A pirate activist group known as Anna’s Archive says it has scraped almost the entire Spotify music library and plans to distribute the data via torrents, framing the effort as an attempt to preserve recorded music at scale.
Scope Of The Claimed Spotify Scrape
Anna’s Archive said it collected metadata for an estimated 99.9% of Spotify’s catalog, which it puts at around 256 million tracks. According to the group, the archive includes approximately 86 million music files, covering about 99.6% of total listens on the platform, with a combined size of close to 300 terabytes.
So far, the group has only released metadata related to the tracks. No audio files from Spotify have been made publicly available.
In a blog post, Anna’s Archive described the project as an effort to create a large-scale preservation archive for music, noting that while Spotify does not contain all recorded music globally, it represents a substantial starting point.
Spotify’s Response And Countermeasures
Spotify said it has identified and disabled the user accounts involved in the scraping activity.
In a statement to TechCrunch, a Spotify spokesperson said the company has introduced new safeguards to counter what it described as anti-copyright attacks and is actively monitoring for suspicious behavior. The company said it continues to work with industry partners to protect artists and uphold creators’ rights.
Spotify did not comment on how long the scraping activity may have gone undetected or whether any additional technical changes are planned.
Anna’s Archive Mission And Expansion Beyond Text
Anna’s Archive is primarily known for archiving and distributing books, academic papers, and other text-based materials. The group said its broader mission is to preserve human knowledge and culture and that this goal extends beyond written works to include other forms of media.
The group did not specify when or how it plans to release additional data related to the Spotify archive, beyond stating that distribution would take place through torrents.
Unresolved Legal And Industry Questions
The announcement raises questions about the scale of automated data collection from major streaming platforms and the effectiveness of existing protections against large-scale scraping. It also highlights ongoing tension between digital preservation efforts and copyright enforcement in the music industry.
Neither Anna’s Archive nor Spotify provided details on potential legal actions related to the scraping claim.
Featured image credits: Pexels
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