When Michael “Mike” Smith was indicted Wednesday (Sept. 4) over allegations that he used an AI music company to create “hundreds of thousands” of songs and then used bots to artificially earn $10 million in streaming income since 2017, prosecutors claimed that some of the money flowed back to that AI music company. The indictment also claimed that Smith was in consistent contact with its CEO — but it never revealed their names.

ASCAP/BMI Songview records and the MLC database indicate that Alex Mitchell, CEO/founder of popular AI music company Boomy, is listed as the co-writer on at least hundreds of the 200,000 plus songs that are registered to Smith. Boomy also released a song, “This Isn’t Real Life,” jointly with Smith, CVBZ and Stunna 4 Vegas.

In a statement to Billboard, Mitchell says: “We were shocked by the details in the recently filed indictment of Michael Smith, which we are reviewing. Michael Smith consistently represented himself as legitimate.”

The indictment alleges that around 2018, “Smith began working with the Chief Executive Officer of an [unnamed] AI music company and a music promoter to create thousands of songs that Smith could then fraudulently stream.” Within months, the CEO was allegedly providing Smith with “thousands of songs each week.”

In June 2019, the indictment says that Smith reported to the AI music CEO and the promoter that “we are at 88 million TOTAL STREAMS so far!!!” Smith explained to the CEO and promoter that his streams were earning about $110,000 per month and that the two men were each receiving 10% of the proceeds. Smith later asked the AI CEO to provide him with another 10,000 AI songs so that he could “spread this out more” with his streams. The indictment states that this was “to evade detection from streaming platforms.”

Eventually, according to the indictment, Smith entered a “Master Services Agreement” with this AI music company that supplied Smith with 1,000-10,000 songs per month. The deal stated that Smith would have “full ownership of the intellectual property rights in the songs.” In turn, Smith would provide the AI company with metadata and the “greater of $2,000 or 15% of the streaming revenue” he generated from the AI songs.

“Keep in mind what we’re doing musically here… this is not ‘music,’ it’s ‘instant music’ ;)” the AI CEO wrote to Smith in an email that was included in the indictment.

Mitchell’s publisher is listed as Songtrust, a publishing administration company owned by Downtown, which typically earns a percentage of signees’ royalties in exchange for services. Smith’s publisher, Smithhouse Music Publishing, also lists Songtrust as its point of contact on Songview.

A representative for Songtrust declined Billboard’s request for comment. However, a source close to the matter tells Billboard that Smith and Mitchell’s Songtrust deals were terminated more than a year ago.

While it is not unheard of for an AI company to be approached by customers who are looking to buy a large number of songs, multiple AI music executives tell Billboard that it is common to know why the customer wants the tracks and to do “KYC,” or “know your client,” checks to ensure they are above board.

Typically, customers for large sums of songs tend to be companies that are seeking cheap music alternatives, often for social media content. Other requests tend to come from unknown individuals outside of the U.S., especially streaming fraud hotspots like Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Vietnam and Brazil. These parties are often denied. Two sources say it’s surprising to see a CEO’s name listed in the credits as a songwriter when these transactions occur.

Boomy has been at the forefront of AI music since its infancy. Records vary as to when Boomy launched in beta, with some online sources saying 2018 and others saying 2019. It officially debuted in 2021, according to an announcement from Axios. The company claims on its website to have made over 20 million AI-generated tracks to date.

Boomy has also won the respect of the music industry establishment. For years, Boomy was distributing many of its AI tracks through a partnership with New York-based music services giant Downtown. Though this partnership was in place during the same time frame as Smith’s alleged fraudulent activities, it is unclear if any of Smith’s allegedly fraudulent AI tracks were distributed through Downtown. The indictment does state, however, that Smith used two distributors to upload content from 2017-2024, one based in New York and one based in Florida.

In May 2023, Boomy told users via Discord that Spotify had shut down its ability to upload songs to the DSP and that some of their released tracks had been removed. “This decision was made by Spotify and Boomy’s distributor in order to enable a review of potentially anomalous activity,” Boomy said at the time. Spotify later confirmed that the “anomalous activity” was related to possible streaming fraud detected on certain tracks. A Spotify spokesperson said at the time, “Artificial streaming is a longstanding, industry-wide issue that Spotify is working to stamp out across our service.”

In fall 2023, Boomy announced that it had partnered with fraud detection company Beatdapp to combat streaming manipulation. A month later, Boomy also announced that it had reached a new distribution partnership with ADA Worldwide, a company under the Warner Music Group (WMG) umbrella.

