{"id":85600,"date":"2024-10-05T22:03:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-05T22:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/man-accused-of-using-ai-to-create-and-stream-millions-of-songs-in-10m-royalty-scam-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2024-10-05T22:03:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-05T22:03:21","slug":"man-accused-of-using-ai-to-create-and-stream-millions-of-songs-in-10m-royalty-scam-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/man-accused-of-using-ai-to-create-and-stream-millions-of-songs-in-10m-royalty-scam-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Man accused of using AI to create and stream millions of songs in $10M royalty scam | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\">\n<figure class=\"flex items-center text-center\"><figcaption class=\"text-3 font-sans uppercase mr-3 whitespace-no-wrap\"><span class=\"ls-art\">Listen\u00a0to\u00a0article<\/span><\/figcaption><audio class=\"h-5 w-60 sm:w-80 rounded-none\" preload=\"metadata\" controlslist=\"noplaybackrate nodownload\" id=\"tts\" controls=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/attachments\/speech_20240911113653593-ggcyJ.mp3\"\/><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">A North Carolina man, Michael Smith, has been arrested for allegedly orchestrating a massive music streaming fraud scheme using artificial intelligence, which earned him over $10 million in royalties.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Federal authorities in New York announced on Wednesday that Michael Smith, from Cornelius, North Carolina, faces multiple fraud and conspiracy charges that could lead to a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The scheme, which ran from 2017 to 2024, involved him using AI to generate hundreds of thousands of songs, which were then streamed billions of times to collect royalty payments.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">According to the US\u00a0Attorney Damian Williams, his actions deprived legitimate musicians and songwriters of royalties that should have gone to them.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Michael Smith\u2019s fraudulent activities cheated them out of millions, and it\u2019s now time for him to \u201cface the music,\u201d Damian Williams added.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The indictment, filed in New York, accuses him of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Each charge carries a potential 20-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Christie M. Curtis, head of the FBI&#8217;s New York office, emphasised that Smith had exploited automated technology to stream AI-generated music continuously, generating unlawful royalty payments.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">She added that the FBI is committed to stopping those who misuse advanced technology for personal gain at the expense of others&#8217; genuine talent.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>How the Scheme Worked<\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Michael Smith reportedly created thousands of fake accounts, or &#8220;bot accounts,&#8221; on major streaming platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">He used these accounts to stream his AI-generated songs non-stop, with court documents revealing that his system could generate up to 661,000 streams per day.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This resulted in about $1.2 million in annual royalties, all drawn from royalty pools set aside by streaming platforms for artists whose music is streamed.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">To avoid detection by the platforms and music distributors, Michael Smith spread his fraudulent streams across tens of thousands of songs, ensuring no single song attracted undue attention.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In 2018, when a music distribution company suggested that he might be committing fraud, he denied the allegations, calling them \u201cabsolutely wrong and crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Turning to AI for more songs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">As Michael Smith\u2019s fraudulent scheme progressed, he realised he needed more songs to continue flying under the radar.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In December 2018, he emailed two co-conspirators, stating they needed to produce more songs quickly to bypass the anti-fraud measures used by streaming platforms.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">He began collaborating with the CEO of an AI music company and a music promoter, both of whom provided him with hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Each week, the promoter would supply him with thousands of songs, which he would upload to streaming platforms under randomly generated artist names like \u201cCalliope Bloom\u201d and \u201cCalm Force.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The AI-generated tracks lacked artistic value and were created specifically for the purpose of fraudulent streaming, as noted in a 2019 email where the promoter referred to their work as &#8220;instant music.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">He also used fake names and false information to set up accounts on streaming platforms and agreed to abide by terms that prohibited streaming manipulation.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Despite these agreements, he used his bot accounts to ensure his AI-generated songs were streamed billions of times, allowing him to fraudulently claim royalties meant for real artists.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">By February 2023, he boasted in an email that his scheme had generated over four billion streams and earned him $12 million in royalties since 2019.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">However, his actions caught the attention of federal authorities, leading to his arrest on Wednesday. His lawyer has not yet responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Smith will now face trial in federal court for his role in one of the largest AI-aided music streaming frauds ever uncovered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen\u00a0to\u00a0article A North Carolina man, Michael Smith, has been arrested for allegedly orchestrating a massive music streaming fraud scheme using artificial intelligence, which earned him over $10 million in royalties. Federal authorities in New York announced on Wednesday that Michael Smith, from Cornelius, North Carolina, faces multiple fraud and conspiracy charges that could lead to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/Untitled-design-(83)1726054997-0\/Untitled-design-(83)1726054997-0.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}