An activist group has stated to have harvested millions of tracks from the popular streaming service and is getting ready to publish them online.
Possible Boost for AI Development
Observers said the seeming data breach could boost artificial intelligence firms looking for material to develop their technology.
An entity called Anna’s Archive reported it had obtained 86 million music files from the platform and 256 million rows of metadata such as artist and record names. The company, which hosts more than 100 million songs, stated that the breach did not represent its entire catalog.
“We have identified and deactivated the malicious user accounts that were involved in unlawful scraping,” said a Spotify spokesperson.
The Stockholm-based company, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, further explained that an inquiry into unauthorised access found a external actor collected public metadata and used illicit tactics to bypass DRM protections.
Archive's Stated Goal and Worries
The streaming service does not believe the audio taken by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is known for offering links to copyright-infringing books, said in a blog it wanted to create a ‘preservation archive’ for music.
They asserted the audio files accounted for 99.6% of all music listened to by Spotify users and would be distributed via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a method of sharing large data files online.
“Naturally Spotify doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a great start,” commented Anna’s Archive, which describes its mission as “safeguarding humanity’s information and heritage”.
Model Development and Copyright Battleground
Ed Newton-Rex for protecting artists’ rights, said the breached music would probably be used for developing AI models.
“Educating models on pirated material is unfortunately common in the AI industry, so this accessed music is highly likely to be used instructing AI models,” he stated.
The Anna’s Archive site makes references to LibGen, a huge online archive of pirated books that has reportedly been leveraged by Meta to develop its AI models.
The co-founder of an AI startup posted on the professional network that members of the public could in principle “build their own personal free version of the service”. The executive added it could also enable technology firms to “train on contemporary music at scale”.
Copyright has become a battleground between creatives, authors and creatives on one side and AI companies on the other.
Government Considerations and Reactions
In the UK, artists and writers have protested against a ministerial proposal to let AI companies use copyright-protected work without consent unless the owner signals. Virtually every participant to a government call for evidence on the idea has backed artists’ concerns.
The secretary of state for technology, research and development informed parliament this month there was “no clear consensus” on the issue, noting that ministers would “use the time to get this correct”. The administration has committed to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by next year.