WMG is one of Boomy’s top investors, making both a pre-seed round as well as a seed round investment. Other Boomy investors include Sound Media Ventures, First Check Ventures, Intonation Ventures, Future Labs, Boost VC and Scrum Venture, according to Crunchbase.

According to Songview and the MLC database, the same tracks that list Smith and Mitchell as co-writers also list a music industry veteran named Bram Bessoff, founder of promotional platform Indiehitmaker. Typically, these tracks allocate 10% of publishing ownership and royalties to Bessoff, which matches the amount the indictment indicates was paid to the unnamed promoter. Bessoff’s publisher is listed as Songtrust as well. (A source close to the matter says Bessoff’s deal with Songtrust was also terminated more than a year ago).

Bessoff declined Billboard’s request for comment, citing his cooperation in the ongoing investigation.

Kacey Musgraves is part of the Pink Pony Club!

The star kicked off the U.S. leg of her Deeper Well tour on Wednesday night (Sept. 4) in State College, Pennsylvania, where she surprised fans with an ethereal cover of Chappell Roan’s beloved hit, “Pink Pony Club.” The song was featured on the rising pop star’s debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.

KACEY MUSGRAVES COVERING PINK PONY CLUB BY CHAPPELL ROAN
🎥: @camirang pic.twitter.com/mHQ0YD8d54

— 🇲🇽 Kacey Musgraves México (@spaceykaceymx) September 5, 2024

Musgraves released an expanded version of her latest album, Deeper Well, in August with seven new songs.

The original, 14-track Deeper Well marked the follow-up to Musgraves’ 2021 album Star-Crossed. Over the past year, Musgraves notched her first Billboard Hot 100 chart leader with the Zach Bryan duet “I Remember Everything,” which also won a Grammy for best country song by a duo or group.

In April, Musgraves embarked on the Deeper Well World Tour, launching the tour in Dublin, Ireland. The trek will run through December, concluding with two shows at Nashville’s Bridgetone Arena.

According to 50 Cent, marriage is good for thee, but not for he. The hip-hop mogul sat down with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show on Wednesday night (Sept. 4) to chop it up about his happily unwedded lifestyle, as well as doubling down on a vow of celibacy he claimed has allowed him to stay super-focused.

“Listen, when you calm down you can focus,” 50 said after Colbert read a recent magazine headline touting the near-billionaire’s sex-free lifestyle. “I’ve been good to me.” Colbert wondered what the money was for then if not to share with the love of his life, with 50 (born Curtin Jackson) explaining, “[Money is] when things start getting complicated, things start getting confusing, ‘cause people come in for different reasons.”

When Colbert asked the father of two if he’d ever been married, 50 snapped back with, “I’m safe. I’m not a happy hostage. I’m here. I’m free. I made some mistakes, just not that one.” Colbert, who often touts his endless love for his wife of 31 years, Evie, pivoted to asking what the life of an unmarried man is like, after explaining that his typically begins with the Wordle.

50 said he goes to the gym or works out at home, while trying not to brag as he casually mentioned that he typically grabs 105-pound dumbbells. Colbert sweetly suggested that Curtis’ solitary lifestyle sounds, well, lonely. “I want you to have someone you can love in your life, Curtis,” Colbert said.

“I want someone I can love in my life too, just not right now, I’m fine,” 50 assured him.

Colbert also put up an adorable pic of 50 Cent chilling with his 12-year-old son, Sire Jackson, on the little man’s birthday this weekend. “What’s it like do you think to have 50 Cent as a dad?” Colbert wondered. “Great,” the rapper said with a wide smile, describing a special dinner at a steakhouse he had for his son that included a pop-in from Dr. Dre, which in typical tween fashion did not impress Sire as much as 50 thought it might.

The interview also featured 50 running down what the audience was like in Almaty, Kazakhstan when he performed there for the first time on his Final Lap tour last year. “They don’t know I’m not Michael Jackson… it was so cool. It was unbelievable,” 50 said, recalling how fans chased his car as if he was actually the late King of Pop.

Multi-hyphenate 50 was ostensibly in the house to promote his debut novel, The Accomplice, which the “In Da Club” MC said he essentially dictated to writer Aaron Philip Clark based on a rough outline he came up with. And, 50 being multimedia mogul 50, he said he’s already in talks with some TV networks about adopting the story about the first Black Texas Ranger on the hunt for master criminal Desmond Bell.

Watch 50 on The Late Show below.

The Leeds, England-based English Teacher released its debut EP, Polyawkward, in 2022, and its first album, This Could Be Texas, in April. So it surprised even them that they sold out New York’s Bowery Ballroom in June — on a Monday, no less.

