Songwriters Jessi Alexander, Amy Allen, Jessie Jo Dillon and RAYE will not attend or perform at Spotify’s Songwriter of the Year Grammy party, slated for Jan. 28. Allen and Dillon have cited Spotify’s treatment of songwriters as the reason for their absence, as reported by Stereogum. As result, four of the five nominees in the Songwriter of the Year category at this year’s Grammys will be absent. A representative for the fifth, Edgar Barrera, has yet to respond to media inquiries.
According to Billboard, Allen — known for writing Sabrina Carpenter’s hit “Espresso,” Harry Styles‘ “Adore You” and Tate McRae‘s “greedy” — and Dillon, who wrote Morgan Wallen’s “Lies Lies Lies,” chose not to attend the event due to Spotify’s decision to cut royalty rates on premium streams for songwriters and publishers last year. These cuts are expected to result in a $150 million decrease in royalties over the course of 12 months.
“After some thought, I couldn’t in good conscience support this initiative given their approach to bundling royalties,” said Dillon. “It is very nice to be individually honored, but it is better for me and my entire songwriter community to be paid fairly for our art. There are no songs without songwriters.”
Both RAYE — known for writing hits like “Dancing With a Stranger” and “Secrets” — and Alexander — known for hits like “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” and “The Climb” — have also pulled out of the event for unclear or unannounced reasons. A representative for RAYE claims she is “an outspoken advocate on behalf of songwriters’ rights igniting an industry-wide dialogue on the topic.”
Spotify has yet to comment.
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