A dark web hacker named Skylar Dalziel has managed to escape jail time despite pocketing a hefty sum of £42,000 by selling unreleased music from top artists such as Coldplay, Shawn Mendes, and Melanie Martinez. The 22-year-old hacker was able to steal tracks by illegally accessing various cloud storage accounts linked to these popular acts.
During a raid on Dalziel’s home in Winchester Gardens, Luton, authorities discovered hard drives containing a staggering 291,941 songs, including unreleased tracks by Coldplay, Mendes, Martinez, Taylor Upsahl, and Bebe Rexha. Luton Crown Court sentenced Dalziel to 21 months in prison, which was suspended for two years, after she pleaded guilty to nine copyright offenses and four counts of computer misuse.
Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt from the City of London Police’s intellectual property crime unit highlighted the seriousness of Dalziel’s actions, stating that stealing copyrighted material for personal financial gain is illegal and can harm artists and their collaborators. He noted that such criminal activities could lead to significant job losses in the music industry.
The sentencing of Dalziel sends a strong message that cybercriminals will be held accountable for their actions. Authorities believe that Dalziel was collaborating with suspects overseas, and efforts are underway to identify and apprehend them. Specialist Prosecutor Richard Partridge of the Crown Prosecution Service condemned Dalziel’s actions, emphasizing the impact on artists’ creativity, hard work, and potential loss of earnings.
In a separate incident, Sony Music Entertainment reported that a cloud account belonging to US artist Upsahl had been compromised, resulting in the unauthorized extraction and sale of 40 unreleased tracks online. The IFPI and the Recording Industry Association of America discovered an online forum account selling unreleased music from artists represented by major record labels like Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group.
Investigations linked the illicit account to Dalziel, leading to the involvement of PIPCU in June 2022. Police uncovered a spreadsheet detailing Dalziel’s sales of the stolen tracks to multiple customers. Financial records revealed that Dalziel had received payments totaling £42,049 between April 2021 and January 2023.
As part of the court’s ruling, the hard drives and equipment associated with Dalziel’s criminal activities were confiscated and destroyed. The case serves as a reminder of the risks and repercussions faced by cybercriminals engaged in music piracy and underscores the collaborative efforts of law enforcement agencies to combat digital theft in the music industry.