NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — American songwriters and publishers are expected to lose millions of dollars in royalties by having their music on Spotify.
The audio streaming company recently raised its subscription prices and gave consumers access to audiobooks. The company decided to offer premium bundle deals. However, it’s costing American songwriters, composers and music publishers money they would make off of mechanical royalty payments.
"That lowers our rate because essentially their claim is well people are signing up for music and audiobooks. They still get to pay a lower rate to songwriters, which could amount to $150 million in the next year," songwriter Steve Bogard said.
Bogard is known for writing 10 No. 1 country songs and nowadays consumers have access to his songs 24/7 for a monthly price, but he’s not happy with Spotify because of this decision.
Bogard said it’s already tough to make a livable wage as a songwriter.
"It affects what publishers earn. They don’t have enough mechanical income to sign new writers. Almost all new writers have to have second or third jobs," Bogard explained.
He was also board president of The Nashville Songwriters Association International for 13 out of the last 17 years.
NSAI said the attempt at lowering royalty payments to an already beleaguered songwriter community is in the worst bad faith and a perversion of the Copyright Royalty Board settlement that the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), the National Music Publishers Assn. (NMPA) and the Digital Media Association (DiMA) agreed to in 2022.
NSAI is calling for Spotify to immediately reverse its course and offer separate music subscription choices at price points that will fairly pay songwriters.
A Spotify spokesperson sent NewsChannel 5 this statement:
“Spotify is on track to pay publishers and societies more in 2024 than in 2023. As our industry partners are aware, changes in our product portfolio mean that we are paying out in different ways based on terms agreed to by both streaming services and publishers. Multiple DSPs have long paid a lower rate for bundles versus a stand-alone music subscription, and our approach is consistent.”
The cuts to royalty payments come after Spotify just announced they made a record profit. Also, founder Daniel Ek recently cashed in a reported $180 million in stock options.
Read more of the NSAI's statementhere.
