Spotify has once again drawn the ire of the music industry. The National Association of Music Publishers has called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the streaming service’s inclusion of audiobook content in all paid subscription plans. According to the group’s FTC Spotify’s recent actions are part of a “scheme to maximize profits by deceiving consumers and defrauding the music royalty system.”
This requires some background. In November 2023, Spotify announced that it would enter as part of all Premium subscription plans. A few months later, the company introduced , offers the same number of listening hours for $10 per month. The publisher claims that Spotify based on offering additional audiobook content and paying customers being automatically billed for a service they don’t choose and unable to opt out without switching to a free, ad-supported listening experience.
And additional revenue from higher Premium subscription costs may not go to music composers. According to the FTC complaint, Spotify will pay about $150 million less in music royalties during 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 only to allow Spotify to claim that audiobook content is a significant and independently valuable aspect of its ‘bundled’ Premium Plan, such as Audiobook Access. The plan costs just $1 less than the Premium Plan with the same audiobook content and music.”
At this early stage, it’s hard to say whether this issue will affect Spotify . Both artists and publishers regularly criticize the streaming ecosystem, and Spotify in particular. the creatives behind the music.
