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A digital rights group has stated to have harvested millions of songs from Spotify and is getting ready to publish them publicly.

Possible Impetus for AI Development

Industry experts noted the seeming data breach could aid artificial intelligence firms looking for data to train their models.

A group called Anna’s Archive said it had obtained 86 million music files from Spotify and 256 million entries of associated data such as performer and record names. The company, which hosts more than 100 million songs, confirmed that the leak did not constitute its full inventory.

“We have located and deactivated the nefarious user accounts that were involved in illegal scraping,” said a company representative.

The Stockholm-based service, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, further explained that an inquiry into unauthorised access found a third party collected public metadata and used questionable methods to circumvent DRM [digital rights management].

Archive's Declared Goal and Concerns

The streaming service does not think the music taken by Anna’s Archive has been released 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.

They claimed the audio files represented 99.6% of all music listened to by Spotify users and would be shared via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a means of sharing large data files online.

“Of course the service doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a fantastic start,” said Anna’s Archive, which frames its mission as “preserving humanity’s knowledge and heritage”.

AI Training and Intellectual Property Debate

Ed Newton-Rex for protecting artists’ copyright, remarked the breached music would likely be used for training AI models.

“Educating models on illegally sourced data is unfortunately widespread in the tech sector, so this stolen music is highly likely to end up instructing AI models,” he stated.

The group's website makes references to LibGen, a vast online repository of copyrighted books that has reportedly been used by Meta to train its systems.

The co-founder of an artificial intelligence company posted on the professional network that members of the public could in principle “create their own personal free version of the service”. He added it could also enable technology firms to “educate models on modern music at scale”.

Copyright has emerged as a battleground between creatives, authors and content creators on one side and AI companies on the other.

Government Considerations and Reactions

Across Britain, creative professionals have protested against a ministerial suggestion to let AI companies use copyright-protected work without permission unless the owner opts out. Almost every respondent to a government call for evidence on the proposal has backed artists’ apprehensions.

A government minister for technology, research and technology informed parliament this month there was “no clear consensus” on the issue, adding that ministers would “use the time to get this correct”. The administration has pledged to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by March 2025.