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
Results were buoyed by strong sales in higher education course materials, which were up 17.9%, and at religious presses, which saw a 12.2% bump, in conjunction with a 1.5% increase in sales of adult books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#strong sales
#higher education
#religious presses
#5% increase
#adult books
The online publishing service has been criticised for the way it has allowed extremist propaganda to flourish on the siteIt’s funny how naive smart people can be sometimes. Take the founders of Substack, a US-based online platform that enables writers to send digital newsletters directly to... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-01-06 16:00:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ve found
#earn money
#issues raised
#online publishing
My longtime girlfriend is a longtime bookseller. Her relationship with bookselling predates ours three times over. It is a surprisingly taxing career path—one that asks of the body, and of the mind. There are the bad days, where she brings home the classic bookseller gripes: failed hand-sells,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-01-05 09:56:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#longtime bookseller
#bad days
#bookseller
Madan, a former chair of Berrett-Koehler's board of directors, comes to the publisher from Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, Calif., where he has been CEO since 2012, and where he cofounded the bookselling initiative Reimagining Bookstores. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#menlo park
Judge says Hadi Matar, who pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charge after Rushdie was stabbed on stage in 2022, is entitled to see manuscript for trial preparationThe trial of the man charged with stabbing Salman Rushdie on stage in 2022 may be delayed because of plans to publish the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-01-03 12:16:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#man charged
#memoir
Our new Google calendar, to be updated throughout the year and to which readers can subscribe, keeps track of the dates of select trade shows, book fairs, and awards and prizes in 2024. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-02 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book fairs
#book business
Apple has been noticeably missing in the list of companies with their own generative AI product, but based on a new report by The New York Times, it's looking to change that real soon. In recent weeks, Apple has reportedly started negotiating with major publishers and news organizations to ask... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-12-23 07:43:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#news articles
#legal issues
#generative ais
#rights holders
#john grisham
#novelists
An independent publishing company known for releasing books with opposing political viewpoints is buying Regnery, a well-known conservative press. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-12-22 15:21:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#conservative publishing
#releasing books
#conservative press
#independent publishing
After a deal to sell Regnery Publishing appeared to be dead in November, Salem Media Group has signed an agreement sell the conservative publisher to Skyhorse Publishing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-22 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#conservative publisher
#skyhorse publishing
The Association of American Publishers is giving its International Freedom to Publish Award to all publishing houses in multiple countries and regions of the world that continue to publish despite increased government pressure, harassment, and threats. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#publish award
#american publishers
#publishing houses
Norfolk-based crime writer JM Dalgliesh topped the Amazon and Kindle bestsellers before being signed by a traditional publisher In 2018, JM Dalgliesh was a stay-at-home father when he sent his first crime novel to six literary agents, only to receive polite rejection letters – or no response at... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-12-17 09:00:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#2m copies
#literary agents
#traditional publisher
#kindle
#uk book
#self-published author
Many of the mergers and acquisitions in the year centered on book manufacturers, but the two biggest deals both involved private equity firm KKR. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#biggest deals
#book manufacturers
Despite the hype, publishing is still looking at what impact large language models and similar technology may bring. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ai revolution
Spotify is testing an AI-powered feature that creates playlists from text prompts. TikTok user @robdad_ posted a short clip of it, captioned, “I just randomly discovered Spotify’s ChatGPT?” For the chosen guinea pigs, the feature is available as an option under Your Library after tapping the... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-12-14 18:18:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#tech industry
#latest chapter
#job cuts
#audiobook
Hay House, founded by the late Louise Hay and acquired by Penguin Random House, has offices in Australia, India, the States, and UK. The post Penguin Random House Acquires Self-Help Publisher Hay House appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-12-13 03:58:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#hay house
#penguin random house
#random house
Publishing stayed roughly flat in the first nine months of 2023, inching up 0.8% at the 1,225 publishers that report to the Association of American Publishers' monthly StatShot program over the comparable period in 2022. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-12 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#american publishers
#publishing sales
As you probably know, Literary Hub is produced by a small staff; most of us are writers, and/or moonlight as editors on other projects. This year, four of our number—that would be 36% percent of full time Literary Hub staffers, not too shabby—published books, which is certainly worthy of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-11 17:52:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#literary hub
#small staff
Publisher of the Monthly and the Saturday Paper says he will no longer be involved in day-to-day operationsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails,free app or daily news podcastMorry Schwartz has given up his leading role at the company he... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-12-11 06:44:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#step back
#saturday paper
#latest updatesget
#free app
#leading role
#decades ago
#independent publisher
At the 2023 Guadalajara International Book Fair, three Mexican children’s publishers discuss what they describe the sector’s boom. The post Children’s Books: Publishers Discuss the Mexican Market’s Evolution appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-12-08 19:37:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#mexican children
#post children
#publishers discuss
#mexican market
The publishing world made plenty of news in 2023, but not only because of the books themselves Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2023-12-08 14:55:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#publishing world