An activist group has claimed to have scraped a vast number of songs from Spotify and is preparing to release them online.
Potential Impetus for Artificial Intelligence Training
Industry experts noted the apparent leak could aid artificial intelligence firms searching for data to develop their models.
An entity called Anna’s Archive said it had obtained 86 million music files from Spotify and 256 million entries of associated data such as performer and record names. Spotify, which hosts more than 100 million songs, confirmed that the breach did not constitute its entire catalog.
“We have located and disabled the malicious user accounts that were involved in unlawful scraping,” said a company spokesperson.
The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, added that an inquiry into unauthorised access identified a external actor collected public metadata and used illicit tactics to circumvent DRM protections.
Group's Stated Goal and Concerns
Spotify does not believe the audio acquired by Anna’s Archive has been made public yet. Anna’s Archive, which is known for offering links to pirated books, said in a blog it wanted to create a ‘historical repository’ for music.
They asserted the music files represented 99.6% of all music listened to by its listeners and would be shared via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a method of exchanging large digital files online.
“Of course the service doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a great beginning,” said Anna’s Archive, which frames its mission as “safeguarding humanity’s knowledge and heritage”.
AI Training and Copyright Debate
A composer and campaigner for protecting artists’ rights, said the breached music would likely be utilized for developing AI models.
“Training on illegally sourced material is unfortunately common in the tech sector, so this stolen music is highly likely to end up instructing AI models,” he said.
The group's website alludes to LibGen, a huge online repository of pirated books that has allegedly been leveraged by Meta to train its systems.
The co-founder of an AI startup wrote on LinkedIn that members of the public could in principle “build their own personal free equivalent of the service”. He said it could also allow technology firms to “educate models on modern music at scale”.
Copyright has emerged as a battleground between artists, authors and content creators on one side and tech giants on the other.
Government Considerations and Responses
Across Britain, creative professionals have protested against a government proposal to allow AI companies use protected work without consent unless the owner opts out. Virtually every respondent to a government consultation on the idea has backed artists’ apprehensions.
The secretary of state for technology, innovation and technology told parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the issue, noting that ministers would “take the time to get this right”. The administration has committed to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by next year.
