SONY/ATV, SPOTIFY INK NEW EURO DEAL

Sony/ATV and Spotify have inked a new licensing agreement for Europe. The deal assures the ongoing presence of the pubco giant’s capacious catalog on the streamery’s service in all 30 European Economic Area (EEA) territories.

King of Publishing and Sony/ATV chief exec Marty Bandier, after firing up a massive stogie, declared his company “thrilled” at the pact. “As streaming services continue to grow, Sony/ATV is delighted to be continuing our relationship with Spotify at this pivotal moment for the music industry,” he proclaimed. “We share two important goals—growing the market for paid music-subscription services for the benefit of music lovers everywhere while delivering fair compensation to our songwriters for the use of their songs. We believe we have accomplished that with this agreement.”

“We are very pleased to announce our continued partnership with Sony/ATV, home of some of the greatest songwriters in the world,” noted Spotify Chief Content Officer Ken Parks. “We look forward to continuing our work together to deliver great music to fans around the world and fair compensation to songwriters for their terrific work.”

A big increase in monthly subscriptions for streaming music is imperative for the biz, as free streaming (which remains dominant) produces miniscule royalties for writers and artists. Spotify claims to have 15 million paying subscribers, about 25% of its total active users.

With Apple's Beats/iTunes hybrid service coming, look for a concerted push across the digital space for subs.