A U.S. musician has been accused of using AI technologies and bots to fraudulently boost his music streams, pocketing millions of dollars in royalties.
Michael Smith, a 52-year-old from North Carolina, has been charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and money laundering. Authorities claim this case marks one of the first instances where AI has been employed on such a large scale to manipulate streaming platforms.
Prosecutors allege that Smith made millions of dollars in royalties that rightfully belonged to real artists, songwriters, and rights holders. The indictment reveals that Smith distributed hundreds of thousands of AI-generated tracks on multiple streaming services. He reportedly used automated bots to stream these tracks—sometimes as many as 10,000 times at once—to avoid detection and inflate his streaming numbers. Over the course of several years, Smith allegedly amassed more than $10 million in illegal royalties.
The FBI was instrumental in the investigation, with acting assistant director Christie M. Curtis underscoring the agency’s commitment to holding accountable those who misuse technology to exploit others financially. Authorities say Smith’s scheme undermined the efforts of genuine artists in the music industry.
According to the indictment, Smith began collaborating with the CEO of an undisclosed AI music company around 2018. The CEO allegedly supplied Smith with thousands of AI-generated tracks each month. In return, Smith provided metadata, such as song titles and artist names, and agreed to share a portion of the streaming profits.
In a 2019 email, the unnamed executive referred to their project as creating “instant music,” highlighting the deliberate nature of the operation. As the technology improved, it became increasingly difficult for streaming platforms to detect fraudulent activity. By February 2023, Smith was reportedly boasting that his AI-generated tracks had racked up over 4 billion streams and earned $12 million in royalties.
If convicted, Smith faces severe penalties, including significant prison time.
This case is not an isolated incident. Earlier this year, a man in Denmark was sentenced to 18 months in prison for a similar scheme involving artificial streams. Major music streaming services, such as Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, explicitly prohibit the use of bots and artificial streams to manipulate royalties. These platforms have introduced policies to combat such practices, including charging labels or distributors for fraudulent streams and enforcing strict criteria for tracks to be eligible for royalties.
Despite these efforts, the growing presence of AI-generated music continues to stir concern in the music industry. Artists and record labels fear they could lose both revenue and recognition as AI tools capable of producing music proliferate. These AI systems sometimes use content that musicians have posted online, raising issues around copyright infringement.
Tensions escalated in 2023 when a viral track that mimicked the voices of popular artists Drake and The Weeknd was pulled from streaming platforms. Earlier this year, a group of prominent musicians, including Billie Eilish, Elvis Costello, and Aerosmith, signed an open letter calling on the music industry to address the “predatory” use of AI in content creation.