Smith’s scheme, which prosecutors say ran for seven years, involved creating thousands of fake streaming accounts using purchased email addresses. He developed software to play his AI-generated music on repeat from various computers, mimicking individual listeners from different locations. In an industry where success is measured by digital listens, Smith’s fabricated catalog reportedly managed to rack up billions of streams.
AI music wasn’t really the point. It was the huge number of fake accounts and taking actions to avoid getting caught. But in our current age, you need to tie everything back to AI to get people’s attention. And I’ll admit: it worked on me, too.