Libraries are still an excellent resource for physical media, whether it be books, audio CDs, DVDs, or other content types. One thing libraries still haven't figured out how to consistently make available to communities at large is digital content. There are plenty of digital libraries available online, but concerns about piracy and proper compensation for media rights holders make the experience complicated. It's a problem Anna's Archive, self-described as "the largest truly open library in human history," is trying to solve.
In an absolutely stunning twist, Anna's Archive announced it backed up almost all of the music available on Spotify. The Dec. 20 blog post reveals Anna's Archive "discovered a way to scrape Spotify at scale," and the team "saw a role for us here to build a music archive primarily aimed at preservation." The data backup contains 86 million music files, which Anna's Archive says represents 99.6% of Spotify listens.
