this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2024
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The songs that the AI CEO provided to Smith originally had file names full of randomized numbers and letters such as "n_7a2b2d74-1621-4385-895d-b1e4af78d860.mp3," the DOJ noted in its detailed press release.

When uploading them to streaming platforms, including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music, the man would then change the songs' names to words like "Zygotes," "Zygotic," and "Zyme Bedewing," whatever that is.

The artist naming convention also followed a somewhat similar pattern, with names ranging from the normal-sounding "Calvin Mann" to head-scratchers like "Calorie Event," "Calms Scorching," and "Calypso Xored."

To manufacture streams for these fake songs, Smith allegedly used bots that stream the songs billions of times without any real person listening. As with similar schemes, the bots' meaningless streams were ultimately converted to royalty paychecks for the people behind them.

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[–] badbytes@lemmy.world 22 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The guy sounds like a great entrepreneur.

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[–] Schorsch@feddit.org 19 points 2 months ago (2 children)

A headline that wouldn't have been possible five years ago. Sick.

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[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Finally a use case for AI.

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[–] yamanii@lemmy.world 17 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Still better than the theory that Spotify itself is making AI jazz and putting them on their oficial playlists to not pay artists.

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[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago

Indicted on three counts involving money laundering and wire fraud

Oops. Picked on the big dogs by playing their own game.

Seriously though, probably more going on than what we read here.

[–] mctoasterson@reddthat.com 12 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I thought about experimenting with this (Guess it is a good thing I didn't). There are so many low effort "Lo Fi" types of streams and tracklists on Spotify and elsewhere. Who is to say my software generated garbage would be any worse than those?

There are also YouTubers who generate low effort music and ask their normal content subscribers to stream their shit on Spotify even if they aren't legitimately listening. So are those streams fraudulent as well?

It sounds like the thing he is getting popped for is the volume of automated streams.

[–] Snoopey@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I think he's getting done for setting up the bots to listen to his own songs for billions of hours

[–] Crankenstein@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Yea his mistake was pumping the number too much. If he would have kept a steady stream of income and not get greedy, they never would have noticed him.

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[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 months ago

Gonna miss having Zyme Bedewing on my Playlist.

I'm weirdly creeped out about how this article refers to him as "the man". Was this written by an AI?

[–] CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 10 points 2 months ago
[–] JeSuisUnHombre@lemm.ee 10 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I don't see how this is money laundering or wire fraud. I hope he gets off. Or the real best solution would to make it so the revenue just goes to the artists the AI is ripping off.

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[–] ours@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

to head-scratchers like “Calorie Event,” “Calms Scorching,” and “Calypso Xored.”

As a fan of the Osees, those sound perfectly normal.

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