An activist organization has claimed to have scraped a vast number of songs from the popular streaming service and is getting ready to release them online.
Possible Boost for Artificial Intelligence Development
Industry experts noted the seeming leak could aid artificial intelligence firms looking for material to train their models.
A group known as Anna’s Archive said it had obtained 86 million music files from the platform and 256 million rows of associated data such as performer and album names. Spotify, which hosts more than 100 million songs, confirmed that the leak did not constitute its full catalog.
“We have identified and deactivated the nefarious user accounts that engaged in illegal scraping,” stated a company representative.
The Stockholm-based service, which has more than 700 million subscribers worldwide, added that an inquiry into unauthorised access found a external actor collected public metadata and used questionable tactics to bypass DRM [digital rights management].
Group's Declared Mission and Concerns
Spotify does not think 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 its listeners and would be distributed via ‘torrents’, a method of exchanging large digital files online.
“Naturally the service doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a fantastic start,” commented Anna’s Archive, which frames its mission as “safeguarding humanity’s information and heritage”.
Model Development and Copyright Debate
A composer and campaigner for protecting artists’ rights, said the breached music would probably be utilized for training AI models.
“Training on illegally sourced material is sadly common in the tech sector, so this accessed music is almost certain to be used training AI models,” he said.
The Anna’s Archive site makes references to LibGen, a huge online repository of copyrighted books that has allegedly been used by the parent company of Facebook to develop its systems.
A founder of an AI startup wrote on the professional network that individuals of the public could in principle “create their own personal free version of the service”. He added it could also allow technology firms to “train on contemporary music at a large volume”.
Copyright has emerged as a battleground between artists, authors and creatives on one side and AI companies on the other.
Policy Considerations and Reactions
Across Britain, creative professionals have protested against a ministerial suggestion to let AI companies utilize protected work without consent unless the owner opts out. Virtually every respondent to a government call for evidence on the proposal has backed artists’ apprehensions.
A government minister for science, research and technology told parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the matter, noting that ministers would “use the time to get this right”. The government has committed to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by next year.
