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# Court finds Slacker, LiveOne owe Soundexchange $9.7M in unpaid royalties
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/court-finds-liveone-and-slacker-owe-9-7m-in-unpaid-streaming-royalties/
- Published: 2022-10-18T13:50:46.000Z
- Updated: 2022-10-18T14:33:29.000Z
- Description: Last week, a California court ruled that Slacker and parent company LiveOne owed $9.7 million in unpaid royalties. The lawsuit was filed by SoundExchange, the performing rights organization charged with. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2022/10/court-finds-liveone-and-slacker-owe-9-
- Author: Bruce Houghton
- Tags: Music Business, Music Tech, Streaming, LiveOne, music, music industry, musician, musicians, Slacker, SoundExchange, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 09:44

Last week, a California court ruled that Slacker and parent company LiveOne owed $9.7 million in unpaid royalties.

The lawsuit was filed by SoundExchange, the performing rights organization charged with collecting non-interactive streaming royalties.

![LiveXLive streaming platform logo with bold black and green design, featuring an arrow motif representing live music and digital media innovation.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3a/95/3a957c06-c825-4057-9939-0a274cc16d23/content/images/www-hypebot-com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/liveone.jpg)

The court also permanently barred Slacker and LiveOne from using the U.S. Section 114 sound recording statutory license going forward. That license allows non-interactive digital music streaming services to play music in return for monthly payments at a rate determined by the Copyright Royalty Board.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3a/95/3a957c06-c825-4057-9939-0a274cc16d23/content/images/www-hypebot-com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/soundexchange-square.png)

The ruling likely means the end of Slacker and could doom LiveOne’s other music-streaming initiatives. As of Tuesday morning, Slacker was not loading, but LiveOne was still offering ad-supported music streams.

SoundExchange said that Slacker and LiveOne stopped making payments in 2017.

“SoundExchange takes our role in defending fair compensation for creators seriously. Despite a prior agreement, multiple promises, and repeated negotiations, Slacker and LiveOne failed to pay properly for the music – on which the companies built their business model,” stated **Michael Huppe, President and CEO of SoundExchange**. “It is regrettable that this step became necessary, but we will not back down when it comes to protecting creators and ensuring they are well-represented and properly paid under the law.”

**Bruce Houghton* is Founder and Editor of [Hypebot](https://www.hypebot.com/) and [MusicThinkTank](http://www.musicthinktank.com/?ref=hypebot.com) and serves as a Senior Advisor to [Bandsintown](https://www.bandsintown.com/?ref=hypebot.com) which acquired both publications in 2019\. He is the Founder and President of the[ Skyline Artists Agency](https://skylineonline.com/?ref=hypebot.com) and a professor for the [Berklee College Of Music](https://online.berklee.edu/courses/touring-101?ref=hypebot.com).*