Michael Smith, the North Carolina musician accused of using AI-generated songs and bot accounts to inflate streaming royalties, pleaded guilty on March 19, 2026, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The case began with a 2024 indictment alleging more than $10 million in royalties; DOJ’s 2026 plea announcement described more than $8 million in royalties and $8,091,843.64 in agreed forfeiture. The government’s announcements do not reconcile those different royalty figures.
What happened in the case?
Smith, of Cornelius, North Carolina, was indicted in September 2024 on three counts. Prosecutors alleged that he manipulated streaming activity to collect royalties. On March 19, 2026, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud before U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl, according to the DOJ’s guilty-plea announcement.
The plea is the latest confirmed procedural development in the cited official materials. DOJ said sentencing was scheduled for July 29, 2026, and that the count carries a maximum sentence of five years. The announcement gives a scheduled date, not confirmation that the hearing took place or what sentence, if any, was imposed.
How did prosecutors say the scheme worked?
The 2024 indictment alleged that the scheme ran from approximately 2017 through 2024. Prosecutors said Smith created large numbers of accounts on Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music, then used automated programs to make those accounts repeatedly stream music he owned.
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Bots made repeated plays look like listening activity
According to the indictment, Smith used more than 1,000 bot accounts simultaneously at the scheme’s height. Prosecutors also described account creation at much larger scale at certain points. To avoid concentrating activity on a single track, they alleged, he spread streams across a large catalog.
AI-generated songs supplied a large catalog
Prosecutors alleged that Smith eventually used hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs to make the volume of automated plays possible. The indictment described an estimated 661,440 streams per day and $1,207,128 in annual royalties as a projection attributed to Smith. Those figures were an alleged estimate, not an independently verified account of money actually earned.
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These details about the operation are allegations in the indictment, rather than a separate finding that every described act was proved at trial. The later plea announcement reports Smith’s guilty plea and the government’s account of the scheme.
Why do the $10 million and $8 million figures differ?
The amounts come from separate DOJ announcements at different stages of the case. The September 4, 2024 charging announcement said the alleged conduct resulted in more than $10 million in royalties. The March 19, 2026 plea announcement described more than $8 million in royalties and said Smith agreed to forfeit $8,091,843.64.
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| Announcement | Amount reported | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| DOJ charging announcement, September 4, 2024 | More than $10 million | Royalties prosecutors said the alleged scheme generated at the charging stage. |
| DOJ guilty-plea announcement, March 19, 2026 | More than $8 million | Royalties DOJ said the scheme produced when announcing the plea. |
| DOJ guilty-plea announcement, March 19, 2026 | $8,091,843.64 | Forfeiture Smith agreed to pay, as reported by DOJ. |
The announcements do not explain how the royalty totals relate to one another. The forfeiture amount is a distinct figure and should not be treated as a revised royalty total.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Who was harmed by fake streams?
Streaming royalties are distributed from revenue pools, with payments allocated in relation to reported streaming activity. The indictment describes separate pools for musical compositions and sound recordings. Songwriters can receive composition royalties, including digital mechanical royalties collected and distributed through the Mechanical Licensing Collective; artists, labels, or distributors may receive sound-recording royalties.
Prosecutors said fraudulent streams diverted money from songwriters and recording artists whose music was played legitimately. The indictment does not establish one universal payout rate: services’ calculations can differ, so the case should not be read as showing that every platform pays the same fixed amount per stream.
What is the current status of sentencing?
DOJ’s March 2026 announcement scheduled sentencing for July 29, 2026. The official materials cited here do not confirm whether that hearing occurred or establish its outcome. No sentence should be inferred from the scheduled date or from the maximum penalty stated in the plea announcement.
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