Anna's Archive announced it downloaded 86 million songs from Spotify, sparking an investigation by the streaming service. The project aims to establish a comprehensive global music archive, preserving both popular and lesser-known tracks.
Data Collection Details
Anna's Archive, known for its preservation efforts in literature and academic works, reported obtaining metadata for 256 million tracks on Spotify. Using a method discovered by hackers, Anna's Archive was able to extract large volumes of Spotify's data. The archive stored songs of moderate popularity in Spotify's OGG Vorbis format at 160 kbps, while famous tracks were converted to a more storage-efficient OGG Opus at 75 kbps.
The archive boasts 186 million unique ISRC codes. The first torrent file published includes 199.9 GB of compressed metadata about artists, albums, and tracks, available to over 200 users. Music files will be shared gradually, starting with the most popular tracks.
Regulatory Implications
Spotify has confirmed it commenced an investigation. The company stated that a third party collected public metadata and employed unauthorized methods to bypass DRM and access audio files. Consequently, Spotify blocked the data-collecting accounts and strengthened its security measures.
Although Anna's Archive characterizes its initiatives as cultural preservation, its methodology raises legal concerns. The large-scale extraction and distribution of audio files contravene Spotify's terms of service and copyright laws in many jurisdictions.
