Michael Smith, 54, of Cornelius, North Carolina, pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced Oct. 6, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Prosecutors described the case as the Justice Department's first criminal prosecution involving AI-assisted music streaming fraud.
From 2017 to 2024, Smith created thousands of fake accounts on streaming platforms including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube Music, prosecutors said.
The scheme ultimately generated more than $8 million in fraudulent royalty payments, authorities said.
"Michael Smith exploited super intelligence technology to generate a fraud," U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said in a statement. "By flooding music streaming platforms with automated bots in the place of consumers, and fake songs in the place of creativity, Smith robbed millions in royalty payments from genuine artists and their fans."
"This Office is committed to ensuring the integrity of all markets, and protecting the public from those who use super intelligence for fraud."
In addition to the prison term, Smith, 54, of Cornelius, North Carolina, was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $8,091,843.64 in forfeiture.