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A digital rights group has claimed to have harvested millions of songs from Spotify and is preparing to release them online.

Possible Impetus for AI Training

Observers said the apparent leak could boost artificial intelligence firms searching for data to develop 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 metadata such as artist and record names. Spotify, which hosts more than 100 million tracks, stated that the breach did not represent its full catalog.

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

The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, added that an investigation into unauthorised access identified a external actor scraped public metadata and used questionable methods to circumvent DRM protections.

Group's Stated Goal and Worries

Spotify does not believe the audio taken by Anna’s Archive has been released yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for offering links to copyright-infringing 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 listened to by its listeners and would be distributed via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a means of exchanging large data files online.

“Of course Spotify doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a fantastic start,” said Anna’s Archive, which describes its purpose as “safeguarding humanity’s knowledge and heritage”.

Model Development and Copyright Battleground

A composer and campaigner for defending artists’ rights, remarked the breached music would probably be utilized for training artificial intelligence systems.

“Educating models on pirated material is sadly widespread in the AI industry, so this accessed music is almost certain to end up training AI models,” he stated.

The group's website makes references to LibGen, a huge online repository of copyrighted books that has reportedly been leveraged by the parent company of Facebook to develop its systems.

A founder of an AI startup wrote on LinkedIn that individuals of the public could in theory “create their own personal free equivalent of Spotify”. He added it could also allow technology firms to “educate models on modern music at a large volume”.

Copyright has emerged as a battleground between creatives, authors and content creators on one side and tech giants on the other.

Government Proposals and Reactions

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

The secretary of state for technology, research and technology told parliament this month there was “no clear consensus” on the issue, noting that ministers would “use the time to get this right”. The government has committed to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by March 2025.