[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"nav-categories":3,"article-man-arrested-for-creating-fake-bands-with-ai-then-making-10-million-by-listening-to-their-songs-with-bots":70},{"data":4},[5,37,57,64],{"name":6,"slug":7,"categories":8},"Productivity","productivity",[9,13,17,21,25,29,33],{"id":10,"title":11,"slug":12},17,"Branding","branding",{"id":14,"title":15,"slug":16},19,"Marketing","marketing",{"id":18,"title":19,"slug":20},20,"Work","work",{"id":22,"title":23,"slug":24},34,"Community","community",{"id":26,"title":27,"slug":28},21,"For newbies","for-newbies",{"id":30,"title":31,"slug":32},24,"Investment","investment",{"id":34,"title":35,"slug":36},22,"Finance","finance",{"name":38,"slug":39,"categories":40},"Tech","tech",[41,45,49,53],{"id":42,"title":43,"slug":44},28,"Technology","technology",{"id":46,"title":47,"slug":48},32,"Artificial Intelligence","artificial-intelligence",{"id":50,"title":51,"slug":52},26,"Security and protection","security-and-protection",{"id":54,"title":55,"slug":56},31,"YouTube Blog","youtube-blog",{"name":58,"slug":59,"categories":60},"News","news",[61],{"id":62,"title":58,"slug":63},18,"quasanews",{"name":65,"slug":66,"categories":67},"Business","business",[68],{"id":69,"title":65,"slug":66},16,{"post":71,"published_news":94,"popular_news":161,"categories":231},{"title":72,"description":73,"meta_title":72,"meta_description":73,"meta_keywords":74,"text":75,"slug":76,"created_at":77,"publish_at":78,"formatted_created_at":79,"category_id":46,"links":80,"view_type":85,"video_url":86,"views":87,"likes":88,"lang":89,"comments_count":88,"category":90},"Man Arrested for Creating Fake Bands With AI, Then Making $10 Million by Listening to Their Songs With Bots","Indicted on three counts involving money laundering and wire fraud, the Charlotte-area man faces a maximum of 20 years per charge.","Creating Fake Bands With AI, Making $10 Million, Listening to Their Songs With Bots","\u003Cp>Hello!\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>An alleged scammer has been arrested under suspicion that he used \u003Ca href=\"https://quasa.io/media/chatgpt-artificial-intelligence-causes-a-sensation-with-amazingly-good-answers\">AI\u003C/a> to create a wild number of fake bands — and fake music to go with them — and faking untold streams with more bots to earn millions in ill-gotten revenue.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cpicture class=\"image-align-left\">\u003Csource srcset=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/foto-19/mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-11.webp\" type=\"image/webp\">\u003Cimg class=\"image-align-left\" height=\"169\" src=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/foto-19/mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-11.jpeg\" width=\"300\" / alt=\"Man Arrested for Creating Fake Bands With AI, Then Making $10 Million by Listening to Their Songs With Bots\" loading=\"lazy\">\u003C/picture>In a press release, the Department of Justice announced that investigators have arrested 52-year-old North Carolina man Michael Smith, who has been charged with a purportedly seven-year scheme that involved using his real-life music skills to make more than $10 million in royalties.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Indicted on three counts involving money laundering and wire fraud, the Charlotte-area man faces a maximum of 20 years per charge.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>With bona fide artists struggling to make ends meet via music streaming services, Smith allegedly worked with the help of two unnamed accomplices — a music promoter and the \u003Ca href=\"https://quasa.io/media/7-productivity-lessons-from-today-s-top-ceos-how-to-implement\">CEO\u003C/a> of an AI music firm — to create "hundreds of thousands of songs" that he then "fraudulently stream[ed," the indictment explains.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>"We need to get a TON of songs fast," Smith emailed his alleged co-conspirators in late 2018, "to make this work around the anti-fraud policies these guys are all using now."