By Jem Aswad, Variety | Just hours after Spotify announced its first-ever annual net profit, the National Music Publishers’ Association has launched an ongoing takedown initiative against the streaming giant for the unlicensed use of music in podcasts on its platform.
Notices will be sent to remove thousands of unlicensed uses of NMPA members’ works, according to the announcement. Over 2,500 detections of infringement are included in the initial takedown notices. The move follows the trade group’s 2024 legal action against Spotify over its controversial audiobooks-music “bundling” deal, which significantly lowered the royalties paid out to music rights holders.
Last week, Spotify defeated a lawsuit from the Mechnical Licensing Collective over the bundling deal.
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Read the full article here:
https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/music-publishers-begin-spotify-podcast-takedowns-1236289793/
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Music Publishers Call for Congress to Overhaul Copyright Act
By Jem Aswad, Variety
The National Music Publishers’ Association has sent a letter to the leaders of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate and House of Representatives, requesting the overhaul of the statutory license listed in the Copyright Act, which “prevents private negotiations in a free market” for mechanical royalty rates for songwriters and music publishers in the U.S.
In the letter — which arrives against the backdrop of the publishing communities’ recent offensive against Spotify for the lower royalties incurred by bundling music and audiobooks, among other issues — NMPA president/CEO David Israelite writes that the overhaul would prevent songwriters and publishers from being exploited by “Big Tech:” “Those who do operate in a free market, such as record labels, have negotiated protections against bad faith tactics. However, music publishers and songwriters have no such leverage.”
Such a move would enable publishers and songwriters to negotiate for mechanical royalty rates as record labels do. However, per a rule dating back to 1909, their rates are determined by the government, specifically the Copyright Royalty Board. The negotiations around those rates, which are updated every four years, have been contentious in the past. While those rates have been increased in recent years, many feel they remain insufficient.
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Go here to read more on this move:
https://variety.com/2024/music/news/music-publishers-congress-overhaul-copyright-act-1236012128/
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Up to 70% of streams of AI-generated music on Deezer are fraudulent, says report
By Dan Milmo, The Guardian
Up to seven out of 10 streams of artificial intelligence-generated music on the Deezer platform are fraudulent, according to the French streaming platform.
The company said AI-made music accounts for just 0.5% of streams on the music streaming platform but its analysis shows that fraudsters are behind up to 70% of those streams.
AI-generated music is a growing problem on streaming platforms. Fraudsters typically generate revenue on platforms such as Deezer by using bots to “listen” to AI-generated songs – and take the subsequent royalty payments, which become sizeable once spread across multiple tracks.
The tactic aims to evade detection measures triggered by vast listening numbers for a small amount of bogus tracks.
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Go here to read how one guy may have made millions from a fraud AI scheme:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/18/up-to-70-of-streams-of-ai-generated-music-on-deezer-are-fraudulent-says-report