🔗 Share this article

A digital rights organization has claimed to have scraped a vast number of tracks from the popular streaming service and is preparing to release them online.

Possible Impetus for AI Training

Industry experts noted the apparent leak could aid AI companies searching for data to train their technology.

A group called Anna’s Archive reported it had obtained 86 million audio tracks from Spotify and 256 million rows of associated data such as artist and record names. The company, which carries more than 100 million tracks, confirmed that the leak did not represent its entire catalog.

“We have identified and deactivated the nefarious user accounts that were involved in unlawful scraping,” said a company representative.

The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, further explained that an inquiry into unauthorised access identified a third party collected public metadata and employed questionable methods to circumvent DRM [digital rights management].

Group's Declared Goal and Worries

The streaming service does not think the music acquired by Anna’s Archive has been made public yet. Anna’s Archive, which is known for providing links to copyright-infringing books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘preservation archive’ for music.

They claimed the music files represented 99.6% of all music streamed to by its listeners and would be distributed via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a method of exchanging large data files online.

“Naturally 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 “safeguarding humanity’s knowledge and heritage”.

Model Development and Copyright Debate

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

“Training on pirated data is sadly common in the AI industry, so this stolen music is almost certain to be used instructing AI models,” he said.

The Anna’s Archive site makes references to a large online archive, a huge online archive of pirated books that has reportedly been used by the parent company of Facebook to train its AI models.

A founder of an artificial intelligence company wrote on the professional network that individuals of the public could in theory “build their own personal free equivalent of Spotify”. The executive said it could also allow tech companies to “educate models on modern music at a large volume”.

Intellectual property law has become a key issue between creatives, authors and content creators on one side and tech giants on the other.

Policy Considerations and Responses

Across Britain, artists and writers have raised concerns against a government suggestion to let AI companies use copyright-protected work without consent unless the owner opts out. Almost every respondent to a government call for evidence on the proposal has supported artists’ apprehensions.

The secretary of state for science, research and technology informed parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the matter, adding that ministers would “use the time to get this right”. The administration has pledged to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by March 2025.