At the beginning of March, Spotify reclassified its Premium Individual, Duo, and Family subscription streaming plans as bundles because those plans now offer access to audiobooks.
The move controversially resulted in Spotify paying a lower mechanical royalty rate to publishers and songwriters in the United States, drawing the ire of the US-based National Music Publishers Association and The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC).
The latter org sued Spotify in the US in May for allegedly underpaying royalties to songwriters and publishers as a result of its Premium ‘bundling’ move.
Today (November 19), we learn that Spotify’s rival, Amazon Music, has become the latest music streaming service to bundle audiobooks with its Premium subscription.
In a challenge to Spotify’s audiobook service, Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers in the US, UK, and Canada can now listen to one audiobook a month from Amazon-owned audiobook service Audible. The retail and tech giant acquired Audible for $300 millionin 2008.
The NMPA has already responded to the news, and the contrast between the organization’s reaction to Amazon Music’s move and its response to Spotify’s move earlier this year is striking.
