Prosecutors want at least 46 months for the AI music streaming scam.
The headline holds. The AI made the songs; bots made the plays.
Prosecutors want nearly 4 years for the man behind an $8M AI music streaming scam.
Before you read on. Your call?
VERIFIED
46
MBW reports prosecutors want at least 46 months for Michael Smith, the bottom of a 46 to 57 month range both sides accept, and forfeiture of $8,091,843.64, the agreed loss.
The twist
Per MBW, Smith turned to AI to supply songs so his artificial streams could be spread thin; the US Probation Office recommended 24 months.
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Receipts
- Supports musicbusinessworldwide.com:
US federal prosecutors are asking a judge to send Michael Smith to prison for at least 46 months.
- Supports musicbusinessworldwide.com:
Prosecutors are also asking the court to order Smith to forfeit USD $8,091,843.64 – the loss figure both sides agreed on
- Context musicbusinessworldwide.com:
Both sides agree that federal sentencing guidelines, the framework judges use as a starting point, put his range at 46 to 57 months.
- Context musicbusinessworldwide.com:
The US Probation Office has recommended 24 months, according to the filing.
- Context musicbusinessworldwide.com:
To avoid detection, Smith spread his artificial streams thinly across hundreds of thousands of songs and turned to AI to supply them.
- Context musicbusinessworldwide.com:
with prosecutors alleging at the time that he had taken more than USD $10 million.
- Context musicbusinessworldwide.com:
Spotify already prohibited artificially increasing play counts using scripts or automated processes back in 2017, when the scheme began.
- Refutes musicbusinessworldwide.com:
“No individual artist or songwriter suffered any perceptible harm from Mr. Smith’s conduct.”
- Supports decrypt.co:
“Michael Smith generated thousands of fake songs using artificial intelligence and then streamed those fake songs billions of times,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said
- Context complex.com:
an $8 million scheme powered in part by artificial intelligence .
- Context electronicgroove.com:
Between 2017 and 2024, the operation allegedly produced up to 661,000 streams per day, generating more than $10 million in royalties.
Open the Receipts Pack → What each source proves, every figure traced, and what would change our verdict.
