AI Music Fraudster Wants No Prison for $8M Scam: ‘No Victim Suffered Any Real Harm’
Michael Smith argues his streaming fraud scheme — using bots to play AI songs billions of times — caused only “tiny, immeasurable losses” for any single artist.
Michael Smith, 54, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in March over allegations he generated thousands of AI songs and used bots to stream them billions of times. This is the first criminal case over a problem that has plagued the music industry for years. U.S. prosecutors recommended two years in prison, but Smith's attorneys argue he should receive probation, stating the harm to any single artist was "insignificant" and that "big labels" were doing the same thing.
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