Michael Smith: AI Music Fraudster Faces Legal Consequences

Michael Smith exploited streaming platforms with AI-generated music, fraudulently earning millions in royalties through bot accounts.

### The Rise and Fall of Michael Smith: A Case of AI Fraud in the Music Industry
* 🎤 Michael Smith, who has been likened to a **"boogeyman"** in the music industry, was recently arrested for a scheme that allowed him to **steal over $10 million in royalties** over seven years.
* 💻 His fraudulent operation involved creating **AI-generated songs** and using **tens of thousands of bot accounts** to stream them, thus **artificially inflating his royalty earnings**.
* 📈 Smith's estimated output was **661,000 streams per day**, which he cleverly spread across **thousands of songs** to avoid detection by streaming platforms.
* 🤖 To execute his plan, he collaborated with a CEO of an AI music company, generating **hundreds of thousands of songs**, including a standout title, **"Calm Baseball."**
* 💰 Despite the apparent theft from legitimate artists, the music industry itself has been accused of similar practices, leading to a **lack of sympathy for the industry as a victim**.
* 🚨 Smith faces serious charges including wire fraud and money laundering, with potential prison sentences totaling **20 years per count**, as authorities aim to **deter copycat schemes**.
* 🕵 The FBI has emphasized their commitment to **rooting out those who exploit technology for illicit gains**, particularly in a music industry already **plagued by corruption**.
* 🔍 As the story unfolds, it is likely that more individuals may attempt similar schemes, posing a **significant challenge for an industry that may struggle to combat this growing trend**.

do you know this man? He may look like a default character in a Warhammer 40K Space Marine game, but he's very real and has become a very real boogeyman to the music industry. He was recently arrested on a series of charges, and they're basically treating this guy like Cobra Commander for what he's done. He stole directly from music distributors, and the way that he was able to do this, make off with upwards of $10 million in royalties over the course of 7 years, is through a really interesting scheme that I imagine a lot of others are doing behind the scenes, and it's something the music industry themselves also does in broad daylight, but he got slapped hard for it. So what he did is he created a lot of AI songs and flooded streaming platforms with them, and then had tens of thousands of bot accounts perpetually streaming those songs that he owned, and he would collect royalties from all of those botted stream numbers. His name is Michael Smith; even his name sounds AI-generated. But you want to know

what AI could never generate goof juice. It's the best flavor ever made. It's actually perfection, and AI can't do that. Also, Gamer Subs right now is having a big special where you can get free shipping to anywhere in the world using code moist. So pick up some goof juice, best flavor ever, Gamer Subs. g/m moist, and he's getting his ass spread open here by the FBI now. So the FBI assistant director said the defendant's alleged scheme played upon the integrity of the music industry by a concerted attempt to circumvent the streaming platform's policy. I love how they just unironically said the integrity of the music industry. What integrity? What kind of [__] laughable joke is that? No such thing. And like I mentioned at the beginning, the music industry is guilty of botting numbers as well, but that's different. It's totally epic when the music industry does it for themselves. That's just swag style business, baby. The FBI remains dedicated to plucking out those who manipulate advanced technologies to

receive illicit profits and infringe on the genuine artistic talents of others as alleged. Michael Smith fraudulently streams songs created with artificial intelligence billions of times in order to steal royalties through his brazen fraud scheme. Smith stole millions in royalties that should have been paid to musicians, songwriters, and other rights holders whose songs were legitimately streamed. Today, thanks to the work of the FBI and the career prosecutors of his office, it's time for Smith to face the music. You know that guy that said that had the biggest [__] smirk on his face? That was his mic drop moment where he put the sunglasses on. I also couldn't help but actually scoff when they said with a straight face that he took money away from the artist that would have been paid through these streaming platforms. Brother, look around. The musicians make the littlest piece of that pie. The actual entities that make the lion's share of the money through streaming platforms for music are distributors, publishers, and labels. The actual creative, the artist behind the

work. They get the tiniest cut of that cake. They get a Ural cake more than anything. They just get served little dog shits on a plate. They don't see most of that money in the first place. As someone who uses Spotify for our music project, the Gentlemen, I can tell you firsthand the Spotify royalties for the artist. Two thumbs way down that boo boo big boo throw tomatoes. The main people hurt by his scheme were the AI-generated zombies that run the music industry. The music industry was the one that was directly affected the most. I do think there is an argument in a strong case to be made that because he was pumping so many streams to his songs, he was taking some of that marketing, like advertisement money, away from other artists because those ads were instead getting played on his streams that weren't real. So, I do think he did end up taking some money away from some of the other artists on the platform, but the main people that were affected was just the music industry directly. He's not like a hero.