\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cpicture class=\"image-align-left\">\u003Csource srcset=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/foto-19/mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-13.webp\" type=\"image/webp\">\u003Cimg class=\"image-align-left\" height=\"177\" src=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/foto-19/mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-13.jpeg\" width=\"284\" / alt=\"Man Arrested for Creating Fake Bands With AI, Then Making $10 Million by Listening to Their Songs With Bots\" loading=\"lazy\">\u003C/picture>Around that same time, the CEO of the AI music company, which also has not been named, began allegedly providing the musician with "thousands of songs" on a weekly basis. Smith in turn would then use automation to generate tons of listens for the crappy tunes.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>"Keep in mind what we’re doing musically here," the CEO wrote in an email to the defendant that the DOJ released, "this is not 'music,' it’s 'instant music' ;)."\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Ch4>\u003Cstrong>Name Game\u003C/strong>\u003C/h4>\n\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cpicture class=\"image-align-left\">\u003Csource srcset=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/foto-19/mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-9.webp\" type=\"image/webp\">\u003Cimg class=\"image-align-left\" height=\"168\" src=\"https://cdn.quasa.io/photos/foto-19/mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-9.jpeg\" width=\"300\" / alt=\"Man Arrested for Creating Fake Bands With AI, Then Making $10 Million by Listening to Their Songs With Bots\" loading=\"lazy\">\u003C/picture>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.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>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."\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>When reached by the \u003Cem>New York Times\u003C/em> regarding the extremely well-documented allegations of fraud and streaming platform manipulation, Smith issued a hilariously affronted statement.\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>"This is absolutely wrong and crazy!," the NC man rebutted. "There is absolutely no fraud going on whatsoever! How can I appeal this?"\u003C/p>\n\n\u003Cp>Thank you!\u003Cbr />\nJoin us on social media!\u003Cbr />\nSee you!\u003C/p>","man-arrested-for-creating-fake-bands-with-ai-then-making-10-million-by-listening-to-their-songs-with-bots","2024-09-28T08:55:05.000000Z","2024-09-28T10:00:00.000000Z","28.09.2024",{"image":81,"image_webp":82,"thumb":83,"thumb_webp":84},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/2M8SxFP2zphPAsE14mAp4F8fD20jyqChJZ9qFmRP.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/2M8SxFP2zphPAsE14mAp4F8fD20jyqChJZ9qFmRP.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/2M8SxFP2zphPAsE14mAp4F8fD20jyqChJZ9qFmRP.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/2M8SxFP2zphPAsE14mAp4F8fD20jyqChJZ9qFmRP.webp","large",null,1642,0,"en",{"id":46,"title":47,"slug":48,"meta_title":47,"meta_description":91,"meta_keywords":91,"deleted_at":86,"created_at":92,"updated_at":93,"lang":89},"Artificial Intelligence, ai, ml, machine learning, chatgpt, future","2024-09-22T08:08:27.000000Z","2024-09-23T12:49:38.000000Z",[95,111,124,136,148],{"title":96,"description":97,"slug":98,"created_at":99,"publish_at":100,"formatted_created_at":101,"category":102,"links":103,"view_type":108,"video_url":86,"views":109,"likes":88,"lang":89,"comments_count":88,"is_pinned":110},"Baidu Drops ERNIE-Image: A Compact 8B Open-Source Text-to-Image Model That Tops the Charts","Baidu has just released ERNIE-Image — a new open-weight text-to-image generator that is already turning heads in the AI community.","baidu-drops-ernie-image-a-compact-8b-open-source-text-to-image-model-that-tops-the-charts","2026-04-17T11:57:35.000000Z","2026-04-20T03:44:00.000000Z","20.04.2026",{"title":47,"slug":48},{"image":104,"image_webp":105,"thumb":106,"thumb_webp":107},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/1QiOJcmqi34aQvnRfCwi97GmGUD4JPEukbjf4csU.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/1QiOJcmqi34aQvnRfCwi97GmGUD4JPEukbjf4csU.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/1QiOJcmqi34aQvnRfCwi97GmGUD4JPEukbjf4csU.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/1QiOJcmqi34aQvnRfCwi97GmGUD4JPEukbjf4csU.webp","small",13,false,{"title":112,"description":113,"slug":114,"created_at":115,"publish_at":115,"formatted_created_at":116,"category":117,"links":118,"view_type":108,"video_url":86,"views":123,"likes":88,"lang":89,"comments_count":88,"is_pinned":110},"Cloudflare Just Made Email a First-Class Citizen for AI Agents — And Traditional Email Services Are Feeling It","On April 17, 2026, Cloudflare quietly turned a long-standing dream into reality: it moved Email Service into public beta and added full Email Sending alongside the years-old Email Routing.","cloudflare-just-made-email-a-first-class-citizen-for-ai-agents-and-traditional-email-services-are-feeling-it","2026-04-19T18:41:05.000000Z","19.04.2026",{"title":43,"slug":44},{"image":119,"image_webp":120,"thumb":121,"thumb_webp":122},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/BL8rqDdPh380Xfk5TP00aXBFWdOVXI5BUQ1TuSaC.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/BL8rqDdPh380Xfk5TP00aXBFWdOVXI5BUQ1TuSaC.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/BL8rqDdPh380Xfk5TP00aXBFWdOVXI5BUQ1TuSaC.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/BL8rqDdPh380Xfk5TP00aXBFWdOVXI5BUQ1TuSaC.webp",62,{"title":125,"description":126,"slug":127,"created_at":128,"publish_at":128,"formatted_created_at":116,"category":129,"links":130,"view_type":108,"video_url":86,"views":135,"likes":88,"lang":89,"comments_count":88,"is_pinned":110},"Mozilla Nails It: Thunderbolt Brings “ChatGPT at Home” to the Enterprise — Without Vendor Lock-In","While OpenAI and Anthropic race to sell their proprietary AI platforms to big corporations, Mozilla’s subsidiary MZLA Technologies has taken a very different route.","mozilla-nails-it-thunderbolt-brings-chatgpt-at-home-to-the-enterprise-without-vendor-lock-in","2026-04-19T15:37:27.000000Z",{"title":58,"slug":63},{"image":131,"image_webp":132,"thumb":133,"thumb_webp":134},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/qaAODXSpJy6qpJc0eO9DQ2Y6ccJR1tlL5i3mN0kV.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/qaAODXSpJy6qpJc0eO9DQ2Y6ccJR1tlL5i3mN0kV.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/qaAODXSpJy6qpJc0eO9DQ2Y6ccJR1tlL5i3mN0kV.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/qaAODXSpJy6qpJc0eO9DQ2Y6ccJR1tlL5i3mN0kV.webp",78,{"title":137,"description":138,"slug":139,"created_at":140,"publish_at":140,"formatted_created_at":116,"category":141,"links":142,"view_type":108,"video_url":86,"views":147,"likes":88,"lang":89,"comments_count":88,"is_pinned":110},"X Is Finally Cracking Down on Unlabeled Ads — And It’s Personal","For years, X (formerly Twitter) has been a playground for undisclosed promotions, coordinated spam networks, and “native” advertising that masquerades as organic content.","x-is-finally-cracking-down-on-unlabeled-ads-and-it-s-personal","2026-04-19T15:07:48.000000Z",{"title":65,"slug":66},{"image":143,"image_webp":144,"thumb":145,"thumb_webp":146},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/CQJ1gdssFGyJpfhfmRU2X4WT5fk5Boc8APXsjWX6.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/CQJ1gdssFGyJpfhfmRU2X4WT5fk5Boc8APXsjWX6.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/CQJ1gdssFGyJpfhfmRU2X4WT5fk5Boc8APXsjWX6.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/CQJ1gdssFGyJpfhfmRU2X4WT5fk5Boc8APXsjWX6.webp",80,{"title":149,"description":150,"slug":151,"created_at":152,"publish_at":153,"formatted_created_at":116,"category":154,"links":155,"view_type":108,"video_url":86,"views":160,"likes":88,"lang":89,"comments_count":88,"is_pinned":110},"Bitcoin Developers Propose BIP-361: Quantum-Proof Migration That Would Freeze Millions of Legacy Coins","In a move that could reshape the security of Bitcoin’s unspent transaction outputs forever, Bitcoin developers have introduced BIP-361 — officially titled “Post Quantum Migration and Legacy Signature Sunset.”","bitcoin-developers-propose-bip-361-quantum-proof-migration-that-would-freeze-millions-of-legacy-coins","2026-04-17T11:38:06.000000Z","2026-04-19T11:29:00.000000Z",{"title":43,"slug":44},{"image":156,"image_webp":157,"thumb":158,"thumb_webp":159},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/XW07GuAbFLRaVskP2iUsv0witLmM4GwiSlwMPZpp.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/XW07GuAbFLRaVskP2iUsv0witLmM4GwiSlwMPZpp.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/XW07GuAbFLRaVskP2iUsv0witLmM4GwiSlwMPZpp.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/XW07GuAbFLRaVskP2iUsv0witLmM4GwiSlwMPZpp.webp",99,[162,175,190,202,217],{"title":163,"description":164,"slug":165,"created_at":166,"publish_at":167,"formatted_created_at":168,"category":169,"links":170,"view_type":108,"video_url":86,"views":173,"likes":174,"lang":89,"comments_count":88,"is_pinned":110},"The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur","Entrepreneur is a French word that means an enterpriser. Enterprisers are people who undertake a business or enterprise with the chance of earning profits or suffering from loss.","the-anatomy-of-an-entrepreneur","2021-08-04T15:18:21.000000Z","2025-12-14T06:09:00.000000Z","14.12.2025",{"title":65,"slug":66},{"image":171,"image_webp":86,"thumb":172,"thumb_webp":172},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/mVsXPTMuHZuI7UXCsENgL1Qwp1uSOf7Rz3uVPMfm.