A digital rights organization has claimed to have scraped millions of songs from Spotify and is preparing to publish them publicly.
Possible Boost for AI Development
Observers noted the apparent data breach could aid artificial intelligence firms searching for data to develop their technology.
An entity known as Anna’s Archive said it had obtained 86 million music files from the platform and 256 million entries of associated data such as performer and album names. The company, which carries more than 100 million tracks, confirmed that the breach did not constitute its entire inventory.
“We have identified and deactivated the nefarious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping,” said a company representative.
The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, further explained that an investigation into unauthorised access identified a external actor scraped public metadata and employed illicit tactics to circumvent DRM protections.
Group's Declared Goal and Concerns
The streaming service does not believe the music acquired by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for offering links to copyright-infringing books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘preservation archive’ for music.
They claimed the audio files represented 99.6% of all music listened to by its listeners and would be shared via ‘torrents’, a method of sharing large data files online.
“Of course Spotify doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a fantastic beginning,” commented Anna’s Archive, which describes its purpose as “preserving humanity’s knowledge and culture”.
AI Training and Intellectual Property Battleground
A composer and campaigner for defending artists’ rights, remarked the leaked music would probably be used for training AI models.
“Training on pirated material is unfortunately widespread in the tech sector, so this stolen music is highly likely to be used training AI models,” he said.
The group's website alludes to LibGen, a vast online repository of copyrighted books that has reportedly been leveraged by Meta to train its AI models.
A founder of an artificial intelligence company posted on LinkedIn that individuals of the public could in theory “create their own private free version of Spotify”. He said it could also allow technology firms to “educate models on contemporary music at a large volume”.
Copyright has become a key issue between creatives, writers and creatives on one side and tech giants on the other.
Policy Considerations and Responses
In the UK, creative professionals have raised concerns against a government suggestion to allow AI companies use protected work without consent unless the rights holder opts out. Virtually every participant to a government call for evidence on the idea has supported artists’ apprehensions.
The secretary of state for technology, innovation and development informed parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the matter, noting that ministers would “use the time to get this correct”. The government has pledged to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by next year.