Frontwoman and lyricist Lily Fontaine and lead guitarist and producer Lewis Whiting chalk it up to relentless touring, which has honed the band into a tight unit that melds Radiohead-style guitar and synth sonics with hard funk flourishes and elegant melodies that showcase Fontaine’s literary lyrics about place, identity and broken relationships. (The quartet has actually been playing together since 2018 when they were a very different dream pop band called Frank.) At the Bowery Ballroom, Fontaine’s electric stage presence also galvanized the crowd, as she paced the stage and alternated between rhythm guitar and synth.

English Teacher’s road work and original sound resulted in This Could Be Texas garnering stellar reviews and a Mercury Prize nomination this year. At the end of August, they continued their momentum with a new EP, English Teacher: Live From BBC Maida Vale — which includes covers of Billie Eilish‘s “Birds of a Feather” and LCD Soundsystem‘s “New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” — and on Sept. 15, they return to the road, playing a slew of dates in North America and Europe.

Fontaine and Whiting (briefly) Zoomed in from the United Kingdom to talk about the band’s success, the origin of its name, its songwriting process and its plans for the future.

You’re a very tight band. Is there a lot of practice involved?

Whiting: Less than you think.

Fontaine: We’ve been on tour for at least the past four or five months, and we’re about to start up again. We don’t really have time to practice because we’re playing the set over and over again.

That’s practice of a sort. I do think that strong live shows are crucial to building a fan base. Lily, you’re riveting onstage. Were you influenced by any other artists in terms of stage presence.

Fontaine: It’s not really a conscious thing to be honest. I’ve been doing it for such a long time — 10 years — that I feel quite confident now on stage. I also think that being a music fan, the affectations of people that I have enjoyed slip in with my stage personality.

How did the band’s name come about?

Fontaine: Ugh.

Whiting: It was a name Lily came up with quite a while back. There are different ways of looking at it. Like, a lot of our family members we’re English teachers and it’s a bit of a connection.

Fontaine: Now, I like the idea of what an English teacher is. We go to so many different countries, and the English language is so prevalent— people do speak it everywhere now — that people sometimes resent it. I hate the name, but also I like the idea of an English teacher being perceived negatively or positively depending on which country you’re in.

How did you all get signed to Island UK?

Fontaine: It was baby steps.

Whiting: Yeah. We’d gotten some support slots, Our guys were floating about. Nothing happened for a long, long time after that. They must have been aware of us and then yeah, the EP came out, we started to play more and they started sniffing around a little bit more.

A number of bands are striking deals with labels that enable them to keep their masters. Was that something you did?

No. It was like a split. We have a percentage.

What are the best and worst parts of touring?

Whiting: The best parts are being able to travel to places and play music that we’ve written to people who don’t know it as well. That’s the best bit, and then I suppose all the rest of it is the bad bit. The traveling is taxing for sure.

The price of touring has ratcheted up, which particularly effects indie bands. What has your experience been?

Fontaine: We don’t really make money. We only ever break even or lose money.

Regarding the title of your album, This Could Be Texas, you could have chosen any state or city here. Why Texas?

Whiting: It must have been in our minds subconsciously because it had just come up on the news about [us playing] South by Southwest. I think it was the best descriptor for where we stood. It was a really hot day and we were at a car park. At first it was a bit of a joke phrase, but then it morphed and attached itself to the song, which is about the process of writing the album. Then it became us saying this should be the title for the album. It wasn’t a sorted-out thing from the start. It just kind of presented itself.

Lily, on “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab,” you sing, “I’m the world’s biggest paving slab, and the world’s smallest celebrity.” Can you give me some context behind that?

Fontaine: I grew up in Colne, Lancashire, and outside the town hall there’s a giant paving slab and that’s one of the town’s local celebrities if you will. The song is about exploring this great display and not necessarily ever leaving the town. It’s a juxtaposition of exploring feelings of grandeur and feelings of self-deprecation.

There also seems to be a little bit of, “Don’t tread on me.”

Fontaine: Yeah, definitely. I think that’s the grandeur element.

Do you and the rest of the band write songs collaboratively?

Fontaine: It’s different every time. Sometimes, one of us will come in with a song quite finished and sometimes just a bit of poetry and a riff come together. Sometimes it’s separate songs. Sometimes it’s all together. It’s different. We like to work like that. So far, it’s been all right.

Whiting: It’s a quite chaotic approach. It’s kind of just throw things together.

Another standout song on the album is “R&B.” On it, you sing, “Despite appearances, I haven’t got the voice for R&B.” Is that subtext about expectations of you as an artist because of your skin color?

