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
Theres no question that social media is becoming an increasingly important source of traffic for Web publishers, from articles and videos being shared among friends on Facebook to users following individual reporters on Twitter. But it turns out that social media referrals may be worth less to... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#direct traffic
#web publishers
Written By: Felicity Wood Publication Date: Wed, 13/04/2011 - 14:00 Sonny Mehta, editor-in-chief of Alfred A Knopf, has said publishing's editorial, marketing and publicity standards would guarantee the sector's relevance, as he was awarded the eighth LBF Lifetime Achievement Award in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
A San Francisco-based company called Tynt is determined to allow publishers the opportunity to take full advantage of copy and paste user action. Already used by 600,000 publishers, the company released the Tynts Publisher Tools set in early February. The currently free suite of four tools... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#free suite
#early february
#company released
#full advantage
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 13/04/2011 - 11:06 Library campaigner Tim Coates called on publishers to get involved in the fight to save public libraries, warning that the 500 currently threatened with closure will be followed by many more without action to protect the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#london borough
#public libraries
Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 09:29 Profile m.d. Andrew Franklin has dismissed self-publishing as irrelevant in a heated debate on the relevance of publishers. The discussion, held at yesterday's London Book Fair, was between Franklin, Bloomsbury's executive... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#heated debate
#andrew franklin
Written By: Philip Jones and Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 09:15 Publishers are having to spend more money to keep up with the pace of piracy, the chief executive of the PA has said, as robust debates over piracy affecting royalty rates dominated the first day of London Book... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#digital conference
#david shelley
#richard mollet
#philip jones
#fighting piracy
Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 09:28 Controlling world English-language rights is key to taking advantage of the global book economy for UK publishers, delegates have been told. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#taking advantage
#uk publishers
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 15:34 Penguin, Hachette Livre and Random House have all joined with PEN International for the launch of the literature-championing organisations latest initiative, the PEN International Publishers Circle. The scheme will see... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#financial support
#pen international
#random house
#hachette livre
Ad network Specific Media has appointed Fox Networks Group's Graeme Lynch as its new UK publisher services director. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Bloomberg Businessweek's new app gives Apple the terms it wants -- and gives subscribers a reasonably-priced magazine. Imagine that. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bloomberg businessweek
As the London Book Fair goes through its annual run this week, American agents are trying to figure out the best way to sell digital rights to foreign publishers in markets that are far behind the U.S. in ebook sales. Even though many international publishers are just starting to dabble in... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#foreign deals
#major houses
#local market
#digital books
#international publishers
#ebook sales
#foreign publishers
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 15:58 A husband-and-wife team has launched an e-publishing company for new authors. Cornwall-based lawyers Nigel and Abbie Flanagan are calling on unpublished writers to submit the first 50 pages of their work to Wink Publishing.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#public vote
#unpublished writers
#husband-and-wife team
#budding authors
Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 09:05 US publishers have dismissed Borders' recovery plan, which includes revamped stores and increased online sales, as unrealistic and are increasingly gloomy about its future. The New York Times reports Borders senior... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#random house
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 05/04/2011 - 16:11 Coronet will publish "Strictly Come Dancing" presenter Tess Daly's first sashay into fiction, having acquired The Camera Never Lies by the TV host. Editor Charlotte Haycock acquired British Commonwealth rights to the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#tv host
The current crop of Russian publishers is collectively on the young side, many of them born shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Then, teething problems were many and the growth path rocky at times. But today these publishers produce nearly 120,000 new titles per year,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#global ranking
#soviet union
#born shortly
#publishers produce
#russian publishers
#young side
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 04/04/2011 - 13:02 Cornerstone and Vintage are planning to release historian Alison Weir's backlist in ebook format for the first time. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ebook format
#published digitally
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 04/04/2011 - 15:24 Little, Brown has made two "significant" promotions, with deputy publisher David Shelley becoming publisher of the group and commercial director Ben Groves-Raines moving up to chief operating officer. All of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#david kent
#design department
#publishing imprints
Publication Date: Fri, 01/04/2011 - 08:35 Judy Finnigan, one half of publishing phenomenon Richard and Judy, is to publish her long-rumoured first novel with Sphere. Catherine Burke, Sphere editorial director, signed world rights to two titles from Luigi Bonomi. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#luigi bonomi
#catherine burke
Zite, the app that gathers content according to a users interests and behaviors to form a personalized web magazine, has run into legal issues abound from major publishers such as Washington Post, Associated Press, Getty Images, Time and Dow Jones. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#dow jones
#getty images
#major publishers
Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 01/04/2011 - 14:45 An upbeat Bologna Book Fair this week saw a strong US presence and a notable upturn from the past two cautious years, with publishers willing to buy, albeit selectively. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bologna fair