{"id":20687,"date":"2026-09-25T22:56:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T22:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T02:24:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T02:24:26","slug":"is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Streaming Fraud Defendant Michael Smith&#8217;s Lawyers Seek Probation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Attorneys for <strong>Michael Smith<\/strong>, who generated millions of dollars by mass-uploading AI-generated songs and driving billions of plays, are asking a federal judge for probation rather than prison. They argue his conduct had a minimal effect on real artists&#8217; royalties.<\/p>\n<h2>The defense argument<\/h2>\n<p>In a sentencing memorandum filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Smith&#8217;s lawyers say his actions caused only \u201ctiny, immeasurable losses\u201d spread across millions of songwriters and artists. They also argue that large corporate entities engage in streaming fraud at a systemic level, so sentencing one man will do little to address the wider problem.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe effect each individual stream has on every other artist\u2019s share of the total streaming pool is not akin to a drop in the proverbial bucket, it is a drop in an ocean. Accordingly, no individual artist or songwriter suffered any perceptible harm from Mr. Smith\u2019s conduct,\u201d the filing asserts.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The lawyers ask the court to weigh Smith&#8217;s lack of a criminal record, his history of good deeds and the effect a two-year prison term would have on his family.<\/p>\n<h2>Where the case stands<\/h2>\n<p>Smith pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years. He was also required to pay more than $8 million in restitution. Federal sentencing guidelines call for 46 to 57 months in his case, while the US Probation Office&#8217;s presentence report recommended a shorter term of 24 months.<\/p>\n<p>Sentencing was expected in July, but it has not taken place and no new date appears on the public docket. The outcome will set a precedent as the first US sentence for AI-assisted streaming fraud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Attorneys for Michael Smith, who pleaded guilty over AI-generated streaming fraud, are asking a federal judge for probation instead of prison.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[512],"tags":[410,48305,341,2032,48307],"class_list":["post-20687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-industry-news","tag-ai-music","tag-michael-smith","tag-royalties","tag-streaming-fraud","tag-wire-fraud","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Michael Smith&#039;s Lawyers Seek Probation in Streaming Fraud<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lawyers for Michael Smith, who pleaded guilty to AI-assisted streaming fraud, argue artists suffered no measurable harm and ask for no prison time.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michael Smith&#039;s Lawyers Seek Probation in Streaming Fraud\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lawyers for Michael Smith, who pleaded guilty to AI-assisted streaming fraud, argue artists suffered no measurable harm and ask for no prison time.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The InterSpace Daily.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/interspacemusic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-25T22:56:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-02T02:24:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/d2n07ae9429qri.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/27020055\/streaming-fraud-michael-smith-downplays-crimes.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Ayodeji\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@interspacegroup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@interspacegroup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Ayodeji\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dave Ayodeji\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9d06a0edee2164461b4e12bf93a861f0\"},\"headline\":\"Streaming Fraud Defendant Michael Smith&#8217;s Lawyers Seek Probation\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-25T22:56:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-02T02:24:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":293,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/d2n07ae9429qri.cloudfront.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/27020055\\\/streaming-fraud-michael-smith-downplays-crimes.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"AI Music\",\"Michael Smith\",\"Royalties\",\"streaming fraud\",\"wire fraud\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Industry News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\\\/\",\"name\":\"Michael Smith's Lawyers Seek Probation in Streaming Fraud\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/d2n07ae9429qri.cloudfront.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/27020055\\\/streaming-fraud-michael-smith-downplays-crimes.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-25T22:56:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-02T02:24:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"Lawyers for Michael Smith, who pleaded guilty to AI-assisted streaming fraud, argue artists suffered no measurable harm and ask for no prison time.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/d2n07ae9429qri.cloudfront.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/27020055\\\/streaming-fraud-michael-smith-downplays-crimes.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/d2n07ae9429qri.cloudfront.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/27020055\\\/streaming-fraud-michael-smith-downplays-crimes.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Gavel resting on a legal document beside a pair of headphones.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Streaming Fraud Defendant Michael Smith&#8217;s Lawyers Seek Probation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"The InterSpace Daily.\",\"description\":\"Nigeria&#039;s leading music tech blog\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"InterSpace Daily\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The InterSpace Daily.\",\"alternateName\":\"InterSpace Distribution\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/DP1.png?fit=90%2C90&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/DP1.png?fit=90%2C90&ssl=1\",\"width\":90,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"The InterSpace Daily.\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/facebook.com\\\/interspacemusic\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/interspacegroup\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/interspace.africa\",\"https:\\\/\\\/youtube.com\\\/@interspacedistro\"],\"description\":\"Nigeria's leading music tech blog \u2014 streaming, distribution, royalties, AI and the business of music, covered from Lagos for artists and labels worldwide.\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"music technology\",\"music distribution\",\"music streaming\",\"music royalties\",\"Nigerian music industry\",\"Afrobeats\",\"YouTube MCNs\",\"DDEX\",\"AI in music\"],\"parentOrganization\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"The InterSpace Group\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/business.interspacemusic.com\\\/\",\"description\":\"The independent side of the global music industry \u2014 distribution, publishing, rights, and technology built for independent artists and labels.