Swedish analyst leads global fight against AI-driven music streaming fraud

From a high-rise office in New York, Melanie Stavenow leads the analytical arm of the nonprofit cyber-crime coalition NCFTA, coordinating closely with the FBI and the Music Fights Fraud Alliance. Her team sifts through massive data sets to spot recurring email addresses and usernames that appear across multiple streaming platforms, linking them to bot networks that artificially boost play counts. These inflated streams divert royalty payments, generating billions of dollars that are often laundered through cryptocurrency or other illegal channels.

The fraud has evolved with AI, allowing perpetrators to create entire songs, artist personas and cover art, then flood platforms with bot-driven listens. A recent U.S. case involving a 54-year-old man resulted in over eight million dollars in stolen royalties, underscoring the scale. Swedish gangs have been implicated in similar operations, using Spotify to wash illicit proceeds. Stavenow urges stronger cross-border cooperation, hoping Sweden will join the international effort to dismantle the networks.