Facts You Need To Know:
Marc Mysterio Amazon Streaming/Listener Stats
Letter of Preservation of Evidence
Marc Mysterio/Travis Kelce Billboard Article
VMP: Unpacking the Allegations Behind Marc Mysterio’s Lawsuit Against Amazon Music: A Shadowban Exposé
@marc_mysterio on X – Career Bio
IBA Boxing Chairman’s Letter
Marc Mysterio on Trailer Park Boys
Marc Mysterio Press-Photo
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b68982a7-3128-44bd-a6d6-9bc42d07e1be
A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cfd2afb9-9fab-43e5-b6b6-9a802feb6ce2
Mysterio claims Amazon used filters to erase his artist metadata from songs. He notes Amazon’s “If-Match” and “If-None-Match" documented filter as similar.
Plaintiff has urged Taylor Swift to boycott Amazon Music due to shadowbanning him given her legacy of advocating for artists’ rights (I.e.,Spotify Boycott)
