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
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 15:58 An online view-on-demand books service dubbed the Spotify of books has launched today. 24symbols, created by a Spanish team co-founded by Justo Hidalgo, is offering access to 1,000 book titles for a subscription fee. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#read books
#service launches
#launched today
#justo hidalgo
#offering access
#offers customers
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 13:12 Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker is set to publish a book of his song lyrics with Faber. The book, entitled Mother, Brother, Lover: Selected Lyrics, was bought by Fabers editorial director of fiction, Lee Brackstone, and editor... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#song lyrics
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 13:09 Harvill Secker has acquired a non-fiction title about the work of British lawyer Clive Stafford Smith over 25 years to save those on death row in the US. Editor-at-large Rebecca Carter bought UK and Commonwealth rights... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#patrick walsh
#conville walsh
#harvill secker
#non-fiction title
IPC Media claims its email marketing has been "revolutionised" by a new technology platform that has led newsletter subscriptions to increase almost 60% in a single year. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#single year
#email marketing
#technology platform
The former newspaper baron, serving out a sentence for fraud and obstruction, will publish "A Matter of Principle" in the fall. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#media decoder
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 29/06/2011 - 09:21 The literary agency representing Barack Obama has become the latest to move into ebook publishing but stresses it is not trying to compete with publishers. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ebook publishing
Oakland-based book publicist Lorna Garano has opened an eponymous speakers bureau with business partner Peter Handel, who also has a track record in public relations for Bay Area authors and publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#track record
#public relations
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 23/06/2011 - 07:26 Vintage Publishing has released the first ebooks from Nigella Lawson, with her Kitchen and Nigella Express books now available in digital format. Lawson's Nigella Quick Collection app has also been updated with 30... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#nigella lawson
#digital format
Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 22/06/2011 - 10:10 Publishers will play a bigger and more complicated role, but only if the link between the author and reader is "reconfigured", was among the conclusions from a panel of chief executives at Publishers Launch London. John... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#chief executives
#john makinson
#penguin group
#months ago
#barnes noble
#nook e-reader
Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 22/06/2011 - 09:31 Literary agents who publish their clients' work were likened to foxes raiding the hen house at the Publishers Launch London conference held in London yesterday (Tuesday). Peter Cox, agent and founder of the agency Redhammer,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#peter cox
#richard mollet
#publishers association
#working harder
#digital rights
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 21/06/2011 - 08:00 Ladybird is to publish a range of Hello Kitty pre-school titles, having acquired UK rights from Fluid World, UK agent for Hello Kitty brand owner Sanrio. Ladybird will publish a range of formats for 0-3-year-olds,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#fluid world
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 20/06/2011 - 14:31 John Locke has become the first self-published author to sell more than one million ebooks through Amazon. The author used Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing platform to publish and sell his titles. He joins Stieg Larsson,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#self-published author
#million ebooks
#james patterson
#nora roberts
#charlaine harris
#lee child
#suzanne collins
#michael connelly
As awesome as Kindle Direct Publishing is, it will be crushed by spam if Amazon doesn't take some action to control the amount of junk titles being dumped on it. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#amazon doesn
Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Fri, 17/06/2011 - 14:40 The world's largest publishers have begun growing again after weathering the global recession over the past three years, with Pearson once again emerging as top dog. According to the annual ranking of global publishing... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#largest publishers
#global recession
#annual ranking
#livres hebdo
#publishing revenues
#total revenues
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 17/06/2011 - 10:52 Century has acquired world rights to a book by comedian Frank Skinner, set to feature columns selected from those he has published in the Times newspaper in the past two years, plus some fresh and previously unseen... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#times newspaper
#avalon management
Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Thu, 16/06/2011 - 11:39 The Association of Authors Agents will not expel those agents who have begun publishing their clients' work, after a meeting of agents held last night came to the view that it was not a conflict of interest. The issue was... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#authors agents
#publishing imprints
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 14/06/2011 - 15:10 Lonely Planet has appointed Sheema Mookherjee as publisher for its Indian publishing arm. Mookerherjee's most recent role was looking after HarperCollins India's non-fiction and reference lists, and she started work at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#harpercollins india
#lonely planet
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 14/06/2011 - 08:27 Pop singer turned TV star Peter Andre is joining the ranks of the champions of children's literacy by fronting the launch of a new London scheme. Andre joins London's mayor Boris Johnson at the Botwell Green library and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 14/06/2011 - 15:12 Ladybird Books is to publish a series of pre-school children's books in collaboration with singer and TV star Peter Andre. Publishing director Eric Huang, who bought world English language rights, excluding North America,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#pre-school children
WS Publishing Group, formerly known as Wedding Solutions Publishing, is moving to Perseus Distribution for sales and distribution in the U.S. and Canada as of July 1. Best known for its wedding planning and wedding related books, WS Publishing also publishes in the categories of baby and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |