The music streaming industry is one of the largest revenue-generating platforms for artists and labels. Streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and others pay royalties to artists based on the number of times their songs are played. However, what if these streaming numbers are not genuine?
Between 2018 and 2023, Michael Smith masterminded an elaborate scheme to inflate the streaming numbers of music tracks, raking in millions of dollars in fraudulent royalties. Smith’s operation resulted in 4 billion fake streams over the course of five years. This article dives deep into how this scam was orchestrated and how the manipulation of music streaming platforms can distort the industry.
The Scheme at a Glance
Smith’s fraud involved three key stages:
- Creation of fake bot accounts on streaming platforms.
- Manipulation of streaming numbers to make music tracks appear more popular.
- Collecting fraudulent royalty payments based on the inflated stream numbers.
Through these steps, Smith and his team were able to trick music streaming platforms and rights organizations into paying royalties for streams that didn’t come from real listeners.
Stage 1: Creation of Bot Accounts
Smith’s scheme began with the creation of thousands of fake streaming accounts. These accounts, called “Bot Accounts,” were registered using fake email addresses.
- How It Worked: Smith created thousands of fake email accounts and used them to register on streaming platforms like Spotify. These accounts were used exclusively to stream certain tracks repeatedly.
- The Numbers: At one point, Smith had over 10,000 bot accounts actively streaming his tracks. The process was so labor-intensive that Smith hired others to help maintain these accounts.
- Avoiding Detection: By using proxy servers and VPNs, Smith was able to make it appear as though these accounts were spread across the globe, making it harder for streaming platforms to detect the fraudulent activity.
Stage 2: Manipulation of Streaming Numbers
Once the fake accounts were set up, Smith used them to repeatedly stream specific songs, inflating their play counts artificially. These streams were then recorded by the platforms as legitimate plays, creating the illusion that these tracks were incredibly popular.In Michael Smith’s scheme to manipulate streaming numbers, the manipulation of streaming plays was likely done using a combination of automated bots and possibly multiple devices. While the specific tools and methods Smith used were not fully detailed in the document, based on typical fraudulent streaming schemes, here’s how it likely worked:
Methods for Manipulating Streaming Numbers
1. Bot Networks
The primary method Smith used to inflate streaming numbers was through the creation of bot accounts. These bots were likely automated programs or scripts designed to simulate the behavior of real users, constantly playing specific songs on the streaming platforms.
- Automated scripts or programs: Bots were programmed to play music repeatedly without human intervention. These scripts or bots would log into the streaming platform using fake accounts (Bot Accounts) and stream the targeted music continuously.
- Simulated user behavior: These bots may have been programmed to mimic real users by randomizing listening habits (like skipping tracks, changing songs, or playing tracks on shuffle) to avoid detection. This creates the illusion that the streams came from legitimate listeners.
2. Multiple Devices or Virtual Machines
Smith likely used multiple devices or virtual environments to scale up the number of streams. Here are two potential ways:
- Multiple computers or servers: Smith could have used physical computers or rented cloud-based servers, each running multiple instances of bots to increase the total number of streams. Each machine or virtual machine could simulate multiple accounts at once.
- Virtual Machines (VMs): VMs allow a single computer to run multiple virtual systems, each acting as an independent device. By running many VMs, Smith could have used a single server to generate numerous streams at the same time, with each VM running different bot accounts.
3. Mobile Phones or Emulators
In some streaming fraud schemes, people use mobile phones or emulators (software that mimics a mobile phone environment) to inflate streams. Here’s how this could have been done:
- Mobile phones: Smith or his team could have set up racks of mobile phones, each logged into different bot accounts. These phones would stream the tracks repeatedly, creating fake streams on a large scale.
- Mobile emulators: Instead of using physical phones, emulators are software applications that can replicate the behavior of mobile devices on a computer. Using emulators, Smith could have simulated hundreds or thousands of phones on a single machine, each running separate instances of the streaming app, logged into different bot accounts, and streaming songs in parallel.
4. Dual Apps and Multiple Instances on the Same Device
It’s also possible that Smith used techniques like multiple instances of apps or dual apps on mobile devices:
- Dual Apps: Some mobile operating systems allow users to run multiple instances of the same app on one device (often used for managing multiple accounts). Smith could have used this feature to log into different bot accounts on the same device, simultaneously streaming the music on each instance.
