AI Music Fraud Indictment Brings Scrutiny to Streaming Inflation

A first-of-its-kind federal indictment accusing a man of making over $10 million by falsely boosting streaming numbers for AI-generated music demonstrates another threat to artists and a need for fraud-prevention vigilance by platforms.

Michael Smith used bots to keep “listening” to scores of musical tracks created using generative artificial intelligence on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music, according to the Justice Department. The scheme, according to the DOJ, gamed a huge piece of the music industry’s revenue model: ringing up royalty payments by the number of streams.

Royalty-chasing by inflating streaming numbers isn’t new, but the use of AI ...