Spotify Is Sued Again Over Unpaid Royalties

Spotify, the Swedish streaming company that boasts twice as many paid subscribers as Apple Music, has been hit with another major lawsuit. The latest, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on behalf of the artist Melissa Ferrick, is seeking class-action status for artists whose work has not been properly licensed by the company. It asks for more than $200 million to be paid to artists and songwriters who have not been fairly compensated.

As the Los Angeles Times points out, Ferrick's suit comes just two weeks after another class action suit was filed in California. That suit seeks $150 million on behalf of artists whom the company never properly tracked down to arrange for licensing and royalty payments. Ferrick cites "wholesale copyright infringement"; the other case, filed on behalf of Camper Van Beethoven and David Lowery, the frontman of the band Cracker, alleges that the company “knowingly, willingly, and unlawfully reproduces and distributes copyrighted compositions without obtaining mechanical licenses.”

Spotify was founded in 2006 and launched in the United States five years later, in an opening salvo of sorts for the music streaming industry. The subscription service allows users access to a library of over 20 million songs, which can be streamed from a computer, phone or other mobile device. The company, and the streaming industry writ large, has faced criticism from artists and independent labels who feel they're not fairly compensated for their work.

Billboard, the service that tracks sales of albums and singles and radio traffic, has started accounting for streaming in its highly respected charts.

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