🔗 Share this article

A digital rights organization has stated to have scraped millions of tracks from Spotify and is getting ready to publish them online.

Potential Boost for AI Development

Industry experts noted the seeming leak could boost artificial intelligence firms looking for material to develop their models.

A group known as Anna’s Archive reported it had obtained 86 million audio tracks from Spotify and 256 million rows of metadata such as performer and record names. Spotify, which hosts more than 100 million tracks, stated that the breach did not represent its entire catalog.

“We have located and disabled the malicious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping,” said a company spokesperson.

The Stockholm-based service, which has more than 700 million subscribers worldwide, further explained that an inquiry into unauthorized access identified a external actor collected public metadata and used questionable tactics to circumvent DRM protections.

Group's Declared Goal and Concerns

Spotify does not believe the music taken by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for providing links to copyright-infringing books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘historical repository’ for music.

The group asserted the audio files accounted for 99.6% of all music listened to by Spotify users and would be shared via ‘torrents’, a method of sharing large data files online.

“Naturally the service doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a fantastic beginning,” said Anna’s Archive, which describes its purpose as “preserving humanity’s information and culture”.

Model Development and Intellectual Property Battleground

A composer and campaigner for defending artists’ rights, remarked the leaked music would likely be utilized for developing AI models.

“Educating models on pirated data is sadly common in the tech sector, so this stolen music is highly likely to end up instructing AI models,” he stated.

The Anna’s Archive site alludes to LibGen, a vast online archive of pirated books that has reportedly been leveraged by the parent company of Facebook to develop its systems.

A founder of an AI startup posted on the professional network that individuals of the public could in principle “create their own personal free equivalent of Spotify”. The executive said it could also allow tech companies to “train on modern music at scale”.

Copyright has become a battleground between creatives, authors and creatives on one side and AI companies on the other.

Government Proposals and Reactions

In the UK, creative professionals have protested against a government suggestion to allow AI companies use protected work without permission unless the owner signals. Virtually every participant to a government call for evidence on the proposal has supported artists’ apprehensions.

A government minister for technology, research and development informed parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the issue, noting that ministers would “use the time to get this correct”. The government has committed to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by March 2025.