Manhattan federal prosecutors are urging a judge to sentence Michael Smith to at least 46 months in federal prison for operating a streaming fraud scheme that generated more than $8 million in unearned royalties over six years.
Smith created thousands of fake songs using artificial intelligence and deployed bot accounts to stream the tracks billions of times across Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music. In April 2023, his catalog generated 80.9 million streams from YouTube Music family-plan subscribers—exceeding Taylor Swift’s entire catalog, which drew 9.3 million streams in the same period, according to prosecutors.
Smith pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and agreed to forfeit $8,091,843.64. His sentencing is scheduled for October 6 in Manhattan federal court. Prosecutors argue a substantial sentence is necessary to deter similar white-collar crimes. “Imposing a substantial term of incarceration will send a clear message that defrauding social services programs…will result in significant punishment,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas W. Chiuchiolo and Kevin B. Mead wrote in a court filing.
Smith’s defense team is requesting probation only, while federal probation officials are recommending 24 months in prison. Smith’s lawyers argued he did not initially intend to commit a federal crime and consulted with a music attorney before the scheme escalated.
Prosecutors disputed this characterization, stating that Smith’s “own words and conduct reveal that he knew from the very beginning that his scheme was a form of fraud.” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in March: “Although the songs and listeners were fake, the millions of dollars Smith stole was real.”
Source: Rolling Stone
