Spotify disables accounts after illegal scraping of 86 million tracks

On 22 December Spotify confirmed it had disabled user accounts linked to the anti-copyright group “Anna’s Archive”, which claims to have scraped about 86 million audio files and metadata for 256 million tracks from the streaming platform.

The group said the collected data covers more than 99.6% of listening activity on Spotify and described the project’s aim as creating an “open preservation archive” for music.

Scale and method of the scraping

According to the group, the archive, about 300 terabytes in size, includes metadata for nearly 99.9% of Spotify’s catalogue and covers works released up to July 2025. Anna’s Archive, mainly known as an aggregator of books and academic papers, announced the scraping on the weekend of 20–21 December. As of 21 December only metadata had been released publicly; audio files are to be distributed gradually via large torrents, ordered by popularity.

According to the group’s blog, popular tracks were stored in Spotify’s original OGG Vorbis format at 160 kbps, while less-played tracks were re-encoded at lower bitrates to reduce storage needs. The archive also includes 186 million unique International Standard Recording Codes (ISRC), which the group claims makes it the largest public music metadata collection to date.

Spotify’s response and security implications

A Spotify spokesperson said: “Spotify has identified and disabled the nefarious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping.” The company added that it has implemented new safeguards against such anti-copyright attacks and is actively monitoring suspicious behaviour.

Spotify had earlier said its investigation found that “a third party scraped public metadata and used illicit tactics to circumvent DRM to access some of the platform’s audio files”. It stressed that the incident did not affect user accounts or personal data. Spotify reiterated its clear opposition to piracy: “Since day one, we have stood with the artist community against piracy, and we are actively working with our industry partners to protect creators and defend their rights.”