- App cloners: There are third-party tools and apps that allow you to clone apps and run multiple instances of them on a single device. This could have been used to multiply the number of streams from a single phone or computer.
5. Proxies and VPNs to Avoid Detection
Smith would have needed to avoid detection from the streaming platforms, which are constantly monitoring for suspicious activity. To do this:
IP rotation: Proxies could also have been used to rotate IP addresses for each stream, making it appear as if the streams were coming from thousands of unique users rather than being concentrated in a single place.
Proxies or VPNs: Smith likely used proxy servers or Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to hide the real location of the bot accounts. By cycling through different IP addresses, it would appear as if the streams were coming from different locations around the world, making it harder for the streaming platforms to identify the fraudulent activity.
Artificial Intelligence Music:
To expand his fraudulent reach, Smith also generated AI-created music, which was streamed by his bot network. This made the operation even more complex, as it not only inflated legitimate songs but also fake music that had no real audience.
Stage 3: Fraudulent Royalty Payments
With inflated play counts in place, Smith was able to collect royalty payments based on these false streams. Streaming platforms typically pay royalties to artists and their representatives (such as music labels or distribution companies) based on the number of plays a song receives. These royalties come from both performance rights organizations (PROs) and the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC).
- Royalty Calculation: The platforms allocate a percentage of their total revenue to artists based on how many times their songs were played. Smith took advantage of this system by falsely increasing his share of the total streams.
- Distribution companies: Smith used a Manhattan-based music distribution company to facilitate the release of his songs to streaming platforms, where they were subsequently streamed by the bots.
- Fraudulent earnings: By inflating the play counts, Smith was able to claim royalties that he would not have received if the plays had been legitimate. The platforms and rights organizations were effectively paying for fake engagement.
Additional Details
- Wire Fraud: Smith’s manipulation of streaming platforms and misrepresentation of the popularity of his music constituted wire fraud, a federal crime. This is because Smith used emails and other electronic communications as part of his scheme to deceive the platforms.
- Money Laundering: Smith was also charged with money laundering for using the proceeds of his fraudulent scheme to pay for the bot accounts and other operational expenses. This aspect of the crime involved moving money around to hide its illicit origins.
The Scale of the Fraud
The total impact of Smith’s manipulation was staggering:
- 4 billion fake streams over five years.
- Millions of dollars in fraudulent royalty payments.
- The use of AI-generated music and fake streaming accounts across multiple platforms.
This level of fraud isn’t just a crime against streaming platforms—it distorts the entire music ecosystem. Genuine artists lose potential revenue, and the integrity of the charts and playlists is compromised by fake streams pushing undeserving tracks to the top.
The Impact on the Music Industry
Streaming fraud, like that orchestrated by Michael Smith, has far-reaching consequences. Not only do platforms lose millions in fraudulent payouts, but legitimate artists and smaller creators are pushed out of the spotlight by fake streams. When illegitimate tracks rise to the top of streaming charts, it creates a false representation of what people are actually listening to.
Furthermore, this kind of fraud distorts industry metrics that labels, artists, and managers use to track success and engagement. Genuine artists are robbed of fair exposure and compensation.
How to Prevent Streaming Fraud
Streaming platforms are constantly working to improve detection mechanisms, but there are several steps that can be taken to prevent similar fraud in the future:
- Improved Account Verification: Streaming platforms should require stronger verification methods for user accounts, such as phone number verification, to limit the creation of bot accounts.
- Advanced Analytics: Platforms can use more sophisticated algorithms and machine learning to detect unusual streaming behavior, such as large numbers of plays from a single IP address or account.
- Collaboration with Rights Organizations: Improved communication between streaming platforms, rights organizations, and distribution companies can help identify fraudulent streams and prevent royalty payouts based on inflated numbers.
- Public Awareness: Artists, fans, and industry professionals need to be aware of how streaming manipulation works. Raising awareness can help expose and minimize the impact of these schemes.
Conclusion
Michael Smith’s manipulation of streaming platforms shines a spotlight on a major vulnerability in the music industry. With billions of fake streams generated and millions of dollars fraudulently obtained, this case serves as a wake-up call for both streaming services and artists. As technology advances, fraudsters will continue to evolve their methods, but through awareness and enhanced security measures, the industry can protect itself against this type of manipulation.
He is a cyber security and malware researcher. He studied Computer Science and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2006. He is actively working as an cyber security investigator. He also worked for different security companies. His everyday job includes researching about new cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in enterprise security implementation.