We’re edging towards a full 12 months since Spotify controversially appealed against a legal ruling forcing it to pay songwriters more in the United States.
A final decision regarding that appeal – filed with the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) by Spotify in tandem with Amazon, Google and Sirius/Pandora – is still yet to be determined, but we know exactly what songwriters and industry leaders think of it.
Lest we forget: as a result of SPOT’s legal appeal, mega-manager Irving Azoff suggested that Spotify didn’t understand the creative community like Apple did; award-winning songwriter Justin Tranter called the move “shameful”; and Frank Dukes, whose work has been sampled by Kanye West and Drake, described it as “a direct attack on the people who make your platform possible”.
As for Big Deal Publishing boss Kenny MacPherson and leading industry lawyer Dina LaPolt?
Their views remain rather more NSFW.
Today (February 12), with these bad vibes still lurking in the background, Spotify has made a pitch to improve its relationship with the songwriting community with an important upgrade to its service.
The streaming platform began publicly displaying song credits in 2018, and claims to have seen a 60% increase in how often labels and distributors credit songwriters on their new releases.
Now, Spotify is revamping the way it credits songwriters, with the launch of a beta version of ‘songwriter pages’, which SPOT says will ‘help fans, collaborators and industry partners dive deeper into some of the creators behind their favorite songs’.
When songwriters included in the beta are credited on a track, listeners can click their names to view a page showcasing the songs they’ve written as well as their most frequent artist collaborators.
Songwriters can also share a link to their pages on social media or a website.
Each songwriter page will also feature a new Written By playlist of their songs, which can also be found and followed via Spotify’s search bar.
As part of this launch, Spotify is debuting songwriter pages for Meghan Trainor, Fraser T Smith, Missy Elliott, Teddy Geiger, Ben Billions and Justin Tranter, among many others.
In beta, these pages are enabled by publishers and Spotify in partnership with songwriters.
All other songwriters can express their interest via this form.
“Together with the publishing industry, we’ve continued to evolve our data sharing and analytics efforts, and are proud to unveil this next iteration.”
Jules Parker, Spotify
“Spotify is always working to create new and better ways to promote music discovery — for artists, for songs and, increasingly, for songwriters,” said Jules Parker, Head of Publishing & Songwriter Relations, Spotify.
“The launch of publicly visible songwriter credits on Spotify in 2018 was merely a first step.
“Together with the publishing industry, we’ve continued to evolve our data sharing and analytics efforts, and are proud to unveil this next iteration.
“Clicking on the credits in this pilot will take users to dedicated songwriter pages – providing a home for a songwriter’s work – and present listeners with ‘Written By’ playlists, a new series of playlists dedicated to songwriters.
“We’re excited to see how the world interacts with these new features, and look forward to enabling them for more and more songwriters.”
Songwriter Teddy Geiger said: “Growing up, I looked at the back of my favorite albums to see who was involved in making them – from writers and producers to the engineers and instrumentalists.
“Those credits inspired me to explore making music and it’s great to see Spotify supporting the work that we all do behind the scenes.”
“Spotify is giving a creative platform to the global songwriting community, which is really important.”
Fraser T. Smith
Songwriter Fraser T. Smith said: “It’s amazing to be part of the ‘Written By’ playlists, and to be able to share the songs that I’ve written and produced over the years with some of the greatest artists alive.
“Spotify is giving a creative platform to the global songwriting community, which is really important.”
“Having a platform that appreciates and celebrates the songwriting community is exciting and important!”
Meghan Trainor
Meghan Trainor said: “It’s SO cool that Spotify is working hard to find ways to promote and give credit to songwriters!
“Having a platform that appreciates and celebrates the songwriting community is exciting and important!”
“Songwriters are the beating heart of the music industry and as the only international music company to combine publishing and recordings under one roof, BMG is committed to ensure songwriters are given their due in the streaming age.”
Christopher Ludwig, BMG
Christopher Ludwig, BMG Director Digital Strategy, added: “Songwriters are the beating heart of the music industry and as the only international music company to combine publishing and recordings under one roof, BMG is committed to ensure songwriters are given their due in the streaming age.
“Spotify’s launch of songwriter pages is a significant step forward for the whole industry, highlighting the contribution of these essential creators who so often work behind the scenes.
“We will continue to work with Spotify to ensure the unique value of the song is fully credited.”Music Business Worldwide