\"},\"areaServed\":[\"Nigeria\",\"Africa\",\"Worldwide\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9d06a0edee2164461b4e12bf93a861f0\",\"name\":\"Dave Ayodeji\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/api.dicebear.com\\\/9.x\\\/notionists\\\/svg?seed=admin&size=96&backgroundColor=ff6a1a,f7a072,ffd5bd,ffb38a&backgroundType=solid\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/api.dicebear.com\\\/9.x\\\/notionists\\\/svg?seed=admin&size=96&backgroundColor=ff6a1a,f7a072,ffd5bd,ffb38a&backgroundType=solid\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/api.dicebear.com\\\/9.x\\\/notionists\\\/svg?seed=admin&size=96&backgroundColor=ff6a1a,f7a072,ffd5bd,ffb38a&backgroundType=solid\",\"caption\":\"Dave Ayodeji\"},\"description\":\"Dave Ayodeji is editor of InterSpace Daily, the music-tech brief from InterSpace Distribution. He writes on distribution mechanics, DSP economics, and the infrastructure powering African and global independent music.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/interspacemusic.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Michael Smith's Lawyers Seek Probation in Streaming Fraud","description":"Lawyers for Michael Smith, who pleaded guilty to AI-assisted streaming fraud, argue artists suffered no measurable harm and ask for no prison time.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Michael Smith's Lawyers Seek Probation in Streaming Fraud","og_description":"Lawyers for Michael Smith, who pleaded guilty to AI-assisted streaming fraud, argue artists suffered no measurable harm and ask for no prison time.","og_url":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/","og_site_name":"The InterSpace Daily.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/interspacemusic\/","article_published_time":"2026-09-25T22:56:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-02T02:24:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/d2n07ae9429qri.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/27020055\/streaming-fraud-michael-smith-downplays-crimes.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Dave Ayodeji","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@interspacegroup","twitter_site":"@interspacegroup","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Ayodeji","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/"},"author":{"name":"Dave Ayodeji","@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9d06a0edee2164461b4e12bf93a861f0"},"headline":"Streaming Fraud Defendant Michael Smith&#8217;s Lawyers Seek Probation","datePublished":"2026-09-25T22:56:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-02T02:24:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/"},"wordCount":293,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/d2n07ae9429qri.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/27020055\/streaming-fraud-michael-smith-downplays-crimes.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","keywords":["AI Music","Michael Smith","Royalties","streaming fraud","wire fraud"],"articleSection":["Industry News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/","url":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/","name":"Michael Smith's Lawyers Seek Probation in Streaming Fraud","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/d2n07ae9429qri.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/27020055\/streaming-fraud-michael-smith-downplays-crimes.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","datePublished":"2026-09-25T22:56:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-02T02:24:26+00:00","description":"Lawyers for Michael Smith, who pleaded guilty to AI-assisted streaming fraud, argue artists suffered no measurable harm and ask for no prison time.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/d2n07ae9429qri.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/27020055\/streaming-fraud-michael-smith-downplays-crimes.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/d2n07ae9429qri.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/27020055\/streaming-fraud-michael-smith-downplays-crimes.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"Gavel resting on a legal document beside a pair of headphones."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/is-streaming-fraud-a-victimless-crime\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Streaming Fraud Defendant Michael Smith&#8217;s Lawyers Seek Probation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/","name":"The InterSpace Daily.","description":"Nigeria&#039;s leading music tech blog","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"alternateName":"InterSpace Daily","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"The InterSpace Daily.","alternateName":"InterSpace Distribution","url":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DP1.png?fit=90%2C90&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DP1.png?fit=90%2C90&ssl=1","width":90,"height":90,"caption":"The InterSpace Daily."},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/interspacemusic\/","https:\/\/x.com\/interspacegroup","https:\/\/instagram.com\/interspace.africa","https:\/\/youtube.com\/@interspacedistro"],"description":"Nigeria's leading music tech blog \u2014 streaming, distribution, royalties, AI and the business of music, covered from Lagos for artists and labels worldwide.","knowsAbout":["music technology","music distribution","music streaming","music royalties","Nigerian music industry","Afrobeats","YouTube MCNs","DDEX","AI in music"],"parentOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The InterSpace Group","url":"https:\/\/business.interspacemusic.com\/","description":"The independent side of the global music industry \u2014 distribution, publishing, rights, and technology built for independent artists and labels."},"areaServed":["Nigeria","Africa","Worldwide"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9d06a0edee2164461b4e12bf93a861f0","name":"Dave Ayodeji","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/api.dicebear.com\/9.x\/notionists\/svg?seed=admin&size=96&backgroundColor=ff6a1a,f7a072,ffd5bd,ffb38a&backgroundType=solid","url":"https:\/\/api.dicebear.com\/9.x\/notionists\/svg?seed=admin&size=96&backgroundColor=ff6a1a,f7a072,ffd5bd,ffb38a&backgroundType=solid","contentUrl":"https:\/\/api.dicebear.com\/9.x\/notionists\/svg?seed=admin&size=96&backgroundColor=ff6a1a,f7a072,ffd5bd,ffb38a&backgroundType=solid","caption":"Dave Ayodeji"},"description":"Dave Ayodeji is editor of InterSpace Daily, the music-tech brief from InterSpace Distribution. He writes on distribution mechanics, DSP economics, and the infrastructure powering African and global independent music.","sameAs":["https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog"],"url":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/d2n07ae9429qri.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/27020055\/streaming-fraud-michael-smith-downplays-crimes.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20687"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20858,"href":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20687\/revisions\/20858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspacemusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}