As Billboard reports, multiple nominees for Songwriter of the Year at this year's Grammy Awards are refusing to attend or perform at Spotify's Songwriter of the Year Grammy party on January 28. Representatives for two of the nominees, Amy Allen and Jessie Jo Dillon, have cited their absence as a protest of the streaming giant's famously increasingly abysmal treatment of songwriters. (The "cost of creating content" is "close to zero," remember?)
Behind numerous Sabrina Carpenter hits as well as Tate McRae's "greedy" and "Adore You" by Harry Styles, Allen and Dillon (who has penned for country artists like Morgan Wallen, Dan & Shay and Megan Moroney) decided not to attend the Spotify party based on the platform's decision to cut royalty rates for songwriters and publishers on premium-subscription streams last April, their reps confirmed to the publication. At the time, Billboard estimated the change would lead to a $150 million USD decrease in royalty rates over the next 12 months.
"Spotify is on track to pay publishers and societies more in 2024 than in 2023," the streamer said in a statement defending the change. "As our industry partners are aware, changes in our product portfolio mean that we are paying out in different ways based on terms agreed to by both streaming services and publishers. Multiple DSPs have long paid a lower rate for bundles versus a stand-alone music subscription, and our approach is consistent."
As you might recall, Spotify reasoned that, by adding audiobooks to its premium subscription tier, it qualified to pay songwriters and publishers a discounted "bundle" rate for having to license both music and books. The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) proceeded to issue a cease-and-desist against the streaming platform.
"After some thought, I couldn't in good conscience support this initiative given their approach to bundling royalties," Dillon told Billboard in a statement about pulling out of the event, wherein Spotify invites the Songwriter of the Year nominees to take the stage and perform songs they've written for other artists in a room full of their peers. "It is very nice to be individually honoured, but it is better for me and my entire songwriter community to be paid fairly for our art. There are no songs without songwriters."
A spokesperson for fellow nominee RAYE, who has songwriting credits for the likes of Beyoncé alongside her own catalogue, said that the singer-songwriter had never agreed to appear at the event "so there's nothing for her to back out of at present," but added that RAYE has been "an outspoken advocate on behalf of songwriters' rights, igniting an industry-wide dialogue on the topic."
While Edgar Barrera's representative did not respond to Billboard's request for comment, a rep for nominee Jessi Alexander confirmed she would not be attending the event but did not provide a reason for her absence.