A shocking claim has emerged in the online world, stating that almost all of Spotify's data has been scraped. The well-known group Anas Archive has revealed that they have collected metadata of 256 million tracks and audio files of 86 million songs from Spotify. The total data is about 300 terabytes and is being shared via torrents according to popularity. Spotify has responded to the matter, acknowledging that a third party has scraped public metadata, but has denied confirming the full extent.
Previously known for books and research papers, Anna's Archive is now making the biggest claim in the music field. According to them, this collection covers 99.6 percent of listens on Spotify. Most of the audio files in the archive are directly taken from Spotify, with the most popular songs kept in the original 160 kbps format. Less popular tracks have been re-encoded to save space. Songs released after July 2025 are likely missing from this collection. Currently, metadata is fully available, and audio files are gradually being released – starting with popular songs.
Spotify stated in a statement to Android Authority that their investigation found a third party scraped public metadata and used illegal methods to bypass DRM. The company acknowledged unauthorized access to some audio files, but not to the extent claimed by Anas Archive. Spotify also clarified that it is actively investigating the matter. It is still unclear how much content was actually affected.
Most of the music on Spotify is obtained under strict licensing terms from major record labels and rights holders. Therefore, large-scale audio scraping and distribution via torrents is a violation of copyright law as well as Spotify's terms of service. Although Anna's Archive cites music preservation as a reason, the law does not accept such excuses. It will be interesting to see if Spotify and record companies will take legal action and if this archive can be stopped. This case has raised questions about the security of music streaming platforms.