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A digital rights organization has claimed to have scraped a vast number of songs from the popular streaming service and is getting ready to release them publicly.

Possible Boost for AI Training

Industry experts noted the apparent data breach could aid artificial intelligence firms searching for material to train their models.

A group known as Anna’s Archive said it had obtained 86 million audio tracks from the platform and 256 million entries of associated data such as performer and album names. The company, which carries more than 100 million tracks, stated that the breach did not constitute its full inventory.

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

The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, further explained that an inquiry into unauthorised access found a external actor collected public metadata and employed illicit tactics to bypass DRM protections.

Group's Declared Mission and Concerns

Spotify does not think the music taken by Anna’s Archive has been made public yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for providing links to copyright-infringing books, said 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 listened to by Spotify users and would be shared via ‘torrents’, a method of sharing large digital files online.

“Naturally Spotify doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a great start,” commented Anna’s Archive, which frames its purpose as “safeguarding humanity’s information and heritage”.

Model Development and Copyright Debate

A composer and campaigner for protecting artists’ rights, said the leaked music would likely be used for developing AI models.

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

The Anna’s Archive site makes references to LibGen, a vast online repository of copyrighted books that has reportedly been leveraged by the parent company of Facebook to develop its systems.

The co-founder of an artificial intelligence company posted on the professional network that individuals of the public could in theory “build their own private free equivalent of the service”. The executive added it could also enable technology firms to “train on modern music at scale”.

Intellectual property law has emerged as a battleground between creatives, writers and content creators on one side and tech giants on the other.

Government Considerations and Reactions

In the UK, creative professionals have protested against a ministerial proposal to let AI companies utilize protected work without consent unless the rights holder opts out. Virtually every respondent to a government consultation on the proposal has backed artists’ concerns.

The secretary of state for science, innovation and technology informed parliament this month there was “no clear consensus” on the matter, adding that ministers would “use the time to get this correct”. The government has pledged to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by next year.