🔗 Share this article

An activist organization has stated to have harvested a vast number of tracks from Spotify and is preparing to publish them online.

Possible Boost for AI Training

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

A group called Anna’s Archive reported it had obtained 86 million music files from the platform and 256 million entries of associated data such as artist and album names. Spotify, which hosts more than 100 million tracks, confirmed that the leak did not represent its entire inventory.

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

The Swedish company, which has more than 700 million subscribers worldwide, further explained that an investigation into unauthorised access identified a third party collected public metadata and employed illicit tactics to circumvent DRM protections.

Group's Declared Mission and Concerns

Spotify does not believe the audio acquired by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is known for providing links to copyright-infringing books, said in a blog it wanted to create a ‘preservation archive’ for music.

The group claimed the music files represented 99.6% of all music streamed to by Spotify users and would be shared via ‘torrents’, a method of exchanging large digital files online.

“Naturally Spotify doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a great beginning,” commented Anna’s Archive, which describes its purpose as “safeguarding humanity’s knowledge and culture”.

Model Development and Intellectual Property Battleground

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

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

The Anna’s Archive site makes references to LibGen, a vast online archive of pirated books that has reportedly been used by Meta to develop its systems.

A founder of an artificial intelligence company posted on the professional network that individuals of the public could in theory “build their own private free equivalent of the service”. He said it could also allow tech companies to “train on modern music at scale”.

Intellectual property law has become a key issue between creatives, writers and content creators on one side and AI companies on the other.

Policy Proposals and Responses

In the UK, creative professionals have protested against a ministerial suggestion to let AI companies utilize protected work without permission unless the owner opts out. Almost every participant to a government call for evidence on the idea has backed artists’ concerns.

A government minister for technology, innovation and technology told parliament this month there was “no clear consensus” on the matter, adding that ministers would “take the time to get this correct”. The administration has committed to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by next year.