Hacker who stole unreleased Coldplay and Melanie Martinez tracks rakes in £42k – sentenced!
Music Piracy Scandal Shakes Industry
A 22-year-old hacker from Luton has been caught and handed a suspended sentence for stealing unreleased tunes from big-name stars like Coldplay, Upsahl, and Melanie Martinez. Skylar Taylor Dalziel hacked into cloud accounts linked to top artists and sold the stolen music online, making a hefty profit of around £42,000.
Dalziel’s Sentence: Jail Time Suspended, But No Escape
At Luton Crown Court on 3 January 2025, Dalziel pleaded guilty to nine copyright offences and four counts of computer misuse. She was given:
- 21 months in prison, suspended for 24 months
- 180 hours of unpaid work
How the Hack Was Uncovered
The crime came to light in June 2021 after Sony Music Entertainment tipped off the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) that Upsahl’s cloud storage had been breached. Over 40 unreleased tracks vanished and were sold illegally. Further investigations revealed an online forum trading stolen songs from Sony, Warner, and Universal artists. The trail led directly to Dalziel.
Police Crackdown and Wider Cybercrime Warning
Police arrested Dalziel at her Luton home on 9 January 2023, seizing three solid-state drives containing nearly 292,000 music tracks and a spreadsheet listing customer sales. Despite refusing to answer questions, her PayPal and bank accounts exposed payments totaling £42,049, with some money sent overseas—prompting a joint effort with US Homeland Security.
“Stealing copyrighted material for financial gain is illegal. It jeopardises artists’ work and costs jobs in the music industry,” warned Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt of the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU). “This sentence shows cybercriminals won’t get away. We’re working with international partners to catch all involved.”
Richard Partridge, Crown Prosecutor, slammed Dalziel’s “complete disregard for musicians’ creativity and hard work,” pointing out the rippling damage to record company workers too.
The Cost of Music Piracy
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates piracy and counterfeiting cost the UK at least 86,300 jobs back in 2016. This case shines a spotlight on the growing threat of cybercrime hitting the music biz and law enforcement’s pushback.
International Hunt Continues
PIPCU is teaming up with international forces, including US Homeland Security, to nail suspected accomplices behind the stolen music sales worldwide. The crackdown on digital piracy is far from over.
