Multiple US-based publishers are reporting a significant 30-40% drop in Spotify mechanical royalties for January 2025, specifically affecting payments for October 2024 streams. The decline appears to be Spotify-specific and isn't occurring on other streaming platforms.

Key findings about the royalty decline:

• Affects US-based mechanical publishing royalties exclusively
• Consistent across different artists, genres, and regions
• Performance royalties showed an unexpected increase during the same period
• Not linked to usage drops or special calculation adjustments
• Impacts both specific streams and aggregate payment amounts

The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) handles these royalty payments, managing both mechanical and performance licenses for streaming. The sudden shift in the ratio between these two license types remains unexplained.

This development coincides with Spotify's recent transition toward bundled subscription options, with music-only, non-bundled subscriptions now representing less than 1% of US-based subscriptions. Notably, bundled plans typically generate lower mechanical royalties for publishers and songwriters.

Spotify has been contacted regarding this matter but has not yet issued an official statement. The situation remains under investigation, and it's possible the decline could be attributed to an accounting error or methodology change.

Publishers and rights holders should monitor their royalty statements closely while this situation develops. We'll provide updates as more information becomes available.

Related Articles

Previous Articles