Spotify's 300TB data leak: Almost the entire music library has been exposed online
Annas Archive claims to have created a music archive covering 99.6% of listening on Spotify. Spotify has acknowledged unauthorized access to some audio files, but has not confirmed the full extent of the claim. The case now raises major questions about copyright and digital security.
A shocking claim has surfaced online, claiming that almost all of Spotify's data has been scraped. This alleged archive includes metadata for 256 million tracks and audio files for 86 million songs.
The total data size is reportedly around 300TB, and it is being shared via torrents. Spotify has now responded to the matter, further fueling the controversy.
What does Annas Archive claim?
Annas Archive, previously known for backing up books and research papers, has now made its biggest claim yet regarding Spotify. According to the group, it has archived metadata for 256 million Spotify tracks and audio files for 86 million songs.
They say this data covers approximately 99.6% of all listening on Spotify. The entire archive is approximately 300TB and is organized into torrents organized by popularity. Annas Archive is claiming it to be the world's largest publicly available music metadata database.
Spotify's response and investigation
Spotify said in a statement to Android Authority that its investigation revealed that a third party scraped public metadata and used illegal methods to bypass DRM.
The company acknowledged that unauthorized access was gained to some audio files on the platform, but did not confirm the scale described by Annas Archive. Spotify says it is actively investigating the matter. It is currently unclear how much content has actually been affected.
Audio files and archives
According to Annas Archive, the audio files in the archive are mostly taken directly from Spotify. Most-listened-to songs are kept in their original 160kbps format, while less popular tracks have been re-encoded to a smaller size to save space.
Songs released after July 2025 are expected to be missing from this archive. While full metadata is currently available, music files are being released gradually, starting with the most popular songs.
Legal disputes and what happens next
Most of the music on Spotify is obtained from major record labels and rights holders under strict licensing terms. Therefore, large-scale audio scraping and distribution via torrents is considered a violation of copyright law and Spotify's terms of service.
Annas Archive may be citing music preservation as a reason, but the law generally doesn't grant such excuses. It remains to be seen whether Spotify and record companies take legal action, and whether the archive can be stopped.