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The Conversation
The Conversation
Millicent Weber, ARC DECRA Fellow and Senior Lecturer in English, Australian National University

Spotify’s audiobook bundle has reduced music royalties. The music industry is fighting back – and authors have questions too

The Conversation, Pexels

Audio streaming giant Spotify, one of the world’s largest audio platforms, entered the audiobook market last October, offering its premium subscribers 15 hours per month of free audiobook listening. But audiobook bundling has led to reduced royalties for songwriters.

Last month, the National Music Publishers’ Association, which represents music publishers and songwriters, filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission, calling the bundle “a scheme to increase profits by deceiving consumers and cheating the music royalty system”.

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