Spotify has once again drawn the ire of the music industry. The National Music Publishers' Association has called on the Federal Trade Commission to examine the streaming service's addition of audiobook content into all of its paid subscription plans. According to the group's FTC complaint, Spotify's recent actions are part of "a scheme to increase profits by deceiving consumers and cheating the music royalty system." This requires some backstory. In November 2023, Spotify announced that it would include 15 hours of audiobook content as part of all its Premium subscription plans. A few months later, the company unveiled a new audiobook-only subscription, offering the same number of listening hours for $10 a month. The publishers' organization claims that Spotify's recent price increases are based on offering that extra audiobook content, and that paying customers are automatically being charged for a service they didn't choose and can't opt out of without switching to the free, ad-supported listening experience. And the additional revenue from the higher Premium subscription costs may not go to the music composers. According to the FTC complaint, Spotify will pay about $150 million less in music royalties over the first year of these new bundled Premium plans. The NMPA letter goes so far as to call the new audiobook-only plan "a sham" that "exists solely to allow Spotify to claim that audiobook content is a significantly and independently valuable aspect of its 'bundled'... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2024-06-12 23:52:55 UTC ]
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Apple Music has been on its way to overtake Spotify in terms of subscriber base for a while now. The service got a new boss, Oliver Schusser, this past April, as well. Now, Schusser's first major initiative appears to be the launch of Apple's own mus... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2018-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Top prosecutors in several states accused an Oregon company on Tuesday of overcharging consumers for subscriptions to newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. The Orbital Publishing Group, a periodical subscription service, is facing accus ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Peloton has failed to convince the court that the National Music Publishers Association violated federal antitrust laws. If you'll recall, the NMPA sued Peloton in early 2019, accusing it of using songs in its workout videos without obtaining the pro... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2020-01-30 13:20:00 UTC ]
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Music continued to fill the air in Menlo Park, Calif., as Facebook announced three new partnerships with music publishers, coming on the heels of its deal with Sony/ATV earlier this week and its pact with Universal Music Group, inked in December. Facebook head of music business development and... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2018-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 09/06/2011 - 15:17 Publishing Scotland has launched its Company Development Project, calling for applications from small- and medium-sized publishing companies. The initiative, hosted by Publishing Scotland and partly funded by Creative... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Shani Gonzales of Warner Chappell says that although people are ‘having fun’ with creating AI songs, ‘what happens when someone tries to sell it?’Arriving in London in the teeth of the pandemic to take a top music industry job, Shani Gonzales had few opportunities to immerse herself in British... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-06-25 13:00:26 UTC ]
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Spotify has added another subscription option. This time around, it's offering a plan that has little to do with music. The Audiobooks Access Tier (which is US-only for now) offers 15 hours of audiobook listening each month for $10. You'll have access to Spotify's library of more than 200,000... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-03-01 18:08:29 UTC ]
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Spotify has added a new option that gives users 15 hours to listen to audiobooks for $9.99—a dollar less than a Premium subscription, which offers the same 15 hours per month, plus ad-free music, for $10.99. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-01 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The streaming company says its payout model is competitive, but the Society of Authors has raised doubts about whether authors ultimately benefit Spotify has said that it has paid audiobook publishers “tens of millions” since allowing users 15 hours of audiobook listening in its Premium... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-01 16:08:34 UTC ]
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Ek blames Apple for holding back his company’s first foray into audiobooks and confirms his company is in talks with Google about in-app purchases. Spotify is doubling down on audiobooks: Paying subscribers of the music service will now have access to up to 15 hours of audiobook listening as... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2023-10-03 16:30:00 UTC ]
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Forthcoming titles look at the powerful music of Billy Graham's crusades, the spiritual depth of Loretta Lynn's songs, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The vertical TikTok-style video feed has invaded a lot of the apps we use on a daily basis and now it's officially coming to one more. After announcing a beta test last year, Spotify will begin rolling out a new design for the Home section of its mobile app with a "more visual, dynamic" look.... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-03-08 18:33:59 UTC ]
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The index is a research framework that analyzes and ranks a set of publications across digital threshold experience, member benefits and pricing and plans dimensions. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2022-12-20 05:01:00 UTC ]
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Spotify launched its audiobook business just last month with 300,000 titles, but is now saying that Apple is engaging in "anticompetitive" behavior that is impinging the new business, the company wrote in a blog post. It said that Apple rejected its audiobook purchasing system three times due to... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-10-26 07:02:10 UTC ]
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A London publishing staffer has been arrested and charged by the FBI with allegedly stealing hundreds of book manuscripts over several years. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2022-01-06 10:11:47 UTC ]
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In a November 19 letter, lawyers for the plaintiff publishers outlined seven “categories” of requested documents yet to be turned over by the Internet Archive and accused the IA of "hoping to run out the clock” on discovery. Discovery in the case is due to close mid-December. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-11-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
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British publishers must not hang on to rights they cannot exploit, Nigerian poet and novelist Lola Shoneyin told delegates at a session on decolonisation at a publishers conference in at The Sharjah International Book Fair. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-10-31 15:54:59 UTC ]
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Twitter acquired newsletter publishing platform Revue in January, allowing it to continue to run as a stand-alone service, and the two companies began testing a way to integrate their respective platforms Thursday. Revue said in a tweet that all of its creators can begin enabling people to... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2021-08-19 22:40:00 UTC ]
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The Society of Young Publishers has opened submissions for its mentorship programme for the second year running, inviting aspiring publishers living in the UK or Ireland to apply. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-09 11:10:18 UTC ]
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