Music Producer Accused of Using AI Songs to Scam Streaming Platforms Out of $10 Million in Royalties
A music producer was arrested Wednesday and charged with multiple felonies for allegedly scamming more than $10 million in royalties using hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs.
Michael Smith, 52, of Cornelius, N.C., is alleged to have created thousands of bot accounts on platforms like Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music. According to the indictment, he used the accounts to automatically stream AI music he had placed on the platforms, generating as many as 661,440 streams per day.
Smith allegedly orchestrated the scheme to get around the platforms’ fraud detection systems. Prosecutors allege that he initially engaged in fraudulent streaming of music that he owned. But the streaming platforms could detect likely fraud if a particular piece of music was streamed a billion times. Related Stories VIP+ High-Resolution 8K Has Its Places, but TV Might Not Be One of Them Rúnar Rúnarsson's Toronto-Bound Icelandic Movie 'When the Light Breaks' Set for Theatrical Distribution Nearly Worldwide (EXCLUSIVE)
He then moved on to generating as much music as possible, according to the indictment. Popular on Variety
