Fake Bands, Real Millions: The AI Scam That Fooled Streaming Giants
What if your favorite band never existed? Welcome to the world of AI-generated fake bands, where one man made $10 million from music no one ever listened to.
Michael Smith, a North Carolina musician, was arrested for allegedly orchestrating a $10 million scam using AI to create fake music and bands, then generating billions of fraudulent streams using bots.
Over a span of seven years, Smith collaborated with a music promoter and the CEO of an AI music company to churn out "instant music" — thousands of low-quality tracks with bizarre names like "Zygotes" and "Calypso Xored." These tracks were uploaded to major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, where bots would inflate the play counts to collect royalties.
While real musicians struggle to earn a living from streaming, Smith found a loophole to exploit the system. His scheme, now under federal scrutiny, has raised questions about the ethics of AI in creative industries. How will streaming platforms evolve to protect genuine creators from AI-driven exploitation?
Read the full article on Futurism.
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