Advocacy Group Claims to Have Scraped Millions of Music Files from the Streaming Giant

An activist organization has stated to have scraped millions of tracks from the popular streaming service and is preparing to publish them online.

Possible Boost for AI Development

Observers said the apparent data breach could aid AI companies looking for material to develop their technology.

An entity known as Anna’s Archive reported it had scraped 86 million music files from Spotify and 256 million rows of metadata such as performer and record names. Spotify, which carries more than 100 million tracks, stated that the leak did not constitute its entire inventory.

“We have located and deactivated the nefarious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping,” stated a company spokesperson.

The Stockholm-based company, which has more than 700 million subscribers worldwide, added that an investigation into unauthorized access found a external actor collected public metadata and employed illicit tactics to circumvent DRM [digital rights management].

Archive's Declared Mission and Worries

The streaming service does not believe the audio taken by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for providing links to pirated books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘historical repository’ for music.

They claimed the audio files accounted for 99.6% of all music streamed to by its listeners and would be shared via ‘torrents’, a method of sharing large digital files online.

“Of course the service doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a great beginning,” commented Anna’s Archive, which frames its mission as “safeguarding humanity’s knowledge and culture”.

AI Training and Copyright Debate

Ed Newton-Rex for defending artists’ copyright, said the breached music would likely be utilized for developing AI models.

“Training on illegally sourced material is unfortunately common in the AI industry, so this accessed music is highly likely to end up instructing AI models,” he said.

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

A founder of an artificial intelligence company posted on LinkedIn that members of the public could in principle “create their own personal free version of the service”. He said it could also enable technology firms to “educate models on contemporary music at scale”.

Intellectual property law has emerged as a battleground between creatives, writers and creatives on one side and tech giants on the other.

Policy Considerations and Responses

Across Britain, artists and writers have protested against a ministerial proposal to allow AI companies use protected work without consent unless the rights holder opts out. Almost every participant to a government consultation on the idea has backed artists’ apprehensions.

A government minister for science, research and technology told parliament this month there was “no clear consensus” on the issue, noting that ministers would “use the time to get this right”. The administration has pledged to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by next year.