Welcome back to Reprtoir’s Weekly Roundup! From streaming subscription to royalty disputes and physical fan experiences, here’s what record labels, publishers, and execs need to be paying attention to this week!
#1. Spotify Under Investigation for Bundled Subscriptions
Two U.S. senators have called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Spotify after the streaming service reclassified its Premium subscriptions into bundles that include audiobooks, resulting in lower royalty payments to songwriters and publishers. This opaque practice, imposed without subscriber consent, allows Spotify to pay reduced mechanical royalty rates, harming both creators and consumers.
The National Music Publishers' Association estimates that this strategy has already cost publishers hundreds of millions of dollars and warns that these losses could worsen in the coming years. While Spotify claims to follow industry standards, the senators condemn the move as anti-competitive and urge the FTC to take action to protect the market and users.
#2. UMG Opens a Retail Store Inside Its Own Shop
Universal Music Group (UMG) is advancing its direct-to-fan retail strategy with the launch of its second global physical store, the UMusic Shop. Located within the historic Albéniz Theater building at the UMusic Hotel Madrid, the shop offers a unique experience combining vinyl sales, exclusive merchandise, high-fidelity audio systems, and a café area. Designed as a space for discovery and inspiration, it aims to bring superfans closer to their favorite artists through immersive offerings and special collaborations.
This opening is part of UMG’s broader strategy to strengthen connections with superfans by expanding its direct distribution and customer experience channels. UMG also plans to grow the UMusic Hotels brand across Europe, the United States, and Latin America, underscoring its commitment to innovation at the crossroads of entertainment, retail, and hospitality.
#3. The Actions of Streaming Platforms Against Streaming Fraud
Streaming fraud is estimated to account for at least 10% of all plays, representing billions of dollars diverted each year at the expense of real artists. The issue stems in part from streaming platforms and distributors that allow anyone to upload music with minimal oversight.
In response, platforms are taking action. Spotify now requires a minimum of 1,000 annual streams for a track to qualify for royalties and penalizes content flagged as fraudulent. Apple Music claims to have reduced manipulated streams to just 0.3% thanks to enhanced detection tools. Deezer, for its part, removed 26 million fraudulent tracks in 2023 and now tags AI-generated songs. A global alliance known as Music Fights Fraud, which brings together major distributors and platforms, is working to coordinate efforts through detection, prevention, and education.
#4. Trump Grants ByteDance Another Delay
President Donald Trump has granted ByteDance a new 90-day extension, pushing the deadline to September 17, 2025, to either sell its US TikTok operations or exit the market entirely. This marks the third extension since Trump took office in January. Through an executive order signed on June 19, Trump temporarily suspended enforcement of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, effectively pausing any sanctions or bans. TikTok officially issued a statement thanking the president for his support. ByteDance now has three months to find a buyer.
#5. Secret Deals Deepen Inequality in the Music Industry
Universal Music Group (UMG) and Warner Music Group (WMG) have quietly struck direct deals with Spotify, securing significantly higher royalty rates for their own publishing divisions and songwriters. Meanwhile, all other American songwriters are still stuck earning a mere $0.00012 per stream. It's a locked system that prevents independent songwriters from negotiating freely. Worse yet, that rock-bottom rate was set in 2022 with the apparent involvement of Spotify, UMG, and WMG within the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), the very government body meant to regulate rates fairly.
Now, those same industry giants have bypassed the system entirely but only to serve their own interests. Independent songwriter George Johnson argues that it's time to end the compulsory license once and for all. He’s calling on CRB judges to either level the playing field by aligning rates across the board or to abolish this outdated system entirely.
