According to Musicbusinessworldwide.com, Michael Smith, of Cornelius, North Carolina, has pleaded guilty today to one count of alleged conspiracy to commit wire fraud before U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl in the Southern District of New York. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and Smith has also agreed to pay over $8 million in forfeiture. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Koeltl on July 29. US Attorney Jay Clayton said: “Michael Smith generated thousands of fake songs using artificial intelligence and then streamed those fake songs billions of times. Although the songs and listeners were fake, the millions of dollars Smith stole was real. Millions of dollars in royalties that Smith diverted from real, deserving artists and rights holders.”
Smith was first indicted and arrested back in September 2024, which was the first criminal case of its kind in the U.S. At that time, he was charged with three felony counts: alleged wire fraud, alleged wire fraud conspiracy and alleged money laundering conspiracy, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. As MBW reported, Smith initially pleaded not guilty in front of Judge Koeltl in September 2024 and was released on $500,000 bail.
Today’s guilty plea to a single conspiracy count, carrying a maximum of five years rather than the combined 60 years he previously faced, represents a significant reduction in Smith’s legal exposure. According to the charging documents and statements made in court, Smith created thousands of bot accounts on streaming platforms including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music, and used software to cause those accounts to continuously stream songs that he owned.
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