An activist organization has claimed to have harvested a vast number of songs from the popular streaming service and is getting ready to publish them online.
Possible Impetus for Artificial Intelligence Training
Industry experts said the seeming data breach could boost artificial intelligence firms looking for data to develop their models.
A group called Anna’s Archive reported it had obtained 86 million music files from the platform and 256 million rows of associated data such as performer and record names. The company, which carries more than 100 million tracks, stated that the leak did not represent its entire catalog.
“We have identified and deactivated the nefarious user accounts that engaged in illegal scraping,” said a company representative.
The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, added that an inquiry into unauthorized access identified a third party collected public metadata and employed questionable methods to circumvent DRM [digital rights management].
Archive's Declared Mission and Worries
Spotify does not believe the music acquired by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for providing links to copyright-infringing books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘preservation archive’ for music.
They asserted the music files accounted for 99.6% of all music listened to by its listeners and would be shared via ‘torrents’, a means of sharing large digital files online.
“Of course the service doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a great start,” said Anna’s Archive, which frames its mission as “safeguarding humanity’s knowledge and heritage”.
Model Development and Copyright Battleground
A composer and campaigner for defending artists’ rights, remarked the leaked music would likely be used for training artificial intelligence systems.
“Training on illegally sourced data is sadly common in the AI industry, so this accessed music is almost certain to end up instructing AI models,” he stated.
The group's website makes references to a large online archive, a vast online repository of pirated books that has reportedly been used by Meta to develop its AI models.
A founder of an artificial intelligence company posted on LinkedIn that members of the public could in principle “build their own private free version of Spotify”. The executive said it could also enable technology firms to “educate models on modern music at scale”.
Copyright has emerged as a key issue between artists, writers and creatives on one side and tech giants on the other.
Policy Proposals and Responses
In the UK, artists and writers have raised concerns against a government suggestion to allow AI companies utilize protected work without consent unless the rights holder opts out. Virtually every respondent to a government consultation on the proposal has supported artists’ apprehensions.
A government minister for science, innovation and technology informed parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the issue, noting that ministers would “take the time to get this right”. The government has pledged to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by next year.
