Spotify paid out $10 billion to the music industry in 2024 — some $1 billion more than last year, the previous record — making its total around $60 billion since it was founded in 2006. The company made the announcement in a blog post Tuesday morning. The news comes two days after Spotify reached a new deal with Universal Music that sees more-favorable royalty payments to musicians from the service’s audiobooks-music “bundle” announced last year.
Rights
Usage of copyright content: Digital news publishers join legal battle against OpenAI
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group of digital news publishers in India have filed an intervention in the Delhi High Court, joining an ongoing proceeding against OpenAI for improperly using copyright content. The intervention was filed by the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), along with some of its members, which include The Indian Express, Hindustan Times and NDTV.
Source: Usage of copyright content: Digital news publishers join legal battle against OpenAI
Roc Nation partners with South Korea’s Musicow to launch royalty trading platform in US
The new platform, scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2025, will allow music rights owners “to securely fractionalize royalty revenue from their songs and sell shares, enabling fans to earn alongside them,” Roc Nation said on Thursday (January 23). Musicow purchases the copyright of a song from its original creator and splits the rights into smaller portions, allowing members on the platform to buy shares in the copyright royalties.
Spotify and Universal Unveil New Deal That Improves ‘Bundling’ Payment Structure
Spotify and Universal announced a new deal that sources say improves the payment structure for the streamer’s controversial music-audiobooks ‘bundle.’ A Spotify rep said in a separate statement, “Spotify maintains its bundle, but with this direct deal [with UMPG], it has evolved to account for broader rights, including a different economic treatment for music and non-music content.”
Source: Spotify and Universal Unveil Far-Reaching Deal That Improves ‘Bundling’ Payment Structure
OpenAI faces new copyright case, from global book publishers in India
Indian book publishers and their international counterparts have filed a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI in New Delhi, a representative said on Friday, the latest in a series of global cases seeking to stop the ChatGPT chatbot accessing proprietary content. The New Delhi-based Federation of Indian Publishers told Reuters it had filed a case at the Delhi High Court, which is already hearing a similar lawsuit against OpenAI.
Source: OpenAI faces new copyright case, from global book publishers in India
Spotify slams ‘ridiculous and unfounded’ Duetti report
The company suggested that “Spotify’s payouts are holding down industry rates” by presenting a table comparing the effecting per-stream rates of Amazon Music, Apple Music, YouTube and Spotify, with the latter at the bottom. “These claims are ridiculous and unfounded,” a Spotify spokesperson responded. “No streaming service pays per stream because that approach would incentivize streaming services to minimize streams. It would mean low engagement, fewer artist connections, and lower overall payouts.”
Source: Spotify slams ‘ridiculous and unfounded’ Duetti report
Spotify Mechanical Royalties Just Dropped 30-40%, Publishers Say
Spotify’s mechanical publishing royalties took a sudden-and-sizable dip this month for many US-based publishers and songwriters, according to preliminary stats shared with Digital Music News over the past few days. That includes multiple reports of 30-40% drops compared to previous months — all specifically tied to US-based mechanical publishing royalties.
Source: Spotify Mechanical Royalties Just Dropped 30-40%, Publishers Say
Authors Seek Meta’s Torrent Client Logs and Seeding Data in AI Piracy Probe
Meta is among a long list of companies being sued for allegedly using pirated material to train its AI models. Meta has never denied using copyrighted works but stressed that it would rely on a fair use defense. However, with rightsholders in one case asking for torrent client data and ‘seeding lists’ for millions of books allegedly shared in public, the case now takes a geeky turn.
Source: Authors Seek Meta’s Torrent Client Logs and Seeding Data in AI Piracy Probe * TorrentFreak
Germany’s GEMA Sues U.S.-Based Generative AI Company Over Copyright Infringement
In June, the three major labels sued the generative AI music companies Udio and Suno for training their software on copyrighted music without a license. Now, GEMA, the German PRO, is also taking legal action against Suno, in a case filed today (Jan. 21) in the Munich Regional Court. In an announcement, GEMA said that it documented that the Suno system outputs content that “largely corresponds to world-famous works whose authors GEMA represents.
Source: Germany’s GEMA Sues U.S.-Based Generative AI Company Over Copyright Infringement
IFPI CEO Victoria Oakley talks AI, fraud and lobbying: ‘We have a compelling story to tell’
At Music Ally Connect in London today, Oakley sat down for a keynote interview, stating with her first-six-months impressions of the industry. “Man, it’s complicated. You would not design an industry from scratch like this! So getting your head around it is very, very complicated, ” said Oakley. “It’s also deeply misunderstood. And I think that is a big part of our challenge, for all of us who care about the music industry and the ecosystem.”
Source: IFPI CEO Victoria Oakley talks AI, fraud and lobbying: ‘We have a compelling story to tell’