‘A Billion Streams and No Fans’: Inside a $10 Million AI Music Fraud Case

Mike Smith had achieved financial success with his string of medical clinics. But he wanted more. He and collaborator Jonathan Hay released a jazz album together in 2017; it did well on the streaming platforms, until it got flagged for fraud. What Hay didn’t know about his musical partner is that streaming fraud was just the tip of the crime iceberg.

According to the indictment, Smith uploaded the music onto streaming platforms and, with the help of contractors, created thousands of accounts. Using “small pieces of computer code” that he’d bought, Smith was able to “continuously” play the music on those accounts—essentially commanding a custom bot army to play his AI tracks nonstop. Those plays triggered royalty payments. In other words, Smith was—if the allegations are true—cementing his status as a master purveyor of AI slop.