From Billboard · Bill Donahue · · 1m 20s
AI Music Scammer Asks for No Prison Time
Streaming fraudster Michael Smith wants probation for $8M scam, claiming no artist suffered real harm.
In brief
Streaming fraudster Michael Smith wants probation for $8M scam, claiming no artist suffered real harm. Michael Smith, who stole $8 million via AI-generated music streams, argues his crime caused negligible harm to individual artists. Originally reported by Billboard.
Smith Pled Guilty to Streaming Fraud
Michael Smith, 54, admitted to using ai music to steal millions in royalties through bots streaming billions of times.
“the effect each individual stream of one artist’s song has on every other artist’s share of total streams is not akin to a drop in a proverbial bucket, it is a drop in an ocean”
Federal Officials Recommend 2 Years in Prison
U.s. attorneys recommended two years for smith’s wire fraud conspiracy over ai-generated song streams.
“no individual artist or songwriter suffered any perceptible harm from mr. smith’s conduct”
Smith’s Lawyers Argue for Probation
Smith’s lawyers claim his crime caused only tiny, immeasurable losses across millions of songwriters.
“he did not set out to commit a crime; he thought he found a way to game a corrupt system”
AI Music Fraud Systemic Problem
Smith’s lawyers say streaming fraud is a systemic issue in the digital royalty system, not just his actions.
“streaming fraud is … a systemic problem rooted in the structure of the digital royalty system itself”
Smith’s Background and Arrest
Smith was arrested in 2024 for using bots to stream ai songs on spotify, amazon music, apple music, and youtube music since 2017.
“he knew that he was cheating the system”
Boomy AI Firm Involved
Alex Mitchell, founder of boomy ai, was listed as a co-writer on hundreds of songs registered to smith but has not been charged.
“he consistently represented himself as legitimate”
Smith Agrees to Forfeit $8M
Smith forfeited over $8 million in streaming fraud proceeds after pledging to share proceeds with an ai music company.
“although the songs and listeners were fake, the millions of dollars smith stole was real”
In short
Michael Smith, who stole $8 million via AI-generated music streams, argues his crime caused negligible harm to individual artists.
