Songwriters, Music Publishers Lodge FTC Complaint Against Spotify

Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming platform, has been named in a federal fraud complaint by the largest group of songwriters in the United States. The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) alleges in a complaint to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that Spotify is defrauding performing artists and customers alike by bundling audiobooks into its premium music packages. The result is less music for subscribers and less lucrative “mechanical royalties” paid to artists, the complaint alleges. According to Songtrust, songwriters are paid mechanical royalties when a song is sold, downloaded, and streamed via “on-demand” streaming services like Spotify. The term “mechanical” comes from an earlier era when songs were physically replicated on tapes and CDs....