On September 5th 2024, the FBI apprehended North Carolina based musician, Michael Smith, for involving in a BOT streaming scam that made him amass over $10m in earnings from royalties. Smith was accused of using automated programs to stream AI music billions of times which generated 661,000 streams per day with fake profiles between December 2017 and March 2024.
It is alleged that Smith conspired with an AI music company’s chief executive officer and a promoter to implement the plot. He stands accused of wire fraud and money laundering and he could be jailed for about 60 years.
This case brings to light streaming manipulation, a phenomenon which seems to be on the rise in the music industry, including Nigeria, where DSPs have started combatting similar practices often referred to as stream farming.
