🔗 Share this article Activist Group Asserts to Have Scraped Countless of Audio Files from Spotify An activist group has stated to have harvested millions of tracks from the popular streaming service and is getting ready to publish them publicly. Potential Boost for Artificial Intelligence Development Observers noted the apparent data breach could aid AI companies searching for material to train their technology. A group called Anna’s Archive reported it had obtained 86 million music files from Spotify and 256 million rows of associated data such as performer and record names. The company, which hosts more than 100 million songs, stated that the breach did not represent its entire inventory. “We have identified and deactivated the malicious user accounts that were involved in unlawful scraping,” said a Spotify spokesperson. The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, further explained that an investigation into unauthorized access found a third party scraped public metadata and used questionable methods to bypass DRM [digital rights management]. Group's Stated Goal and Concerns The streaming service does not believe the audio acquired by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for offering links to copyright-infringing books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘historical repository’ for music. They asserted the audio files accounted for 99.6% of all music listened to by Spotify users and would be shared via ‘torrents’, a means of exchanging large data files online. “Of course the service doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a fantastic start,” commented Anna’s Archive, which describes its purpose as “safeguarding humanity’s knowledge and heritage”. AI Training and Intellectual Property Debate A composer and campaigner for protecting artists’ rights, 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 training AI models,” he said. The group's website alludes to a large online archive, a vast online archive of copyrighted books that has allegedly been used by Meta to develop its AI models. A founder of an artificial intelligence company wrote 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 a large volume”. Copyright has become a battleground between artists, authors and creatives on one side and tech giants on the other. Government Proposals and Responses In the UK, creative professionals have protested against a government suggestion to allow AI companies use copyright-protected work without permission unless the owner signals. Almost every respondent to a government consultation on the idea has backed artists’ apprehensions. A government minister for science, research and development told parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the matter, noting that ministers would “use the time to get this right”. The administration has committed to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by March 2025.