🔗 Share this article Activist Group Claims to Have Extracted Millions of Audio Files from the Streaming Giant A digital rights organization has stated to have scraped millions of tracks from the popular streaming service and is preparing to release them publicly. Potential Boost for Artificial Intelligence Development Industry experts said the apparent leak could boost AI companies searching for material to train their technology. An entity known as Anna’s Archive reported it had scraped 86 million audio tracks from the platform and 256 million entries of metadata such as performer and record names. Spotify, which hosts more than 100 million tracks, stated that the leak did not constitute its full catalog. “We have located and deactivated the malicious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping,” stated a Spotify spokesperson. The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million subscribers worldwide, further explained that an inquiry into unauthorized access identified a third party scraped public metadata and used illicit tactics to circumvent DRM protections. Group's Stated Goal and Worries The streaming service does not believe the music taken by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for providing links to pirated books, wrote in a blog it wanted to create a ‘preservation archive’ for music. The group asserted the audio files accounted for 99.6% of all music streamed to by its listeners and would be distributed 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 fantastic beginning,” said Anna’s Archive, which frames its purpose as “safeguarding humanity’s knowledge and culture”. AI Training and Copyright Battleground Ed Newton-Rex for defending artists’ copyright, remarked the leaked music would probably be utilized for developing 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 said. The Anna’s Archive site alludes to a large online archive, a vast online archive of copyrighted books that has reportedly been used by the parent company of Facebook to develop its systems. The co-founder of an artificial intelligence company wrote on the professional network that individuals of the public could in principle “create their own personal free equivalent of the service”. The executive added it could also allow technology firms to “train on modern music at a large volume”. Intellectual property law has emerged as a battleground between creatives, authors and creatives on one side and tech giants on the other. Policy Proposals and Responses Across Britain, creative professionals have raised concerns against a ministerial suggestion to let AI companies use copyright-protected work without permission unless the rights holder opts out. Almost every participant to a government call for evidence on the proposal has supported artists’ apprehensions. The secretary of state for science, research and development told parliament this month there was “no clear consensus” on the issue, noting that ministers would “take the time to get this correct”. The government has pledged to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by March 2025.