{
  "id": 14790145,
  "title": "Songwriter Streaming Royalties: Read What Every Streamer, Publisher & Songwriter Group Has Proposed",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/songwriter-streaming-royalties-read-what-every-streamer-publisher",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-15T21:02:30.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Billboard",
    "slug": "billboard",
    "url": "https://www.billboard.com/pro/songwriter-streaming-royalties-streamers-publishers-propose/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The U.S. music industry is currently embroiled in a contentious debate over songwriter streaming royalties. Streaming services, publishers, and songwriters have all weighed in on what they believe the appropriate royalty rate should be, with the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) overseeing the process. Mechanicals, a type of royalty songwriters earn from streaming services, make up roughly half of the total revenue stream. However, recent changes have sparked controversy. Spotify and Amazon, reclassifying their popular Premium and Unlimited plans as discounted bundles, have cut mechanical royalty payments to songwriters by roughly half. This move, which the Copyright Royalty Board approved, has reportedly cost songwriters and music publishers about $500 million in lost royalty value since the changes took effect in Spring 2024. The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA), representing U.S. publishers, has launched a campaign against Spotify and Amazon, estimating the financial impact. The Copyright Royalty Board will begin a five-year trial in spring 2027 to determine the fairest rate for songwriter streaming royalties, with the proceeding known as Phonorecords V, or \"Phono V.\"",
  "summary": "From Spotify to the NMPA, the various stakeholders in the Copyright Royalty Board’s Phono V process have made their positions known.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}