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/mVsXPTMuHZuI7UXCsENgL1Qwp1uSOf7Rz3uVPMfm.webp",70876,2,{"title":176,"description":177,"slug":178,"created_at":179,"publish_at":180,"formatted_created_at":181,"category":182,"links":183,"view_type":85,"video_url":86,"views":188,"likes":189,"lang":89,"comments_count":88,"is_pinned":110},"Advertising on QUASA","QUASA MEDIA is read by more than 400 thousand people a month. We offer to place your article, add a link or order the writing of an article for publication.","advertising-on-quasa","2022-07-06T07:33:02.000000Z","2025-12-15T17:33:02.000000Z","15.12.2025",{"title":58,"slug":63},{"image":184,"image_webp":185,"thumb":186,"thumb_webp":187},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/45SvmdsTQbiyc3nxgbyHY1mpVbisYyub2BCHjqBL.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/45SvmdsTQbiyc3nxgbyHY1mpVbisYyub2BCHjqBL.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/45SvmdsTQbiyc3nxgbyHY1mpVbisYyub2BCHjqBL.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/45SvmdsTQbiyc3nxgbyHY1mpVbisYyub2BCHjqBL.webp",70641,4,{"title":191,"description":192,"slug":193,"created_at":194,"publish_at":195,"formatted_created_at":196,"category":197,"links":198,"view_type":108,"video_url":86,"views":201,"likes":189,"lang":89,"comments_count":88,"is_pinned":110},"What is a Startup?","A startup is not a new company, not a tech company, nor a new tech company. You can be a new tech company, if your goal is not to grow high and fast; then, you are not a startup. ","what-is-a-startup","2021-08-04T12:05:17.000000Z","2025-12-17T13:02:00.000000Z","17.12.2025",{"title":65,"slug":66},{"image":199,"image_webp":86,"thumb":200,"thumb_webp":200},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/EOsQhSW3VXyG7a6NPdE1oZd00xfJXe3bjY5aJGb7.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/EOsQhSW3VXyG7a6NPdE1oZd00xfJXe3bjY5aJGb7.webp",68272,{"title":203,"description":204,"slug":205,"created_at":206,"publish_at":207,"formatted_created_at":208,"category":209,"links":210,"view_type":108,"video_url":86,"views":215,"likes":174,"lang":89,"comments_count":216,"is_pinned":110},"Top 5 Tips to Make More Money as a Content Creator","Content creators are one of the most desired job titles right now. Who wouldn’t want to earn a living online?","top-5-tips-to-make-more-money-as-a-content-creator","2022-01-17T17:31:51.000000Z","2026-01-17T11:30:00.000000Z","17.01.2026",{"title":19,"slug":20},{"image":211,"image_webp":212,"thumb":213,"thumb_webp":214},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/gP8kiumBPpJmQv6SMieXiX1tDetx43VwFfO1P4Ca.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/gP8kiumBPpJmQv6SMieXiX1tDetx43VwFfO1P4Ca.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/gP8kiumBPpJmQv6SMieXiX1tDetx43VwFfO1P4Ca.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/gP8kiumBPpJmQv6SMieXiX1tDetx43VwFfO1P4Ca.webp",42243,1,{"title":218,"description":219,"slug":220,"created_at":221,"publish_at":222,"formatted_created_at":223,"category":224,"links":225,"view_type":85,"video_url":86,"views":230,"likes":174,"lang":89,"comments_count":88,"is_pinned":110},"8 Logo Design Tips for Small Businesses","Your logo tells the story of your business and the values you stand for.","8-logo-design-tips-for-small-businesses","2021-12-04T21:59:52.000000Z","2025-05-05T03:30:00.000000Z","05.05.2025",{"title":15,"slug":16},{"image":226,"image_webp":227,"thumb":228,"thumb_webp":229},"https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/Wbx2NtS1CnTupgoQbpFMGspJ5jm4uob2hDOq33r0.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/images/news/Wbx2NtS1CnTupgoQbpFMGspJ5jm4uob2hDOq33r0.webp","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/Wbx2NtS1CnTupgoQbpFMGspJ5jm4uob2hDOq33r0.jpg","https://cdn.quasa.io/thumbs/news-thumb/images/news/Wbx2NtS1CnTupgoQbpFMGspJ5jm4uob2hDOq33r0.webp",41337,[232,233,234,235,236,237,238,239,240,241,242,243,244],{"title":23,"slug":24},{"title":47,"slug":48},{"title":55,"slug":56},{"title":43,"slug":44},{"title":51,"slug":52},{"title":31,"slug":32},{"title":35,"slug":36},{"title":27,"slug":28},{"title":19,"slug":20},{"title":15,"slug":16},{"title":58,"slug":63},{"title":11,"slug":12},{"title":65,"slug":66}]