Trust & Safety In Music Symposium
Trust & Safety In Music Symposium
The Music Business Association, in collaboration with Believe & TuneCore, will host the second annual Trust & Safety in Music Symposium in the Rosenthal Pavilion at NYU’s Kimmel Center! In the event’s second iteration, we will explore the implications of the Michael Smith case and assess how effective our industry has been at addressing fraud.
Click here to view our 2025 agenda!
Updated January 8th, 2025
9:30 — 10 am ET
Doors Open & Registration
10 — 10:50 am ET
Event Welcome & Opening Keynote
This chat will set the stage for the day’s discussions, as Katherine Reilly is a member of the team that brought the case against Michael Smith, who was arrested on Sept. 4, 2024. Smith utilized AI to create hundreds of thousands of songs, used bot accounts to stream those songs, and then created fake users who collected the revenue. In all, he was able to steal $10 million from the music industry over seven years, with relatively primitive techniques. What can we as an industry learn from this arrest, and how will it change how we do business?
Interviewee:
Interviewer:
10:50 — 11:40 am ET
The Legal Angle
Michael Smith was not charged with “streaming fraud” – in fact, that isn’t an actual crime. The day’s first panel will parse through all the things we need to know about this case from a legal perspective. We’ll also ask whether or not it may lead to regulation, and if our industry wants that to happen.
Moderator:
Panelists:
11:40 am — 12:30 pm ET
Protecting Our Content, Rights, Royalties, and Reputations
Knowing how Michael Smith committed his crimes can be helpful in planning how to protect ourselves from similar attacks. But of course, streaming fraud takes many forms. This panel will look at the many types of fraud that exist, what is being done to detect fraudulent activity, and what we need to do as an industry to keep ourselves safe moving forward.
Moderator:
Panelists:
12:30 — 1:45 pm ET
Lunch Break
1:45 — 2:35 pm ET
The Lessons We Need to Learn
What can we take away from this particular case, one that hits so close to home and seems to have so much potential for replication? This discussion will cover takeaways that we as an industry need to examine, including current streaming models, the need for databases of truth, communication of “data anomalies,” and international legal implications, among others.
Moderator:
Panelists:
2:35 — 3:10 pm ET
Roundtable Discussions
Multiple conversations with industry leaders will allow participants to discuss takeaways from this case study and the effects they have on our plans for fraud-prevention efforts.
Roundtable Lineup:
Artist Education and Protection: How Do We Best Educate & Prevent Artists From Being Caught In Fraud?
Led by: Kristen London, Chief of Staff, TuneCore
Community Defense Against Badness: What Can the Music Industry Learn From Other Industries’ Success?
Led by: Matt LaVigna, CEO, National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA)
How Do We Prepare for the Future of AI?
Led by: Howie Singer, Advisory Board, Beatdapp; Adjunct Professor of Music Business, NYU
Recognizing Generative AI
Led by: Diederik d’Engelbronner, Senior Director of Operations, Downtown Music Holdings
Six Essential Steps You Must Take to Protect, Control and Monetize Your Music in the AI Era
Led By: Aileen Crowley, Co-President, Sureel AI; Partner, Lark42
Streaming Integrity: Tackling Copyright Infringement and Generative AI Challenges
Led by: Virginie Berger, Chief Business Development and Rights Officer, MatchTune
The Allure of Bot Farms for Real (Non-AI) Artists and How the Industry Can Respond
Led By: Amanda Jonat, Associate Director, Music Licensing, SiriusXM/Pandora
TikTok Sound ID Fraud
Led by: Larry Mills, SVP, Pex
3:10 — 4 pm ET
Industry Update: Where Are We Today?
Over the past year the music business has not been sitting still; many companies have worked internally or collaborated with their peers to combat music’s fraud problem. In the day’s final panel, we’ll hear from just a few entities enacting change for the benefit of the entire music business, whether that involves fighting fraud in their own backyard or creating new ideas to help make our industry safer.
Moderator
Panelists
4 — 5 pm ET
Closing Remarks, Cocktails & Networking
You can also view the agenda from our inaugural Trust & Safety Symposium from January 2024!
