A digital rights group has stated to have scraped a vast number of songs from the popular streaming service and is preparing to publish them publicly.
Possible Boost for AI Development
Observers noted the apparent leak could boost AI companies searching for data to develop their technology.
A group known as Anna’s Archive said it had scraped 86 million music files from the platform and 256 million entries of metadata such as performer and record names. The company, which carries more than 100 million tracks, stated that the breach did not represent its full inventory.
“We have located and disabled the nefarious user accounts that were involved in unlawful scraping,” stated a company spokesperson.
The Swedish company, which has more than 700 million subscribers worldwide, further explained that an investigation into unauthorized access identified a third party scraped public metadata and employed questionable tactics to bypass DRM protections.
Archive's Stated Goal and Worries
Spotify does not believe the music acquired by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is known for offering links to pirated books, said in a blog it wanted to create a ‘preservation archive’ for music.
The group claimed the music files represented 99.6% of all music listened to by Spotify users and would be shared via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a method of sharing large digital files online.
“Naturally Spotify doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a great beginning,” commented Anna’s Archive, which describes its purpose as “safeguarding humanity’s knowledge and heritage”.
AI Training and Copyright Debate
A composer and campaigner for defending artists’ copyright, said the leaked music would probably be used for training AI models.
“Training on illegally sourced data is sadly widespread in the tech sector, so this accessed music is highly likely to be used instructing AI models,” he said.
The group's website alludes to LibGen, a huge online archive of pirated books that has reportedly been used by Meta to develop its systems.
A founder of an artificial intelligence company posted on the professional network that members of the public could in principle “build their own personal free equivalent of the service”. He added it could also allow technology firms to “educate models on contemporary music at scale”.
Copyright has become a key issue between artists, writers and creatives on one side and tech giants on the other.
Policy Proposals and Reactions
In the UK, artists and writers have protested against a government proposal to allow AI companies utilize copyright-protected work without consent unless the owner signals. Virtually every respondent to a government call for evidence on the proposal has backed artists’ concerns.
A government minister for technology, research and technology informed parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the issue, noting that ministers would “use the time to get this right”. The government has committed to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by March 2025.
