Spotify Fails To License And Pay On Dozens Of Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven Songs

The music business world is reeling after the news that Spotify neglected to license and pay royalties on a large portion of Victory Records' song catalogue. While certainly alarming, it looks as though this isn't the first time Spotify has failed uphold their end of the legal bargain, and will likely not be the last.

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David Lowery

of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven. This originally appeared on The Trichordist.Everyone in the music industry is abuzz with the news that

Spotify spokesperson Jonathan Prince was quick to say this:“We want to pay every [fraction of a] penny, but we need to know who [sic] to pay. The industry needs to come together and develop an approach to publishing rights based on transparency and accountability.”No sorry that’s not how the law works. You have to have a license before you even use the song on a streaming service. That means you have to either contact the owner of the songs and directly negotiate a license. Or you can fall back on a slightly less convenient statutory license (Whereby the federal government compels the songwriter to license at a government set rate). But again, this legally requires the service to send a “Notice of Intent” to the owner stating the service is going to get a statutory license. See this means to be properly licensed you have to know who to pay in advance!

So if Spotify doesn’t know “who to pay” it is clearly because they broke the law and did not send the required legal notices, or obtain direct licenses. This is Spotify’s problem. It’s not the industry’s problem. And it’s certainly not my problem.Further Spotify admits it is “accruing” royalties on songs for which it has no licenses.The last time we had a big “unassigned royalties” problem the New York State Attorney General investigated an extracted a settlement. Maybe it’s time for New York State Attorney General to look into Spotify’s licensing problem. You can contact the office here. I guarantee you that the Victory Records problem is just the tip of the iceberg. Why?THREE MONTHS AGO I POSTED THIS:For the past two years I’ve been trying to figure out how it is that Spotify has legally made available many of the songs that I have published under Camper Van Beethoven Music and Bicycle Spaniard Music. In order to make my songs available on their service in the US, Spotify must enter into a direct license with my companies or an assigned agent. OR they must serve an NOI (notice of intent) to take advantage of the statutory compulsory license. After two years I find no evidence that they have properly licensed most of the songs that are currently available on the service. This is the equivalent of a record label releasing an artist’s music without having a contract with the artist (To be fair Apple owned Beats Music may have this same problem as well.)Further I can find no evidence that they paid the US “mechanical streaming” royalty to my companies or my agents. This is the equivalent of a record label failing to account to, and pay the artist. It is possible that they have been improperly paying the wrong party. However my work is properly registered and my companies are easy to find (through the BMI website). I even went so far to see if Spotify filed a special notice required by the US Copyright office when a service can’t find a rights holder but still wish to use the song and “blackbox” the money. No luck.Even more odd is the fact that BMI is paying my public performance royalties for these songs being played on Spotify. How come they can find me when it comes to public performance rights?Transparency starts with the streaming services. Where are the legally required licenses, NOIs, accounting statements and royalties for these songs?Camper Van Beethoven Music Catalogue(Includes duplicates as alternate titles)51 7 Registered 7153325A C COVER Registered 1806954ABUNDANCE Registered 3860AGED IN WOOD Registered 15139907ALL HER FAVORITE FRUIT Registered 21170AT KUDA Registered 8893861ATKUDA Registered 8893861AXE MURDERER SONG Registered 1806950BABY DON T YA GO Registered 9541080BACK TO BEDROCK Registered 77318BAD TRIP Registered 80449BALALAIKA GAP DEMO Registered 5448583BEFORE I MET YOU Registered 9541076BORDERLINE Registered 139736CAMP PENDELTON Registered 17316671CATTLE REVERSED Registered 191364CHAIN OF CIRCUMSTANCE Registered 195736CHANGE YOUR MIND Registered 197951CHEMTRAILS Registered 15139909CIRCLES Registered 215490CITY OF INDUSTRY Registered 17316679CLASSY DAMES AND ABLE GENTS Registered 17316670CLOSING THEME Registered 5448582COLONEL ENRIQUE ALDOLFO BERMUDAS Registered 8893863COME DOWN THE COAST Registered 15139900COME ON DARKNESS Registered 230914COWBOYS FROM HOLLYWOOD Registered 253747CROSSING OVER Registered 1806959DARKEN YOUR DOOR Registered 17316677DEUX FOISES Registered 8893864DEVIL SONG Registered 298731DISCOTEQUE CVB Registered 8893865DOCKWEILER BEACH Registered 17316672DON T YA GO TO GOLETA Registered 331231DOWN AND OUT Registered 336219DUSTPAN Registered 350612EYE OF FATIMA PT 1 Registered 395815EYE OF FATIMA PT 2 Registered 395816FIFTY ONE SEVEN Registered 7153325FIVE STICKS Registered 422620FLOWERS Registered 426335FOLLY FOR TWO Registered 429466FOOL Registered 429796FORM ANOTHER STONE Registered 437929FOUR YEAR PLAN Registered 440039GOLDBASE Registered 17316676GOOD GUYS AND BAD GUYS Registered 494325GRASSHOPPER Registered 17316678GUARDIAN ANGELS Registered 1806951HEART Registered 545069HEY BROTHER Registered 8893868HISTORY OF UTAH Registered 571292HOE YOURSELF DOWN Registered 573062HUMID PRESS OF DAYS Registered 597547I AM TALKING TO THIS FLOWER Registered 8893869I HATE THIS PART OF TEXAS Registered 8893870I LIVE IN LA Registered 17316674I WAS BORN IN A LAUNDROMAT Registered 693210ICE CREAM EVERYDAY Registered 699310INTERLUDE Registered 9541081IT WAS LIKE THAT WHEN WE GOT HERE Registered 17316669JACK RUBY Registered 756077JERRY S DAUGHTER Registered 764090JOE STALIN S CADILLAC Registered 772423JUNE Registered 780704LA COSTA PERDIDA Registered 15139906LIFE IS GRAND Registered 867508LIGHT FROM A CAKE Registered 869948

LONG PLASTIC HALLWAY Registered 9541075

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