The NMPA is wishing all (or at least most) ‘unbundled joy’ this holiday season. (Photo Credit: Digital Music News)
Amid a high-stakes showdown over Spotify’s unilateral bundling reclassifications, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) is wishing you “unbundled joy” this holiday season.
The NMPA communicated as much in a clever holiday card that all but certainly failed to reach Spotify’s mailbox. As for DMN and the other recipients, the card’s first side (pictured above) features a photo of an apparently chilly NMPA staff wearing hats, scarves, and jackets – which is “the only acceptable way to bundle this holiday season.”
And the reverse side shows the same individuals posing sans winter gear (which is piled up before them), “wishing you unbundled joy in 2025” and beyond. As many will promptly recognize, that’s a not-so-subtle reference to Spotify’s mentioned U.S. bundling reclassifications, which went into effect closer to the top of 2024.
Made possible by the addition of audiobook access to existing music subscriptions, that outwardly minor maneuver is having a decidedly significant impact on stateside mechanicals.
We’ve covered the royalty-related fallout – referring to massive savings on Spotify’s end at the expense of songwriters and publishers – throughout 2024.
Long story short, the Phonorecords IV determination treats bundled subscription revenue far differently than it does unbundled revenue. Consequently, Spotify went ahead and reclassified existing standalone subs as bundles after embracing audiobooks, with allegedly difficult-to-locate music-only tiers finding few takers at present.
Specifically, around 99% of U.S. subscriber accounts are now classified as bundles, per DMN Pro’s Bundling Barometer. As laid out in that handy resource, Spotify’s bundling share is materially larger than the shares of competitors like Apple Music (27%) and Amazon Music (20%).
To put it mildly, the NMPA, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), and others aren’t thrilled with the situation and remain adamant that Spotify’s purportedly multi-product packages don’t constitute bundles at all.
Unsurprisingly, Spotify maintains that the offerings absolutely do constitute bundles under the language of Phono IV, and related litigation is ongoing. However, that MLC v. Spotify suit has plodded along since its May filing; earlier in December, both sides jointly asked the court to extend discovery into June 2025.
Stated differently, in the absence of an injunction, Spotify’s bundles (and royalty savings) are here to stay – at least for now, as the marathon courtroom confrontation unfolds.
Regarding potential bright spots on the publisher and songwriter side, NMPA head David Israelite confirmed to DMN that Spotify’s ad-supported tiers technically aren’t being classified as bundles. The exec also reiterated his organization’s opposition to the bundling classifications behind Spotify’s paid plans.
Heading into the new year, it’ll be worth following not just the MLC v. Spotify suit, but the possible bundling moves of other streaming platforms.
Though such moves appear unlikely because of the compositional-side fallout that would invariably follow, legally speaking, there’s seemingly nothing stopping Apple Music from making the jump.
Amazon Music, for its part, added monthly audiobook listening in November, and Spotify is plowing full steam ahead with more non-music offerings yet. The latest such push involves user-uploaded videos, and the platform yesterday set out to hire a trust and safety policy manager tasked with “maintaining policies and procedures related to government takedown requests.”