Music streaming service Spotify is reportedly offering advances to music artists to stream their music on the platform. According to The Fader, “Spotify will reportedly not be buying copyrights to songs and will be offering smaller advances as compared to major labels and distributors.” The deal will not be limited to Spotify and will let music artists sign separate contracts with other streaming services.
Spotify recently settled class action lawsuit from musicians David Lowery of Camper Van Beethoven and Melissa Ferrick. They both alleged that Spotify did not complete payments for compulsory licenses of their compositions. The Wixen Music Publishing company then sued Spotify for $1.6 Billion, with the lawsuit alleging that the streaming company is using songs that are found in Wixen’s administrative catalog without the necessary licenses or compensation.
The U.S. District Court Judge Allison Nathan then stated “The combination of the immediate and future monetary relief, along with the non-monetary benefits provided, constitutes a significant recovery. Ultimately, the Court is persuaded that determining how many infringements occurred or defining the exact size of the class at this stage would undermine the benefit of the settlement in reducing litigation burden. As noted, if Plaintiffs proceeded with litigation, it is far from clear that they would have been able to establish liability or damages—or damages as significant as the recovery established in the settlement.”
The streaming service most recently removed their Hateful Conduct Policy, a policy that will no longer promote “…artists, among other policies, that have a history of hateful conduct” Some of those artists included R&B singer R. Kelly and rapper XXXTentacion, which Spotify CEO Daniel Ek regretted on the way the policy rolled out. The policy was implemented for only a short amount of time. Only time will tell how this new agreement policy will pan out.
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