According to allegations made by the music business, the company is allegedly utilizing audiobook integration in order to reduce royalty payments.
There is a new option available for Spotify users in the United States that allows them to maintain their previous monthly rate of $11 — provided that they are willing to forego audiobooks. All of the music and podcast content that you receive from the Premium tier is included in the new Basic tier; however, you will not have access to 15 hours of audiobook content. This is a freshly added feature that we believe many customers do not care about anyhow. More than a month ago, Spotify announced that it would increase the price of its Premium service to $12 per month, beginning in July.
It is similar to the Basic plan that it introduced in the United Kingdom a month ago. In comparison, the Premium version with audiobook material costs £12 per month, whereas this one costs £11 per month.
There have been rumors that Spotify’s push for audiobooks may have some malicious intentions. At the beginning of this month, the National Music Publishers’ Association submitted a request to the Federal Trade Commission to examine the move. The association went so far as to describe the company’s incorporation of audiobooks as “a scheme to increase profits by deceiving consumers and cheating the music royalty system.” In the case filed by the NMPA, it is stated that Spotify will pay around $150 million less in music royalties over the course of the following year as a result of its audiobook integration. Spotify clarified to Engadget that it had not committed any wrongdoing and refuted the allegations.
There are other areas in which Spotify has been cutting corners. Over the course of the previous year, it was revealed that the corporation intended to make changes to its royalties arrangement. It was rumored that one component of that strategy was to demonetize recordings that earned less than five cents per month, which would result in the expulsion of those independent musicians who did not have established fans.
The company also terminated over 9,000 employees toward the end of the previous year, citing “the gap between our financial goal state and our current operational costs” as the reason for the decision.
The audiobook-free tier is now available, and you may convert to it by going to your account page, selecting “Manage your plan” and “Change plan,” and then selecting Basic from the list of available options. During the sign-up process, you have the option of selecting the Basic option if you are a new subscriber.