Spotify, the popular music streaming service that delivers music to millions for next to nothing, is being sued by lead singer and guitarist David Lowery (of the rock bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven) for at least $150 million. According to CNN Money, David Lowery sues Spotify because, as his law firm asserted Spotify "knowingly, willingly, and unlawfully reproduces and distributes copyrighted music." Although other artists have also vocalized their reservations about Spotify's business model, Lowery's lawsuit marks the first occasion of a massive suit against the company on the grounds of "mechanical rights" infringement, on behalf of, as Lowery put it, "all similarly situated artists".
David Lowery sues Spotify at a time when the streaming giant has been under constant, if idle, attack. Traditional complaints against Spotify have, until now, targeted a generalized unfairness towards artists' lifestyles due to a lack of income viability. Despite the long-held argument that Spotify's business model actively increases awareness of artists in the consumer market by making them more accessible (perhaps indirectly boosting sales), Spotify could easily be marked as more of an "enabler" than an altruist; keeping listeners satiated and robbing artists of sales that would otherwise be accrued, fairly and directly.
As to the payment scheme that Spotify does offer, artists have argued that the "pay-per-play" business model could never amount to a viable income, or even a safety net, for upcoming & established artists alike. Some, meanwhile, have chosen to ignore the service: among them, Adele, Taylor Swift, Tool, Prince, etc.
Regardless of its past, this time Spotify has appeared to overstep its bounds. In light of recent developments, guitarist David Lowery sues Spotify over a direct violation of copyright, accusing Spotify of knowingly distributing copyrighted music without permission from rights-holders. According to the New York Times, Spotify is specifically being accused of "mechanical rights" infringement (a curious holdover from the days of piano rolls, though still in common use today). The Times explained that "mechanical rights refer to a copyright holder's control over the ability to reproduce a musical work." Therefore, Lowery's class-action lawsuit citing "mechanical rights infringement" incriminates Spotify as having failed to contact appropriate parties in its music acquisition/reproduction process.
Although Spotify's unsatisfactory attitudes toward artists' fairness have, until now, been protected by law, their recent actions (in tandem with the bad press of guitarist David Lowery suing Spotify) may have finally backed them into a corner.
