An activist organization has claimed to have scraped a vast number of tracks from the popular streaming service and is getting ready to release them online.
Possible Impetus for AI Training
Observers said the seeming data breach could aid artificial intelligence firms looking for material to develop their technology.
An entity called Anna’s Archive said it had scraped 86 million audio tracks from the platform and 256 million rows of metadata such as performer and album names. The company, which hosts more than 100 million tracks, confirmed that the breach did not constitute its full catalog.
“We have located and deactivated the malicious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping,” stated a company representative.
The Swedish company, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, further explained that an inquiry into unauthorized access found a third party scraped public metadata and used questionable methods to circumvent DRM [digital rights management].
Group's Stated 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 providing 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 streamed to by Spotify users and would be shared via ‘torrents’, a method of exchanging large data files online.
“Of course Spotify 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 knowledge and heritage”.
AI Training and Copyright Battleground
Ed Newton-Rex for protecting artists’ rights, said the breached music would likely be utilized for training AI models.
“Educating models on illegally sourced data is sadly common in the AI industry, so this stolen music is almost certain to be used instructing AI models,” he stated.
The group's website alludes to LibGen, a huge online archive of pirated books that has reportedly been used by the parent company of Facebook to develop its AI models.
A founder of an AI startup posted on the professional network that members of the public could in theory “build their own private free equivalent of the service”. He said it could also enable technology firms to “educate models on contemporary music at scale”.
Copyright has become a battleground between artists, writers and creatives on one side and tech giants on the other.
Policy Proposals and Responses
Across Britain, artists and writers have protested against a government proposal to let AI companies utilize protected work without consent unless the owner opts out. Almost every respondent to a government call for evidence on the idea has supported artists’ apprehensions.
A government minister for technology, innovation and technology informed parliament this month there was “no clear consensus” on the issue, noting that ministers would “use the time to get this correct”. The government has committed to make policy proposals on AI and copyright by next year.
