A digital collective says it has archived almost all the music on Spotify, and the company has already replied
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An unprecedented situation is shaking the world of streaming. A digital collective claims to have almost completely copied Spotify and is already distributing the material through torrents.
The case has caused alarm in the music industry and has opened a strong debate about copyright, cultural preservation, and the limits of access to digital content.
Un colectivo digital asegura haber copiado casi por completo Spotify
What happened with Spotify and who is behind it
According to Android Authority, the group known as Anna’s Archive claimed to have carried out massive scraping of the platform. The archive would include metadata for about 256 million tracks and audio files for around 86 million songs.
According to that version, the material would represent 99.6% of all historical plays on Spotify. The total size of the archive is around 300 terabytes, which would make it the largest public database of music in the world.
Spotify's official response
After the publication, Spotify issued an updated statement in which it acknowledged that it had detected an account used for illegal scraping. The company stated that a third party had accessed public metadata and used illicit methods to bypass protection systems.
Spotify emitió un comunicado actualizado en el que reconoció que detectó una cuenta utilizada para scraping ilegal
However, Spotify avoided confirming the magnitude reported by Anna’s Archive. The company keeps that only "some audio files" were accessed, without specifying how many.
What the leaked archive is like
The group presented the project as a preservation archive. They argue that a large part of less popular music is at risk of disappearing if platforms lose licenses or shut down.
El malware permite a los hackers acceder a los dispositivos
The most listened-to tracks would be stored in their original 160 kbps quality, while others were recompressed to save space. Material released after July 2025 might not be included.
Why it is illegal and what could happen
The mass distribution of music protected by copyright violates copyright laws and Spotify's terms of use. There are no legal exceptions for purposes of "preservation."
It now remains to be seen whether Spotify and record labels will move forward with takedown requests, legal actions, or international lawsuits. The real impact of this leak is still uncertain.
