Dark web music hacker Skylar Dalziel,22, from Luton, received a suspended 21-month prison sentence after admitting guilt to several charges connected to the unlawful sale of unreleased music tracks.
According to a report by The Independent, Dalziel earned approximately £42,000 from her activities but will avoid jail time.
Dalziel was charged with 14 counts of copyrighted music, including songs by well-known artists like Coldplay, Bebe Rsuch as Melanie Martinez, Taylor Upsahl, and Shawn Mendes. Ultimately, she admitted to nine copyright offences and four computer misuse offences. Luton Crown Court handed down a 21-month suspended sentence and ordered Dalziel to complete 180 hours of unpaid work and 10 days of rehabilitative activities.
Richard Partridge, a specialist prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service, emphasized the significant impact of Dalziel’s actions on musicians and the broader music industry. “Dalziel had complete disregard for the musicians’ creativity and hard work, not to mention the potential loss of earnings due to her actions,” Partridge stated. The unauthorized sales unaffected not only the artists but also the employees of record companies.
Investigations revealed that Dalziel accessed several cloud storage accounts belonging to the artists to steal the tracks. A police raid at her residence in Winchester Gardens recovered a hard drive containing up to 291,941 songs. Further scrutiny of her financial transactions through PayPal and her bank account indicated that she had received payments totalling £42,049 between April 2021 and January 2023.
Daryl Fryatt, an intellectual property crime unit detective constable, condemned the theft and highlighted its broader implications. Stealing copyrighted material for your financial gain violates legal statutes and jeopardizes the livelihoods of those involved in the music creation and release.
