⏱ 2 min read
NEW YORK, NY – Michael Smith, a resident of North Carolina, just admitted in federal court to running a massive royalty scam using artificial intelligence and automated “bots.” Smith flooded music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music with hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs, then used software to artificially inflate the stream counts into the billions.
The scheme wasn’t about making music; it was about pocketing the royalties meant for real artists. Instead of legitimate listeners, Smith’s operation used fake accounts to trigger payouts, diverting funds from musicians and songwriters who actually earned them.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton didn’t mince words, calling Smith’s actions “brazen” and highlighting the real-world cost: “Millions of dollars Smith stole was real…millions of dollars in royalties that Smith diverted from real, deserving artists.”
Court documents detail how Smith created a network of “Bot Accounts” across multiple platforms and then unleashed his software to mimic genuine streaming activity. The exact amount of money stolen is still being tallied, but sources close to the investigation suggest it’s substantial. Smith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud before U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl. Sentencing is pending.
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