or anything, but it's hard to feel sympathy for the victim here because of how corrupt the music industry is. Now, the way he did this, I think, is pretty interesting, and it's something that I think a lot of other people are doing to a lesser scale than Smith was. So, to carry out the scheme, he created thousands of bot accounts on music streaming platforms: Amazon, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and then used software to make the accounts constantly stream the songs he owned. Smith estimated that he could generate 661,000 streams per day, which would get him 1.2 million a year. But he wanted to avoid streaming it all to a single song because he recognized that that would be pretty suspicious and would probably get the kabash put on his operation pretty quick. They'd find it. So, he then identified the need for thousands of songs that he could pump these fraudulent streams into because it would keep the number low enough because he'd be spreading the 660,000 streams a day across thousands of songs, so it wouldn't really be setting off anyone's

alarm bells. But if all of it filtered into just one or two songs, you know you got Now That's What I Call Butthole 28. You know, getting 660,000 streams per day, someone's going to notice and start to piece together that, uh, something's a little fishy here. So that's when he turned to some co-conspirators about needing to get a ton of songs fast, and there's nothing faster than AI. What I find really surprising, though, is that this is in 2018, so this is very primitive AI. And he contacted a chief executive officer of an AI music company, and together they generated hundreds of thousands of songs for this. The names that the AI spit out were pretty trash, except for one: Calm Baseball. That name bangs. That right there, I could see that name in lights. Calm Baseball now performing at Madison Square Garden. Like, like someone's got to take that. It's too good to just let wither and die, to fade away. But that's the strategy in

a nutshell. So, he created tons of fake artists, tons of fake music, and tons of fake streams, and collected a lot in royalties from it. Now, I think there are a ton of people doing this. I think there are a lot of people that aren't flying as close to the Sun as Michael Smith did with over $10 million that they're raking in. Michael Smith was going fast and loose here, going hog wild with the amount of money he was making from this. But I think there are a large number of people that are doing this exact thing with smaller numbers, because Michael Smith would have never been caught if he didn't make so much from it. And I'm sure every single one of you watching this, if you use Spotify, you've stumbled across one of these AI cesspools, like this [ __ ] latrine of AI-generated music, and some of it's got hundreds and thousands of listens to it. I think those accounts are doing exactly what Michael Smith did, but instead of making off like Scrooge McDuck with 1.2

million a year. They're probably doing something smaller, like $100 or $200,000 a year, through this same technique in order to stay invisible to the upper echelon of the music industry. That's my guess, and if I'm wrong about that, I don't think I will be for long because now that this story has blown up, I think there are going to be tons of copycats that are going to do this exact same thing. Bots have become so prevalent. I know this gets tossed around all the time with like dead internet theory and all of that, but unironically, the data has shown more often than not, the people you interact with aren't people at all. They're not blood, flesh, cringe, and come. They are bots, and a lot of the things and content you consume doesn't even come from humans either. It comes from bots. So, it's one of those things where if it's not already happening in a big way on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, all that, it's going to very soon now in

the case of Michael Smith. He's being charged with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy, and could face a maximum of 20 years in prison per count. And I've got a hunch that the music industry is going to do everything in their power to make an example out of Michael Smith to try and scare people away from emulating what he's done. I think they're going to throw the book at him to make it a deterrent from copycats because if more and more people start doing what Michael Smith was, the music industry is going to be in some deep doo-doo. It's a very hard thing for them to combat against. Like, look at how long Michael Smith got away with it. And again, the only reason he got caught is just because of how much money he was pulling in. But if people stay at lower amounts that they're making from it, I don't think they have the ability to find all of them. I so I think they're very scared of this becoming a bigger

problem for them, and I think they're going to do everything in their power to [ __ ] Michael Smith. But anyway, I just wanted to talk about this a little bit. That's it. See y

Music Industry is in Big Trouble

penguinz0

Michael Smith, resembling a Warhammer 40K character, has become a notorious figure in the music industry after allegedly stealing $10 million in royalties over 7 years through a scheme involving AI-generated songs and bot accounts.

His arrest has drawn attention to the music industry's own questionable practices, raising questions about its integrity.

The FBI is now targeting individuals who manipulate advanced technologies for similar fraudulent activities.

Michael Smith's Fraudulent Music Streaming Scheme

Michael Smith is accused of fraudulently streaming AI-generated songs billions of times to steal royalties from legitimate musicians and rights holders.

His scheme has allegedly caused significant financial harm to the music industry, diverting marketing and advertisement money from other artists.

Despite the controversy, Smith's actions have primarily impacted the music industry's distributors, publishers, and labels, rather than the artists themselves.

Corrupt Music Industry Scheme: Fraudulent Streaming

A music industry insider, Smith, created thousands of bot accounts on streaming platforms to generate fraudulent song streams, aiming for 1.

He spread the 661,000 daily streams across thousands of songs to avoid raising suspicion.

Smith partnered with an AI music company to generate hundreds of thousands of songs quickly, with the standout name "Calm Baseball" gaining attention.

Michael Smith made over $10 million by creating fake artists, music, and streams, a tactic he believes is now common among others.

Many accounts with AI-generated music are likely using the same technique to make smaller amounts, avoiding detection.

The prevalence of bots in online interactions suggests that the trend of fake music artists will continue to grow on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.

Michael Smith's Legal Troubles in the Music Industry

Michael Smith is facing multiple charges, including wire fraud and money laundering, with a potential 20-year prison sentence for each count.

The music industry is likely to make an example of him to deter others from similar actions.

Smith's success in his illegal activities and the difficulty of tracking down others may contribute to the industry's fear of a growing problem.