The $10 Million AI Music Heist: How One Man Gamed Spotify and Got Caught

This episode unpacks the jaw-dropping case of Michael Smith, a musician who leveraged AI to generate over $10 million in fraudulent royalties from platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. We explore the story of how a sophisticated, automated system of music creation led to a federal indictment for wire fraud and money laundering. We dissect Smith's entire operation, from the technical side of generating hundreds of thousands of songs to the financial mechanics of earning over $3,300 per day from half-a-cent streams. This is a crucial case study for anyone in the music industry, revealing both the immense scalability of AI and the severe consequences of crossing legal and ethical lines. **Key Takeaways:** - How can a single person upload hundreds of thousands of songs to Spotify? - Why was earning $10 million from streams considered wire fraud? - What red flags do streaming platforms look for to detect royalty fraud? - How does a payout of half a cent per stream turn into a multi-million dollar operation? - What are the ethical lines when creating music with AI under fake artist names? - Could this type of scheme still be pulled off today? - What does this case mean for legitimate independent artists who are using AI? - How was the fraud ultimately discovered? Follow my YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@chenran818 or listen to my music on Apple Music, Spotify or other platforms: https://ffm.bio/chenran818 or interest in how much money I made from AI music? checkout this report: http://ranchen.org/music-earnings.html