Fontaine: The whole song isn’t about that, but part of it is. At the time, I had writer’s block and the only thing I could come up with in my head was a melody for an R&B song. I thought that was so ironic because that is the genre that people always assume that I make when they look at me. Not always, but there’s been times when we meet another musician, and the look on their face is a big shock when I say that I make guitar music.

You come from a mixed-race family?

Fontaine: Yeah, my dad’s side of the family are from Dominica in the Caribbean and my mum’s just I don’t know, England I guess. They’re both British.

Now that Kamala Harris is a presidential candidate, race issues are at the forefront of the campaign. I don’t know if it made news in the U.K., but Donald Trump made headlines here when he said that Harris only recently had decided to identify as Black instead of Indian. Is that kind of racism familiar to you?

Fontaine: Definitely. It’s so funny because it depends on who you’re with. It depends on how Black you are, how white you are. So, if I’m with my white friends, then I’m the Black one, but if I’m with my Black family I’m the whitest person in the room. Race is fluid in a sense — and what a prick [Trump] is. Sorry.

Are you following the presidential race here?

Whiting: I’m following it closely. Biden dropping out was an extremely good call. I can’t say I knew a crazy amount about Harris before this, but I like following American politics. I’m an avid American politics podcast listener.

Fontaine: I don’t have as much knowledge of [politics] as Lewis because I don’t listen to any podcasts or anything. I’m glad that Biden dropped out. I think that was an obvious decision. We’re going to be in the U.S. when the election is happening, so it will be an interesting time to be there.

Lily, the lyrics to “Broken Biscuits” are quite powerful and sound very personal. Is there an autobiographical element to it?

Fontaine: That’s probably the most personal song on the album actually. Yeah, it’s really personal. There’s this John Cooper Clarke poem, “Evidently Chickentown,” that has a lot of repetition, and I wanted to see how many different ways I could use the word “broken.” Then I was seeing how I could use all those different ways to relate to things in my life that were broken or that have been broken.

There are references to all sorts of things: breaking in shoes and broken homes, but also “Smithereens,” which is a Black Mirror episode and the show’s creators [Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones] call their company Broke and Bones, which I use in the lyrics. There’s lighthearted stuff in there as well. It’s not all sad. But a lot of it is quite dark actually.

Do you come from a broken home?

Fontaine: That’s me. Yeah, my parents split up when, I don’t know — maybe I was like one. It was when I wasn’t conscious, which is a blessing probably.

I noticed that the band worked in more melodies on This Could Be Texas than you have on prior work. Has that been a natural progression?

Fontaine: That’s probably because when we were writing the first EP and some of those earlier songs. I was listening to more post-punk. That was the time of the post-Brexit, post-punk resurgence in the U.K., and I was quite influenced by that. That trend wore off, and I was listening to a lot of classic songs — not classical music. I’m coming to music as a singer, and I felt it was just natural that I would probably go back towards that eventually.

At the end of August, English Teacher put out a live EP that includes covers of Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” and LCD Soundsystem’s “New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down.” Why did you choose those?

Fontaine: LCD felt natural, because we all really like them, especially that song. I think it felt like a song that we could tackle given the instruments that we had at our disposal. With “Birds of a Feather,” we were asked to do a cover for BBC Radio One which is as you probably know is more of the pop end of the spectrum. So, we looked at what had come out recently — and my boyfriend said, “You should do this song.” We listened to it together, and I was just crying. I found it really moving, and I was like, “I want to do this.” We put it together in a day, and it felt right.

Are you working on the next album?

Fontaine: Yeah, we’ve got a few songs written actually. It seems like it’s come around so fast. Yeah, I’ve got ideas of the concept for it and everything.

Can you share the concept?

Fontaine: It’s too early to say really, and it’s not entirely up to me. But I don’t think I would want to put out a body of work that didn’t have some kind of unifying aspect to it. It happens naturally when you pull everything together that something connects it. It’s not exactly a concept album but always a bit of a through narrative. Thematically, it will probably be a sadder and darker album.

You are clearly into literature, poetry and media. Is there anything that has your attention these days?

Fontaine: Yeah. I’m going through a big phase with Octavia Butler, the science fiction writer. I’m obsessed with her and I just finished the second of two of her books. I’ve immediately ordered the next one because I want to read it whilst I’m still in that world.

She’s my focus at the moment. I’ve been watching The Bear. I think it’s amazing. The writing is brilliant, and the acting is so realistic that it’s kind of scary that people can act but also be so human at the same time. I love food as well so it’s a good one.