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An activist organization has stated to have scraped a vast number of songs from Spotify and is preparing to release them online.

Possible Boost for AI Development

Observers said the apparent data breach could aid artificial intelligence firms looking for material to develop their technology.

A group known as Anna’s Archive reported it had obtained 86 million music files from Spotify and 256 million rows of associated data such as artist and record names. Spotify, which carries more than 100 million songs, confirmed that the leak did not represent its full inventory.

“We have located and deactivated the malicious user accounts that engaged in illegal scraping,” said a company spokesperson.

The Swedish company, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, further explained that an investigation into unauthorized access identified a external actor collected public metadata and used illicit methods to circumvent DRM protections.

Group's Declared Mission and Worries

The streaming service does not think the audio acquired by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for offering links to copyright-infringing books, said in a blog it wanted to create a ‘historical repository’ for music.

They asserted the music files represented 99.6% of all music listened to by its listeners and would be distributed via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a means of exchanging 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 purpose as “safeguarding humanity’s information and culture”.

AI Training and Copyright Battleground

A composer and campaigner for defending artists’ copyright, said the leaked music would likely be used for developing artificial intelligence systems.

“Training on illegally sourced material is unfortunately common in the tech sector, so this accessed music is highly likely to end up instructing AI models,” he stated.

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

A founder of an AI startup posted on LinkedIn that members of the public could in principle “create their own private free version of the service”. He said it could also enable technology firms to “train on modern music at scale”.

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 Responses

In the UK, creative professionals have protested against a government 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, innovation and development told parliament this month there was “no clear consensus” on the matter, adding that ministers would “take the time to get this correct”. The administration has committed to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by next year.