Police in the UK have arrested a teenager for attempting to hack the unreleased music of famous artists and trying to sell it for cryptocurrency. A 19-year-old suspect allegedly targeted the websites and cloud-based accounts of “award-winning international superstars” to try and access unreleased material. 

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which has been investigating the hacks based on correspondence with the management of several recording artists, tipped off the City of London Police which lead to the arrest of a teenage suspect in Ipswich.

The City of London Police said in a statement: “In a coordinated day of action targeting individuals involved with streaming illegally obtained music, the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit executed searches of a property in North London and a property in Ipswich. In Ipswich, a 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of copyright and computer misuse act offences.”

The leaking of unreleased material remains a major issue for recording artists. Back in June, Radiohead had their entire OK computer recording sessions leaked in a targeted attack – the band took ownership of the situation and released all 18 hours of it on Bandcamp the following week – and just this year Jai Paul officially released his debut album which was leaked back in 2013.

None of the artists affected by this latest attack have been named, but Detective Inspector Nick Court said in a statement: "Today's action marks a significant point in our investigation into the individuals responsible for stealing music and selling it on illegal streaming websites, worldwide".