Activist Group Asserts to Have Extracted Countless of Audio Tracks from the Streaming Giant

An activist group has claimed to have harvested millions of tracks from Spotify and is getting ready to publish them online.

Possible Boost for AI Development

Observers said the apparent data breach could boost artificial intelligence firms looking for material to develop their models.

A group called Anna’s Archive said it had obtained 86 million audio tracks from the platform and 256 million entries of metadata such as performer and record names. The company, which carries more than 100 million tracks, confirmed that the breach did not constitute its full inventory.

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

The Stockholm-based company, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, added that an inquiry into unauthorized access identified a external actor collected public metadata and employed questionable methods to bypass DRM protections.

Group's Stated Goal and Worries

The streaming service does not think the music taken by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is known for offering links to copyright-infringing books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘historical repository’ for music.

The group asserted the music files accounted for 99.6% of all music listened to by Spotify users and would be shared via ‘torrents’, a means of sharing large data files online.

“Naturally Spotify doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a great start,” said Anna’s Archive, which frames its purpose as “safeguarding humanity’s information and culture”.

AI Training and Copyright Battleground

A composer and campaigner for protecting artists’ rights, remarked the breached music would likely be used for training AI models.

“Educating models on illegally sourced data is sadly widespread in the AI industry, so this stolen music is highly likely to be used instructing AI models,” he stated.

The group's website makes references to LibGen, a vast online archive of copyrighted books that has allegedly been leveraged by the parent company of Facebook to train its systems.

A founder of an artificial intelligence company posted on LinkedIn that individuals of the public could in theory “create their own private free version of the service”. The executive added it could also allow tech companies to “train on modern music at scale”.

Copyright has become a key issue 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 protested against a ministerial proposal to allow AI companies utilize copyright-protected work without permission unless the rights holder signals. Almost every participant to a government call for evidence on the idea has supported artists’ apprehensions.

The secretary of state for science, innovation and technology informed parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the matter, adding that ministers would “use the time to get this correct”. The administration has committed to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by March 2025.