NMPA Announces Extensive Podcast Takedown Action Against Spotify

Notices contain over 2,500 detections of infringement on behalf of 19 NMPA publisher members

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) today announced the launch of an ongoing takedown initiative against Spotify for the unlicensed use of music in podcasts on its platform.

Beginning today, notices will be sent to remove thousands of unlicensed uses of NMPA members’ works. Over 2,500 detections of infringement are included in the initial takedown notices. These demands will continue.

This action is an extension of the warning issued last May. NMPA sent a cease-and-desist letter to the platform stating that “Spotify thus appears to be engaged in direct infringement by hosting unlicensed musical works in its lyrics, videos, and podcasts…” The letter demanded that “unlicensed lyrics, music videos, and podcasts be removed from the platform or Spotify will face copyright liability for continued use of these works.”

Spotify has been aware of this issue for years, yet has taken no meaningful action to address it in its growing catalog of podcasts.

NMPA President & CEO David Israelite said, “Spotify has thousands of unlicensed songs in its podcasts, which it has done nothing to remedy. This takedown action comes as no surprise, we have warned of this issue for some time.

“Podcasts are a growing source of revenue for songwriters and publishers, and it is essential that podcasts provide lawfully produced entertainment. This is not hard to do, and Spotify knows, and has known, how to fix this problem for their users. We hope podcast hosts will stand up for their fellow creators and demand that Spotify do better.

“Spotify will stop at nothing to undervalue songwriters on behalf of its bottom line. Look no further than its recent bundling scheme and its ill-conceived appeal of songwriters’ rate increase in CRB III. We will not stop until the platform fixes its podcast problem, and all other areas where songwriters are not earning what they deserve.”

The takedown program includes 19 NMPA member publishers including ABKCO, Anthem Entertainment, Big Machine Music, BMG, Concord Music Publishing, Downtown Music Publishing, Hipgnosis Songs Group, Kobalt, Mayimba Music, peermusic, Primary Wave Music, Reservoir, The Royalty Network, Inc., Sony Music Publishing, Spirit Music Group, Ultra Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, and Wixen Music Publishing.