Spotify Settles Royalty Deal With Music Pubs

The music streaming service Spotify has struck a deal that makes it easier for music publishers to claim royalties they are owed, if they agree not to make copyright-infringement claims against the streaming service.

The Wall Street Journal reports the agreement with the National Music Publishers Association comes three months after Spotify was hit with two lawsuits seeking class-action status over alleged copyright infringement. The first was filed by musician David Lowery, singer of the bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, and an outspoken critic of streaming services’ business practices. It sought $150 million in damages. Another singer, Melissa Ferrick, filed the second, seeking $200 million. Both lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, seeking class-action status; a judge is due to rule soon on whether to combine them.

Spotify, which counts nearly 30 million paying subscribers and more than 80 million free users, says it has paid out more than $3 billion in royalties since it launched in 2008, but the company has about $16 million on reserve for what it calls “unmatched works,” or songs in its system that are missing certain ownership information, a person familiar with the matter said.

As part of the deal, Spotify for the first time will provide music publishers with a list of the unmatched works its users have listened to. That should make it simple for publishers to claim what is theirs, said NMPA Chief Executive David Israelite. Publishers must agree not to sue Spotify for copyright infringement in exchange for accessing that information.