Hackers stole 86 million songs from Spotify: a 300 TB data breach

At the end of 2025, the music streaming service Spotify became the victim of one of the largest leaks in the history of streaming. A group of hacktivists linked to the website Anna’s Archive claimed they had stolen metadata for 256 million tracks and the audio files of 86 million songs, with a total volume of around 300 terabytes. So far, only the metadata has been made public, but the threat of the full archive being leaked remains.

What exactly was stolen

According to Billboard, the hackers gained access to an enormous dataset, effectively covering almost Spotify’s entire catalog up to 2025. The metadata, including titles, artists, albums, and tags, has already been published on Anna’s Archive. The audio files have not yet been released, but given the scale of 300 TB, this appears to be only a matter of time and resources.

Spotify confirmed the incident. An internal investigation found that publicly accessible metadata had been collected and DRM protections had been bypassed to access the tracks. The company is continuing its investigation but does not deny that the data was stolen.

Consequences for the industry

Experts fear a serious blow to the streaming business model. Yoav Zimmerman, CEO of the startup Third Chair, warned that in theory anyone with sufficient storage could create a personal offline copy of Spotify, free and permanent.

The archive is dozens of times larger than the open MusicBrainz database, which contains around 5 million tracks. If the audio files are released, this could undermine subscription-based streaming: there would be little incentive to pay if everything were freely available via torrents.

Anna’s Archive presents itself as a preserver of cultural heritage, usually focusing on books and scientific materials, and has stated that it will not remove the leaked data, framing this as part of its mission of preservation.

What comes next

Spotify is strengthening its security measures, but reputational damage has already been done. The industry may respond more aggressively, with stronger DRM, lawsuits, and the blocking of mirror sites. However, music piracy has always been a persistent issue, and a leak of this magnitude may simply accelerate a shift toward more tightly controlled formats or closed ecosystems.

In brief

Hackers stole metadata for 256 million tracks and audio files for 86 million songs, totaling about 300 TB, from Spotify. The metadata is already online via Anna’s Archive, while the songs themselves have not yet been released. Spotify confirmed a DRM bypass. The leak could enable free offline copies of the service and deal a serious blow to streaming. Anna’s Archive says it will not remove the data, calling it cultural heritage. This is one of the largest music leaks in history.