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Spotify was also forced to remove 60 or so endpoints from their API: https://developer.spotify.com/documentation/web-api/references/changes/february-2026 https:

Spotify was also forced to remove 60 or so endpoints from their API: https://developer.spotify.com/documentation/web-api/references/changes/february-2026 https://developer.spotify.com/documentation/web-api/referenc... ...and add a bunch of other restrictions like limiting API access to premium users, ludicrously increasing the cap for acceptance into the extended quota programme (250k MAU), and so on and so on. So the most fucked in this situation are neither Spotify nor Anna's Archive, but anyone trying to build anything on top of what was up until this point the most straightforward to use API in the music industry, which annoys me to no end.

chakintosh 6mo ago
That's a very long list. The API is now basically useless.
gloflo 6mo ago
Music should not be centralized.
- dewey 6mo ago
  It's centralized because there's a few big labels that own a lot...but otherwise it's such a commodity that you can go to any streaming service and you more or less have the same catalog.
- input_sh 6mo ago
  Cool, feel free to create a website that does as much as lists track names and let me know how long will you survive before your hosting provider gets flooded with bullshit DMCA notices and shuts you down. I'm not talking about downloading music, I'm not even talking about some custom player for reproducing music, I'm talking about just putting say a list of songs from a playlist as plain text online.
  - deleted 6mo ago
    [deleted]
  - nathanmills 6mo ago
    You responded with why it isn't decentralized, not why it shouldn't be decentralized.
    - input_sh 6mo ago
      Because I don't disagree with that premise at all but am forced to play by these bullshit rules? I wish I didn't have to, but if I want my website to exist and continue to have any sort of audience, I have to play by those bullshit rules. The alternative to no API access isn't "more decentralisation", the alternative is absolutely no human curation what so ever, as that process tends to require some sort of API-powered tools to wade through the (nowadays >30% AI-generated) noise. Here's like the dumbest use case: say you have a hundred artists you wanted to follow and be notified whenever they release any new music, without any of it slipping through the cracks because of "the algorithm" and without any sort of preference towards the most mainstream subset of those 100 artists. Once you already have an established brand and have crossed some sort of an arbitrary, almost always non-transparent threshold of clout, there are dozens of ways for you to do that. Hell, Apple will reach out to pay you to plug into their API and use their embed above everyone else's. But while you're a nobody, even this trivial use case from a technical perspective is made virtually impossible because you can't get access to any sort of API to simply plug into. Anyways, not much of a problem to me any more as I can easily prove my side project reaches a six figure amount of people every month with no advertising, but I promise you it would be a problem to you if you ever decided to try build anything even remotely music-related.
driverdan 6mo ago
Forced?
- input_sh 6mo ago
  Anna's Archive went public with their announcement late December, Spotify started communicating this API lockdown mid-January. I have no evidence to back that up, but judging purely by the timing, it sure seems like these two events are connected and something Spotify did reluctantly to appease the big labels.
basisword 6mo ago
Yep, the API is now basically useless and you can't use it in production. All because of some anonymous greedy dickheads.
- MarsIronPI 6mo ago
  Get the metadata from Anna. At least now it's freely available. Also it's unfair to call Anna greedy. There can't be much money in giving stuff away for free.
  - basisword 6mo ago
    Yes stealing other peoples things to 'give them away' is very noble. The meta data is useless to me. I can no longer build an app on top of Spotify's API because they've had to lock it down.
    - ricardobeat 6mo ago
      Have you considered blaming Spotify or the music industry instead for how ridiculously closed the entire system is?
      - basisword 6mo ago
        $10 a month for all the music every recorded. Free with ads. How much more open can they make it?
        deleted 6mo ago
        [deleted]
        ricardobeat 6mo ago
        There is nothing open about that. You own none of it. Only usable within their walled off platforms. Want to build an alternative player? Can’t do that. Support new or alternative hardware? Sorry, no API access. Want to record them onto a tape/CD/SD card? Forbidden. Want to play songs at your neighborhood party? Illegal. Use them for a funny video? Nope. Even sharing lyrics gets you a DMCA takedown request.
cm2012 6mo ago
That's what happens when people abuse a public good.

chakintosh 6mo ago

That's a very long list. The API is now basically useless.

gloflo 6mo ago

Music should not be centralized.

dewey 6mo ago
It's centralized because there's a few big labels that own a lot...but otherwise it's such a commodity that you can go to any streaming service and you more or less have the same catalog.
input_sh 6mo ago
Cool, feel free to create a website that does as much as lists track names and let me know how long will you survive before your hosting provider gets flooded with bullshit DMCA notices and shuts you down. I'm not talking about downloading music, I'm not even talking about some custom player for reproducing music, I'm talking about just putting say a list of songs from a playlist as plain text online.
- deleted 6mo ago
  [deleted]
- nathanmills 6mo ago
  You responded with why it isn't decentralized, not why it shouldn't be decentralized.
  - input_sh 6mo ago
    Because I don't disagree with that premise at all but am forced to play by these bullshit rules? I wish I didn't have to, but if I want my website to exist and continue to have any sort of audience, I have to play by those bullshit rules. The alternative to no API access isn't "more decentralisation", the alternative is absolutely no human curation what so ever, as that process tends to require some sort of API-powered tools to wade through the (nowadays >30% AI-generated) noise. Here's like the dumbest use case: say you have a hundred artists you wanted to follow and be notified whenever they release any new music, without any of it slipping through the cracks because of "the algorithm" and without any sort of preference towards the most mainstream subset of those 100 artists. Once you already have an established brand and have crossed some sort of an arbitrary, almost always non-transparent threshold of clout, there are dozens of ways for you to do that. Hell, Apple will reach out to pay you to plug into their API and use their embed above everyone else's. But while you're a nobody, even this trivial use case from a technical perspective is made virtually impossible because you can't get access to any sort of API to simply plug into. Anyways, not much of a problem to me any more as I can easily prove my side project reaches a six figure amount of people every month with no advertising, but I promise you it would be a problem to you if you ever decided to try build anything even remotely music-related.

driverdan 6mo ago

Forced?

input_sh 6mo ago
Anna's Archive went public with their announcement late December, Spotify started communicating this API lockdown mid-January. I have no evidence to back that up, but judging purely by the timing, it sure seems like these two events are connected and something Spotify did reluctantly to appease the big labels.

basisword 6mo ago

Yep, the API is now basically useless and you can't use it in production. All because of some anonymous greedy dickheads.

MarsIronPI 6mo ago
Get the metadata from Anna. At least now it's freely available. Also it's unfair to call Anna greedy. There can't be much money in giving stuff away for free.
- basisword 6mo ago
  Yes stealing other peoples things to 'give them away' is very noble. The meta data is useless to me. I can no longer build an app on top of Spotify's API because they've had to lock it down.
  - ricardobeat 6mo ago
    Have you considered blaming Spotify or the music industry instead for how ridiculously closed the entire system is?
    - basisword 6mo ago
      $10 a month for all the music every recorded. Free with ads. How much more open can they make it?
      - deleted 6mo ago
        [deleted]
      - ricardobeat 6mo ago
        There is nothing open about that. You own none of it. Only usable within their walled off platforms. Want to build an alternative player? Can’t do that. Support new or alternative hardware? Sorry, no API access. Want to record them onto a tape/CD/SD card? Forbidden. Want to play songs at your neighborhood party? Illegal. Use them for a funny video? Nope. Even sharing lyrics gets you a DMCA takedown request.

cm2012 6mo ago

That's what happens when people abuse a public good.