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An activist organization has claimed to have harvested a vast number of songs from the popular streaming service and is getting ready to release them publicly.

Potential Impetus for AI Training

Observers noted the apparent data breach could boost AI companies searching for data to develop their models.

An entity called Anna’s Archive said it had obtained 86 million music files from Spotify and 256 million entries of metadata such as performer and record names. The company, which carries more than 100 million tracks, stated that the breach did not represent its full inventory.

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

The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million subscribers worldwide, added that an inquiry into unauthorised access found a external actor scraped public metadata and used illicit tactics to circumvent DRM protections.

Group's Declared Goal and Concerns

Spotify does not think the music taken by Anna’s Archive has been released 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.

The group claimed the audio files represented 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 beginning,” said Anna’s Archive, which describes its purpose as “safeguarding humanity’s information and heritage”.

Model Development and Intellectual Property Debate

Ed Newton-Rex for protecting artists’ rights, remarked the breached music would likely be utilized for developing artificial intelligence systems.

“Training on illegally sourced material is sadly widespread in the AI industry, so this stolen music is almost certain to be used training AI models,” he said.

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

A founder of an artificial intelligence company wrote on the professional network that members of the public could in principle “build their own personal free version of Spotify”. The executive said it could also enable tech companies to “train on contemporary music at a large volume”.

Intellectual property law has emerged as a battleground between artists, authors and content creators on one side and tech giants on the other.

Policy Considerations and Reactions

In the UK, artists and writers have raised concerns against a ministerial suggestion to allow AI companies use copyright-protected work without permission unless the owner opts out. Almost every participant to a government call for evidence on the proposal has supported artists’ concerns.

A government minister for technology, innovation and development told parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the issue, adding that ministers would “use the time to get this right”. The government has committed to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by March 2025.