Eltringham, J. 2018. "Archiving Spotify: Methods and Motives for Collecting Individual Music Streaming Data." Journal of Archival Organization, DOI: 10.1080/15332748.2018.1505386.  

Article's Abstract

In July of 2017, music streaming platform Spotify reached 60 million paid subscribers, nearly doubling from the year before and continuing to grow after the launch of rivals Apple Music and Tidal. Users of these services are creating large amounts of data, including tracks played and playlists curated. If properly managed, this data could enrich collections by illuminating the habits and inner lives of archival donors. However, the limits of proprietary software pose a challenge. This article presents methods for collecting data created by users of Spotify and other similar platforms, which empower archivists to proactively manage music streaming data.