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 ]
News tagged with:
#deceiving consumers
#company unveiled
#listening hours
#organization claims
#paying customers
#additional revenue
#$150 million
#nmpa letter
#exists solely
#early stage
#planned overhaul
#royalty model
#routinely criticized
#streaming ecosystem
#audiobook
Audio platform Spotify made its first appearance at NewFronts week on Wednesday evening, part of a larger bid from the streaming platform to attract advertising to its growing inventory of digital video. While Spotify remains predominantly a music, podcast and audiobook... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2024-05-01 21:11:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#video advertising
#wednesday evening
#streaming platform
#digital video
#audiobook service
#audiobook
Exclusive: Ernest Moret was held en route to a book fair amid fears police are using counter-terrorism powers to target activistsA French publisher who was arrested in London by counter-terror officers has been awarded “substantial” damages by the Metropolitan police, as new figures reveal... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-04-29 06:00:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ernest moret
#london book
#book fair
#french publisher
As students organize and resist to demand action and justice for Palestinians, publishers are offering free books on Palestine, protest, and more, in solidarity. Verso has seven ebooks available for download, including a case for sanctions against Israel, a collection on 2011’s Occupy movement,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-26 15:56:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#verso
#free books
#ebooks
In 'Attack from Within,' Barbara McQuade explores disinformation and the need to report, and defend, the truth. Her publisher, Seven Stories, is taking note—even as fact-checking remains scarce in book publishing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book publishers
#book publishing
Independent publisher Zando's highest-visibility imprints are its collabs with celebrities, which are part of its mission to change the institutional racism that has plagued American publishing from its start. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2024-04-24 18:02:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#institutional racism
#american publishing
#independent publisher
Australian actor’s book Rebel Rising will have allegations of incident on set of Grimsby that left her ‘feeling bullied, humiliated, and compromised’ struck outThe UK edition of Australian actor Rebel Wilson’s memoir will be published with redacted passages relating to her experience on set with... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-04-24 12:50:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#memoir
Sisters Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti will rerelease their self-published Zodiac Academy romantasy series in paperback under their newly-formed company, Dark Ink Publishing. On April 23, Dark Ink released 'Restless Stars,' the ninth and final book in the series, with an announced print... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#final book
#paperback
Doug Seibold, founder of Agate Publishing, has begun marketing the Agate Publishing Academy, in order to provide an affordable online professional development program to aspiring publishers and book business veterans alike. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#agate publishing
#book business
According to data released by Spotify, users aged 18-34 make up 57% of the platform's audiobook listeners, while television adaptations such as 'Shōgun' and 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' have prompted a surge in demand for specific titles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#data released
#audiobook listeners
#specific titles
#audiobook
A life in independent publishing requires moxie, malleability, and, of course, money. Just ask these presses, all of which were founded within the past decade. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#indie press
#past decade
#independent publishing
After a record-breaking 2023, the publisher of Rebecca Yarros’s blockbusters, 'Fourth Wing' and 'Iron Flame,' looks to keep flying high in 2024. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#rebecca yarros
#fourth wing
The heads of the Independent Book Publishers Association, Independent Publishers Caucus, and PubWest share their insights on the challenges and opportunities in independent publishing today. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#inflection point
#independent publishing
After a record-breaking 2023, the publisher of Rebecca Yarros’s blockbuster 'Empyrean' series looks to keep rolling in 2024. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#rebecca yarros
The winners of the 36th annual Triangle Awards, which honor the year’s best LGBTQ fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and trans literature published in 2023, were honored at a celebration held at the New School in New York City on April 17. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#lgbtq fiction
Launched earlier this year, PW Content Studio is devoted to creating new experiences and offerings for the professional publishing community, including custom content and events. Murray has been with 'Publishers Weekly' for 25 years, most recently serving as v-p of sales and associate publisher. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#associate publisher
#launched earlier
Five more publishers, including the remaining Big Five publishers, have now joined as plaintiffs to help defend against the state’s bid to lift the block on appeal on Iowa's book banning law, SF 496. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
The New York City–based subsidiary of Italian publisher the Mondadori Group has agreed to acquire the White River Junction, Vt.–based independent book publisher of titles on politics and sustainability. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-04-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#rizzoli international
#italian publisher
#mondadori group
#book publisher
Shirley Yvonne Carby, Mitia Osman Tisma, and Anne Friebel win the inaugural PublisHer Excellence Awards at Bologna Children's Book Fair. The post At Bologna: PublisHer Names Its Inaugural Excellence Award Winners appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-04-12 23:53:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bologna children
#publisher names
#book fair
#children's book