Dark web dealer made £42,000 selling stolen songs from Coldplay, Shawn Mendes and Bebe Rexha

Chris Martin from Coldplay, which is among artists targeted by a dark web dealer Skylar Dalziel who made tens of thousands selling stolen unreleased songs. Credit: PA Images
Coldplay, along with artists including Shawn Mendes and Bebe Rexha, were among those targeted by the 22-year-old whom police believe worked with others overseas. Credit: PA Images

A woman who made tens of thousands of pounds selling stolen unreleased music from artists including Coldplay on the dark web has been spared jail.

Skylar Dalziel made £42,000 from copyrighted tracks between April 2021 and January 2023 by illegally accessing the artists' cloud storage accounts, a court heard.

The 22-year-old's computer hard drives contained 290,000 tracks from the band Coldplay and other singers including Shawn Mendes and Bebe Rexha.

Dalziel, who was given a suspended sentence when she appeared at Luton Crown Court on Friday, had transferred the money she made to bank accounts in the US.

She previously pleaded guilty to nine copyright offences and four computer misuse offences and was also ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work.

Richard Partridge of the Crown Prosecution Service said Dalziel used the music "selfishly", adding that her crimes impacted employees at record companies as well as the artists themselves.

Det Con Daryl Fryatt of the City of London Police intellectual property crime unit, which investigated the case, said such offences were estimated to contribute to over 80,000 job losses each year.

He added: "[Friday's] sentencing sends a clear message that we have the ability and tools to locate cyber criminals and hold them to account.

"We believe Dalziel was working with suspects overseas and are now working to identify them."

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