Spotify's Legal Tab Could Hit $619M if MLC Wins Bundling Fight

Spotify just dropped some heavy news in its latest financial filings: if The MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) wins its bundling lawsuit outright, the platform could owe nearly $620 million. That's a serious number, and it shows how much this legal battle matters to the bottom line.

The dispute hinges on how Spotify structures its subscription tiers and what counts as a "music service" versus other features bundled into the platform. The MLC argues Spotify owes more in mechanical royalties based on how the service is packaged. For context, this liability figure has been climbing—showing the stakes keep getting higher as the case moves forward.

This is the kind of fight that affects everyone in the streaming ecosystem. If The MLC wins big, it could reshape how platforms calculate and pay mechanical royalties across the industry. Spotify's acknowledging the risk publicly, which means this isn't some distant possibility—it's a real threat to their financials.

The lesson here: streaming's still figuring out how to pay songwriters fairly, and the courts might force the issue.

Read the full story at Music Business Worldwide → https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/spotifys-potential-bill-if-the-mlc-wins-its-bundling-lawsuit-outright-rises-to-619m/