A digital rights group has claimed to have scraped millions of tracks from the popular streaming service and is getting ready to release them online.
Potential Boost for AI Training
Industry experts said the apparent leak could aid artificial intelligence firms searching for data to train their models.
An entity known as Anna’s Archive said it had obtained 86 million audio tracks from Spotify and 256 million entries of metadata such as artist and album names. Spotify, which hosts more than 100 million songs, confirmed that the leak did not constitute its full catalog.
“We have located and deactivated the nefarious user accounts that engaged in illegal scraping,” stated a Spotify spokesperson.
The Stockholm-based service, which has more than 700 million subscribers worldwide, further explained that an investigation into unauthorised access found a third party scraped public metadata and used illicit tactics to bypass DRM [digital rights management].
Group's Declared Goal and Worries
Spotify does not think the music taken by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for providing links to copyright-infringing books, said in a blog it wanted to create a ‘historical repository’ for music.
They claimed the audio 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 “preserving humanity’s information and culture”.
Model Development and Copyright Battleground
Ed Newton-Rex for defending artists’ copyright, said the leaked music would probably be utilized for developing AI models.
“Educating models on pirated material is unfortunately common in the AI industry, so this accessed music is almost certain to end up training AI models,” he said.
The Anna’s Archive site makes references to LibGen, a huge online repository of copyrighted books that has reportedly been used by the parent company of Facebook to develop its AI models.
A founder of an artificial intelligence company posted on LinkedIn that members of the public could in principle “create their own private free equivalent of Spotify”. The executive said it could also enable tech companies to “train on modern music at scale”.
Copyright has become a battleground between artists, authors and content creators on one side and AI companies on the other.
Policy Considerations and Reactions
Across Britain, creative professionals have protested against a government suggestion to let AI companies use copyright-protected work without consent unless the rights holder signals. Almost every participant to a government consultation on the proposal has backed artists’ apprehensions.
A government minister for technology, innovation and development informed parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the issue, adding that ministers would “take the time to get this correct”. The administration has pledged to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by next year.
