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Michael Smith sentenced to 18 months for $8M AI-music streaming fraud

Judge John Koeltl sentenced Michael Smith, 54, of North Carolina, to 18 months in prison and two years of supervised release on Oct. 6. He pleaded guilty in March to wire fraud conspiracy over AI-generated songs streamed by bots. He must forfeit $8,091,843.64. Prosecutors had sought at least 46 months.

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Music Business Worldwidemusicbusinessworldwide.com/man-behind-8m-ai-song-and-bot-streaming-fraud-is-sentenced-to-18-months-in-prison/

Coverage · 21 articles, oldest first

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

  1. Billboard

    A US federal court sentences Michael Smith, who pleaded guilty to using bots to stream AI-generated songs, making $8M+ in royalties, to 18 months in prison

  2. US Department of Justice

    justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/north-carolina-man-sentenced-18-months-prison-super-intelligence-assisted-music

  3. BleepingComputer

    bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/musician-gets-18-months-in-prison-for-10-million-streaming-fraud-using-ai-bots/

  4. The New York Times

    nytimes.com/2026/10/07/business/dealbook/stocks-record-energy-ai.html

  5. Music Ally

    musically.com/2026/10/07/music-streaming-fraudster-michael-smith-gets-18-month-jail-sentence/

  6. Forbes

    forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/10/07/north-carolina-man-gets-18-month-prison-sentence-for-8-million-ai-music-streaming-fraud/

  7. Gizmodo

    gizmodo.com/guy-who-made-millions-by-creating-ai-music-ouroboros-receives-18-month-prison-sentence-2000822638

  8. Music Business Worldwide

    musicbusinessworldwide.com/man-behind-8m-ai-song-and-bot-streaming-fraud-is-sentenced-to-18-months-in-prison/

  9. Metro.co.uk

    metro.co.uk/2026/10/07/man-jailed-8-000-000-scam-first-kind-case-29686960/

  10. Unite.AI

    unite.ai/michael-smith-receives-18-month-sentence-for-ai-music-streaming-fraud/

  11. The Daily Hodl

    dailyhodl.com/2026/10/07/north-carolina-man-sentenced-to-18-months-for-super-intelligence-assisted-music-streaming-fraud/

  12. Stereogum

    stereogum.com/2513827/botter-sentenced-to-prison-in-first-criminal-streaming-fraud-case-will-return-8m-in-slop-royalties/news/

  13. Digital Music News

    digitalmusicnews.com/2026/10/06/michael-smith-streaming-fraud-sentence/

  14. Inner City Press

    innercitypress.com/sdny275koeltlstreamingfraudsmithicp100626.html

  15. HotHardware

    hothardware.com/news/ai-music-fraudster-forced-to-face-the-music-with-18-month-sentence

  16. Music Business Worldwide

    musicbusinessworldwide.com/music-streaming-fraud-inquiry-launched-by-us-copyright-office/

  17. Dexerto

    dexerto.com/entertainment/man-sentenced-to-prison-after-pocketing-8-million-from-ai-songs-streamed-by-bots-3416335/

  18. CMU

    completemusicupdate.com/music-industry-welcomes-eighteen-month-prison-sentence-for-streaming-fraudster/

  19. The New York Times

    nytimes.com/2026/10/07/arts/music/ai-music-fraud-royalties-sentence.html

  20. Inc.com

    inc.com/moses-jeanfrancois/musician-made-8-million-dollars-fake-streams-expert-says-fix-is-simple/91415971

  21. IPWatchdog.com

    ipwatchdog.com/2026/10/07/copyright-office-solicits-comment-on-music-streaming-fraud/
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