Activist Collective Claims to Have Extracted Millions of Audio Files from the Streaming Giant

A digital rights group has claimed to have harvested millions of tracks from the popular streaming service and is preparing to release them online.

Possible Boost for AI Training

Observers noted the seeming leak could boost artificial intelligence firms searching for data to train their technology.

A group called Anna’s Archive said it had scraped 86 million music files from Spotify and 256 million rows of associated data such as performer and album names. The company, which hosts more than 100 million tracks, confirmed that the leak did not constitute its entire catalog.

“We have identified and disabled the malicious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping,” said a Spotify representative.

The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million subscribers worldwide, added that an investigation into unauthorised access found a third party collected public metadata and employed questionable tactics to bypass DRM [digital rights management].

Archive's Stated Goal and Concerns

The streaming service does not think the audio taken by Anna’s Archive has been made public yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for offering links to copyright-infringing books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘preservation archive’ for music.

The group claimed the audio files accounted for 99.6% of all music listened to by Spotify users and would be shared via ‘torrents’, 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 beginning,” said Anna’s Archive, which frames its mission as “preserving humanity’s information and heritage”.

Model Development and Copyright Battleground

Ed Newton-Rex for defending artists’ copyright, said the breached music would likely be used for developing AI models.

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

The Anna’s Archive site makes references to LibGen, a vast online archive of pirated books that has reportedly been leveraged by Meta to develop its AI models.

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

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

Policy Considerations and Responses

Across Britain, artists and writers have raised concerns against a government suggestion to let AI companies use protected work without permission unless the owner opts out. Almost every participant to a government call for evidence on the idea has supported artists’ apprehensions.

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