A digital rights group has stated to have scraped a vast number of tracks from the popular streaming service and is getting ready to publish them online.
Potential Impetus for AI Development
Industry experts noted the seeming data breach could aid AI companies looking for material to develop their models.
A group called Anna’s Archive reported it had obtained 86 million audio tracks from the platform and 256 million entries of associated data such as performer and album names. The company, which hosts more than 100 million songs, confirmed that the breach did not represent its entire catalog.
“We have located and disabled the nefarious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping,” said a company spokesperson.
The Swedish company, which has more than 700 million subscribers worldwide, added that an inquiry into unauthorized access found a third party scraped public metadata and employed illicit methods to bypass DRM [digital rights management].
Group's Declared Mission and Worries
The streaming service does not believe the music taken by Anna’s Archive has been made public yet. Anna’s Archive, which is known for providing links to copyright-infringing books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘historical repository’ for music.
The group asserted 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.
“Of course the service doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a fantastic beginning,” commented Anna’s Archive, which frames its mission as “preserving humanity’s information and culture”.
Model Development and Copyright Debate
Ed Newton-Rex for defending artists’ copyright, said the leaked music would likely be used for training artificial intelligence systems.
“Educating models on illegally sourced material is sadly common in the tech sector, so this accessed music is almost certain to be used instructing AI models,” he stated.
The group's website makes references to LibGen, a vast online repository of copyrighted books that has reportedly been leveraged by Meta to develop its AI models.
The co-founder of an artificial intelligence company wrote on the professional network that individuals of the public could in principle “create their own private free version of the service”. The executive added it could also allow technology firms to “train on modern music at scale”.
Intellectual property law has become a key issue between creatives, writers and content creators on one side and tech giants on the other.
Government Proposals and Reactions
In the UK, creative professionals have raised concerns against a ministerial proposal to allow AI companies use copyright-protected work without permission unless the owner signals. Virtually every respondent to a government consultation on the idea has supported artists’ apprehensions.
A government minister for science, research and development told parliament this month there was “no clear consensus” on the matter, adding that ministers would “use the time to get this right”. The government has pledged to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by next year.
