From Music Business Worldwide · · 3m
Michael Smith sentenced to 18 months for AI streaming fraud
Michael Smith gets 18 months in prison after AI song and bot streaming fraud stole $8 million from artists.
In brief
Michael Smith gets 18 months in prison after AI song and bot streaming fraud stole $8 million from artists. Michael Smith was sentenced to 18 months in prison for a streaming fraud scheme that stole over $8 million in royalties from artists. Originally reported by Music Business Worldwide.
Smith sentenced to 18 months
Michael Smith received an 18-month prison sentence for a streaming fraud scheme that prosecutors say generated over eight million dollars in royalties.
Smith pleaded guilty in March
Smith, 54, of Cornelius, North Carolina, pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
IFPI statement on fraud
Global recorded music trade body IFPI said the sentence sends a clear message that streaming fraud is a crime with serious consequences.
Fraud scheme details
Between 2017 and 2024 Smith used thousands of fake accounts on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music to stream hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs billions of times.
Taylor Swift example
Taylor Swift 's entire catalog received 9.3 million family-plan streams on YouTube Music in April 2023, while Smith 's bot accounts used family plans to stream his AI-generated music 80.9 million times in the same month.
Forfeiture order
Judge Koeltl ordered Smith to forfeit eight million ninety-one thousand eight hundred forty-three dollars and sixty-four cents, the loss figure agreed by both sides.
Prosecutors sought 46 months
Prosecutors had asked for at least 46 months, the low end of the 46 -to- 57 -month range set by federal sentencing guidelines.
US Probation Office recommended 24 months
The US Probation Office had recommended 24 months for Smith's sentence.
First criminal prosecution
Prosecutors and the defense have both described the case as the first criminal prosecution of its kind in the US .
MFFA letter to court
The Music Fights Fraud Alliance ( MFFA ) argued that the sentence will serve as the first real signal to the public regarding the legal consequences of streaming fraud.
US Attorney's statement
US Attorney Jamie McDonald said Smith exploited super intelligence technology to generate fraud by flooding platforms with automated bots and fake songs.
Smith's lawyer claim
Smith has argued that a music industry lawyer told him his conduct would lead to civil penalties at worst.
Prosecutors' counterclaim
Prosecutors cast doubt on that claim, saying they believe the lawyer emailed The Mechanical Licensing Collective in March 2023 insisting none of Smith's works were computer-generated.
Smith's defense letter
Smith's lawyers claim the government does not dispute that streaming manipulation has been rampant across industry and no recording artist suffered appreciable loss.
The short version
Michael Smith was sentenced to 18 months in prison for a streaming fraud scheme that stole over $8 million in royalties from artists.
