When Bloomberg reported that Spotify would be upping the cost of its premium subscription from $9.99 to $10.99, and including 15 hours of audiobooks per month in the U.S., the change sounded like a win for songwriters and publishers. Higher subscription prices typically equate to a bump in U.S. mechanical royalties — but not this time.

By adding audiobooks into Spotify’s premium tier, the streaming service now claims it qualifies to pay a discounted “bundle” rate to songwriters for premium streams, given Spotify now has to pay licensing for both books and music from the same price tag — which will only be a dollar higher than when music was the only premium offering. Additionally, Spotify will reclassify its duo and family subscription plans as bundles as well.

  • Bluefalcon
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    7 months ago

    Capitalism!!! USA!! USA!! USA!! 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲 You poor fucks don’t deserve music.

      • Bluefalcon
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        7 months ago

        Do you know how strong of a country you have to be to make another live to your standards?

    • John Richard@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      7 months ago

      We don’t deserve music for other reasons too… like we don’t care what the lyrics are even about as long as it “sounds good.”

      • Bluefalcon
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        7 months ago

        What are you talking about?

        Thought of calling ya
        But you won’t pick up
        Another fortnight lost in America
        Move to Florida
        Buy the car you want
        But it won’t start up
        Til you touch, touch, touch me

        Those are lyrics written by an actual God.