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Michael Smith sentenced to prison for AI-driven music streaming fraud
Michael Smith, a 54-year-old North Carolina resident, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for a massive music streaming fraud scheme. This marks the first federal criminal case in the United States involving streaming fraud assisted by artificial intelligence.
Between 2017 and 2024, Smith utilized AI to generate hundreds of thousands of songs, which he then uploaded to platforms including Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. To inflate royalty payments, he deployed an army of up to 10,000 automated bot accounts to stream the tracks continuously. To avoid detection by platform security, he distributed the streams across a vast catalog of tracks under fictitious artist names.
The scale of the operation was significant; in April 2023 alone, Smith's fraudulent accounts generated 80.9 million streams on YouTube Music, vastly exceeding the monthly streams of major artists like Taylor Swift. As part of his sentence, Smith must forfeit approximately 8 million dollars in illicitly obtained royalties and will serve two years of supervised release following his prison term.
Entities
Apple Music · Department of Justice · FBI · Jamie McDonald · John G. Koeltl · Manhattan federal court · Michael Smith · Recording Industry Association of America · Spotify · U.S. Department of Justice · YouTube Music
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 6 SOURCES] The scheme operated from 2017 to 2024. pitchfork.com · montecristinoticias.com · www.tgmusic.it · yonkerstimes.com · www.world-today-news.com
- [● 10 SOURCES] The scheme generated over $8 million in fraudulent royalties. pitchfork.com · montecristinoticias.com · www.tgmusic.it · amass.jp · yonkerstimes.com · +4 more
- [● 8 SOURCES] Smith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. pitchfork.com · www.tgmusic.it · amass.jp · yonkerstimes.com · musically.com · +2 more
- [● 20 SOURCES] Michael Smith was sentenced to 18 months in prison. www.hwupgrade.it · www.leiaja.com · nahoradanoticia.com.br · balkanrock.com · www.visions.de · +14 more
- [● 6 SOURCES] In April 2023, Smith's accounts generated 80.9 million streams on YouTube Music. montecristinoticias.com · www.tgmusic.it · www.world-today-news.com · www.hardware.com.br · www.visions.de
- [● 5 SOURCES] The fraud involved hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs. montecristinoticias.com · www.tgmusic.it · amass.jp · musically.com · www.world-today-news.com
- [● 11 SOURCES] The sentence includes two years of supervised release. pitchfork.com · www.tgmusic.it · amass.jp · rollingstoneindia.com · www.world-today-news.com · +5 more
- [● 6 SOURCES] Smith used up to 10,000 bot accounts to stream music. montecristinoticias.com · www.tgmusic.it · amass.jp · musically.com · www.world-today-news.com
- [● 7 SOURCES] The scheme targeted platforms including Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. www.hwupgrade.it · www.leiaja.com · www.bild.de · montecristinoticias.com · deultimominuto.com · +2 more
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Michael Smith misused AI technologies to commit fraud against streaming platforms. www.visions.de
- [● 2 SOURCES] Smith was sentenced to two years of supervised release following his prison term. www.hwupgrade.it · balkanrock.com
- [● 6 SOURCES] The fraud involved using up to 10,000 automated bot accounts to stream AI-generated music. nahoradanoticia.com.br · www.bild.de · montecristinoticias.com · deultimominuto.com · www.hardware.com.br · +1 more