In a move that signals both cooperation and continued conflict, Spotify and the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) announced a new licensing framework on Monday that will allow independent music publishers to secure direct agreements for audiovisual content on the streaming platform — even as legal battles and regulatory complaints between the two parties continue to simmer.
The agreement, unveiled November 11, establishes an opt-in portal where NMPA members can negotiate individual licensing deals covering what the organizations describe as “expanded audiovisual rights” for U.S.-based content. The arrangement promises to create an additional revenue stream for songwriters and publishers whose works appear in video content on Spotify’s platform, potentially resolving one piece of a much larger dispute.
“This new partnership with the NMPA will increase revenue for songwriters and independent publishers who are the heart of the industry,” said Alex Norström, Spotify’s co-president and chief business officer, positioning the deal as a win for the creative community.
Yet the announcement arrives against a backdrop of escalating hostilities that began in March 2024, when Spotify implemented a controversial change to its royalty structure. The streaming giant began paying reduced mechanical royalty rates to publishers and songwriters on its premium subscription tiers — a move the company justified by reclassifying these plans as “bundles” after adding audiobooks to the service. Under U.S. copyright law, bundled services qualify for discounted mechanical royalty rates because they combine multiple products under a single price point.
The NMPA and its member publishers have vigorously contested this reclassification, viewing it as a calculated maneuver to reduce payments to music creators. The trade association has mounted what industry observers describe as a multi-pronged offensive against the Swedish streaming company.
That campaign has included a lawsuit filed by the Mechanical Licensing Collective challenging Spotify’s bundling interpretation, an FTC complaint, a legislative proposal seeking to change the underlying rules, and cease-and-desist notices alleging that Spotify has hosted lyrics, music videos, and podcast content containing copyrighted musical works without proper authorization.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, Monday’s licensing agreement specifically addresses the video licensing issues raised in those cease-and-desist notices, potentially providing a legal framework for content that the NMPA has characterized as unlicensed. However, the same sources emphasized that the trade group has no intention of abandoning its other legal and regulatory challenges, since this deal does not resolve the fundamental dispute over subscription bundling and discounted mechanical rates.
“We are pleased that this deal offers indie publishers the chance to enter into direct deals with Spotify in regard to audiovisual streaming functionality on the platform alongside the recently announced larger publishing companies,” said David Israelite, the NMPA’s president and CEO, framing the agreement as an extension of opportunities previously available only to major publishers.
Indeed, the announcement follows a pattern established earlier in 2025, when music publishing’s “Big Three” — Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony Music Publishing, and Warner Chappell Music — along with independent publisher Kobalt and various parent companies, each struck separate direct licensing agreements with Spotify. While details of those deals remain closely guarded, each was characterized as improving compensation for songwriters and typically covered multi-year terms spanning both publishing and recorded music rights.
The new NMPA portal, which opened Monday and will remain available for onboarding through December 19, effectively democratizes access to these direct licensing arrangements, allowing smaller independent publishers to negotiate terms without the leverage of a major corporation behind them.
Industry analysts suggest the deal represents a pragmatic truce on one battleground while war continues on others. For Spotify, securing licenses for audiovisual content reduces legal exposure and potentially strengthens its position with investors and advertisers as it expands video offerings. For independent publishers, it offers a new income source from a platform feature — video content paired with music — that has been growing in importance.
But the carefully worded statements from both parties make clear that the larger existential question remains unresolved: whether Spotify’s addition of audiobooks to its premium service genuinely transforms those subscriptions into bundles worthy of discounted music royalty rates, or represents what critics characterize as an accounting sleight of hand designed to reduce payments to the creators whose w8ork drives the platform’s core value proposition.
As the portal opens for independent publishers to begin negotiations, the music industry will be watching to see whether this represents the first crack in the dispute’s resolution — or simply a tactical pause in a conflict that shows no signs of reaching a comprehensive settlement.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Spotify and the NMPA have reached a limited truce, allowing independent music publishers to license audiovisual content and earn new royalties through a direct deal portal opening today. However, this agreement doesn’t resolve their central battle: the two sides remain locked in legal warfare over Spotify’s controversial 2024 decision to pay reduced royalty rates by reclassifying premium subscriptions as “bundles” after adding audiobooks.
While major publishers already secured similar deals earlier this year, this opens the door for smaller independents — but the NMPA has made clear it won’t back down from its lawsuits, regulatory complaints, and legislative efforts to force Spotify to pay full rates. Essentially, they’ve agreed to cooperate on videos while continuing to fight over the money that really matters.
