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An activist group has claimed to have scraped a vast number of songs from the popular streaming service and is getting ready to publish them online.

Potential Boost for Artificial Intelligence Training

Industry experts noted the apparent data breach could aid AI companies looking for data to develop their technology.

An entity called Anna’s Archive reported it had scraped 86 million audio tracks from the platform and 256 million rows of metadata such as performer and record names. The company, which carries more than 100 million tracks, confirmed that the leak did not represent its full inventory.

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

The Stockholm-based service, which has more than 700 million subscribers worldwide, further explained that an investigation into unauthorized access identified a third party collected public metadata and employed illicit methods to circumvent DRM [digital rights management].

Group's Declared Goal and Concerns

The streaming service does not think the audio taken by Anna’s Archive has been made public yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for offering links to pirated books, said in a blog it wanted to create a ‘preservation archive’ for music.

The group asserted the music files accounted for 99.6% of all music streamed to by Spotify users and would be shared via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a method of sharing large digital files online.

“Naturally Spotify doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a fantastic start,” said Anna’s Archive, which describes its purpose as “safeguarding humanity’s knowledge and heritage”.

AI Training and Copyright Battleground

Ed Newton-Rex for protecting artists’ copyright, said the breached music would likely be used for training artificial intelligence systems.

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

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

The co-founder of an artificial intelligence company wrote on the professional network that individuals of the public could in theory “create their own private free version of Spotify”. The executive said it could also enable technology firms to “educate models on contemporary music at a large volume”.

Intellectual property law has become a battleground between artists, authors and content creators on one side and AI companies on the other.

Government Proposals and Reactions

In the UK, artists and writers have protested against a government suggestion to allow AI companies utilize copyright-protected work without consent unless the owner signals. Virtually every participant to a government consultation on the proposal has supported artists’ concerns.

A government minister for science, research and technology informed parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the issue, adding that ministers would “use the time to get this right”. The government has pledged to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by March 2025.