A man created thousands of fake accounts to stream AI songs billions of times and pocket $8 million in royalties

A North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to defrauding music streaming platforms. Michael Smith generated hundreds of thousands of AI songs and used bots to play them billions of times, pocketing more than eight million dollars in royalties. To pull it off, he created thousands of fake accounts on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music, carefully spreading streams across enough songs to stay under the radar.

Smith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

The scheme did double damage. Streaming platforms paid out money for plays that never had a real listener, and since royalties come from a shared pool distributed on a pro rata basis, every fake stream meant less money for actual musicians and songwriters. "Smith's brazen scheme is over, as he stands convicted of a federal crime for his AI-assisted fraud," US Attorney Jay Clayton said.