SPOTIFY FACES NEW LEGAL CHALLENGES

Two Nashville-based music publishers, Rob Gaudino and Bluewater Music, have separately sued Spotify for failing to obtain the proper licenses to stream a multitude of songs from both publisher’s catalogs. Both lawsuits were filed Tuesday by Richard S. Busch of Music City law firm of King & Ballow.

“Songwriters and publishers should not have to work this hard to get paid, or have their life work properly licensed," argues Busch. "And companies should not be allowed to build businesses on the concept of infringe now and ask questions later.”

Bluewater Music’s lawsuit lists 2,399 songs, while Gaudino’s suit counts 106 compositions, and “Bye, Bye Baby,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and “Rag Doll" are among those being disputed. According to reports from multiple sources, both lawsuits are urging Spotify to pay $150k per instance infringement, marking U.S. copyright law's maximum statutory damage amount.

No imaginary Swedish chill artists were reportedly involved.