A digital rights group has stated to have harvested a vast number of songs from the popular streaming service and is getting ready to publish them online.
Potential Boost for Artificial Intelligence Development
Observers noted the seeming data breach could boost AI companies searching for material to train their models.
A group called Anna’s Archive reported it had obtained 86 million audio tracks from Spotify and 256 million entries of metadata such as performer and album names. Spotify, which hosts more than 100 million songs, stated that the leak did not represent its full catalog.
“We have located and deactivated the nefarious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping,” said a company spokesperson.
The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million subscribers worldwide, further explained that an inquiry into unauthorised access identified a third party collected public metadata and used illicit methods to bypass DRM protections.
Archive's Declared Goal and Concerns
Spotify does not believe the audio taken by Anna’s Archive has been made public yet. Anna’s Archive, which is known for offering links to pirated books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘preservation archive’ for music.
They asserted the music files represented 99.6% of all music listened to by Spotify users and would be distributed via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a means of sharing large digital files online.
“Of course the service doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a great start,” said Anna’s Archive, which frames its purpose as “safeguarding humanity’s knowledge and culture”.
AI Training and Intellectual Property Battleground
A composer and campaigner for protecting artists’ copyright, said the leaked music would likely be used for developing AI models.
“Training on pirated data is sadly widespread in the tech sector, so this stolen music is highly likely to be used training AI models,” he stated.
The group's website makes references to LibGen, a huge online archive of pirated books that has allegedly been used by Meta to train its systems.
A founder of an artificial intelligence company posted on the professional network that individuals of the public could in principle “build their own private free version of the service”. He added it could also enable technology firms to “train on modern 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 Reactions
Across Britain, artists and writers have protested against a government suggestion to allow AI companies utilize protected work without permission unless the rights holder signals. Almost every respondent to a government consultation on the idea has supported artists’ concerns.
The secretary of state for science, research and development told parliament this month there was “no clear consensus” on the matter, adding that ministers would “take the time to get this right”. The government has pledged to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by next year.
