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A digital rights group has stated to have scraped millions of tracks from the popular streaming service and is getting ready to release them publicly.

Potential Boost for Artificial Intelligence Development

Observers noted the seeming data breach could boost AI companies searching for data to train their technology.

A group called Anna’s Archive reported it had scraped 86 million audio tracks from the platform and 256 million rows of associated data such as artist and album names. The company, which carries more than 100 million songs, stated that the breach did not constitute its full catalog.

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

The Stockholm-based company, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, further explained that an investigation into unauthorised access found a external actor scraped public metadata and used questionable tactics to bypass DRM protections.

Archive's Declared Mission and Worries

Spotify does not believe the audio taken by Anna’s Archive has been made public yet. Anna’s Archive, which is known for offering links to copyright-infringing books, said in a blog it wanted to create a ‘historical repository’ for music.

They asserted the audio files represented 99.6% of all music streamed to by its listeners and would be distributed via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a method of exchanging large data files online.

“Naturally the service doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a fantastic start,” commented Anna’s Archive, which describes its purpose as “preserving humanity’s knowledge and culture”.

AI Training and Intellectual Property Debate

Ed Newton-Rex for protecting artists’ rights, said the breached music would likely be utilized for developing artificial intelligence systems.

“Educating models on illegally sourced data is sadly widespread in the tech sector, so this stolen music is almost certain to be used instructing AI models,” he said.

The Anna’s Archive site alludes to a large online archive, a vast online archive of copyrighted books that has allegedly been leveraged by the parent company of Facebook to develop its AI models.

A founder of an artificial intelligence company posted on the professional network that members of the public could in theory “create their own private free version of Spotify”. He said it could also allow tech companies to “educate models on contemporary music at a large volume”.

Intellectual property law has become a key issue between creatives, authors and content creators on one side and AI companies on the other.

Government Proposals and Responses

Across Britain, artists and writers have protested against a government proposal to let AI companies utilize copyright-protected work without consent unless the rights holder opts out. Almost every respondent to a government call for evidence on the idea has supported artists’ apprehensions.

A government minister for technology, research and technology informed parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the matter, adding that ministers would “use the time to get this right”. The government has committed to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by next year.