It’s taken a while but for the first time someone has actually been sent to prison after being found guilty of streaming fraud.
The man who holds that dubious honour is a fellow called Mike Smith, who has been given an 18-month sentence by a federal court in Manhattan.
Smith really should have known better. He’s a musician and business owner from North Carolina who, between 2017 and 2024, artificially inflated the streaming of his music through an army of bots. He also artificially generated millions of additional streams for AI-generated songs he purchased and uploaded. Prosecutors estimated that Smith generated $8 million in fraudulent royalties.
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Smith’s sentence is certainly a lot shorter than the 46 months (almost four years) that prosecutors were pushing for. They argued that a substantial custodial stretch was necessary “to provide just punishment” and deter other potential fraudsters. “If the public is watching this case, as the defendant claims, a lenient sentence will send precisely the wrong message: streaming fraud will not result in meaningful punishment,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas W. Chiuchiolo and Kevin B. Mead said.
Smith has worked in and around the music industry for some time, and some of his associates sent in letters on his behalf. RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan, who Smith worked with on the reality TV show One Shot, said that “Mike has always acted honestly with me and with the artists and business partners we have worked with… I respectfully ask the Court to consider the person I have come to know through my own experience with Mike: someone who can contribute to his community, support others, and keep making responsible choices.”
Anyway, in the end, the pleading of one of hip hop’s most respected producers was to no avail. Smith had the decency to sound contrite when he addressed the court prior to receiving his sentence. He said that all he wanted in life was to be a good husband, father, upstanding member of society, and to succeed in music. By “committing this crime,” he said, “I have failed miserably.”
“I betrayed the music community I care so much about,” he said, admitting that he had contrived to establish a“perverse business model.” At the end of his statement, he said, “I have made a mess of what was an honourable life.”
