Representatives from Spotify confirmed the unauthorized access to data, noting that an internal investigation revealed the use of third-party methods to collect public metadata and bypass DRM protection to access audio content. The company added that the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Yoav Zimmerman, CEO of the startup Third Chair, expressed the opinion that it is theoretically possible to create a service similar to Spotify with access to its entire music library, provided there is sufficient storage and a media server, and this could be achieved by 2025. However, he also noted that the main obstacles remain copyright issues and enforcement risks.
It is worth noting that the total number of audio files on Spotify exceeds the figures stated in Anna's Archive. Nevertheless, according to Zimmerman, even a partial archive of such magnitude could surpass the largest open music databases, such as MusicBrainz, which contains about 5 million unique tracks.
In Anna's Archive, it was emphasized that the data collection from Spotify aligns with their goal of preserving knowledge and cultural heritage of humanity. They view the creation of a music archive as a long-term initiative for content preservation, adding that "Spotify does not cover all the music in the world, but it is an excellent starting point."
