Spotify Removes Content Of Popular Comedians From Streaming Service Over Royalties Dispute

Spotify has removed the works of some of the most popular comedians, including Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, John Mulaney, and Jim Gaffigan from its streaming services

Spotify has removed the works of some of the most popular comedians, including Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, John Mulaney, and Jim Gaffigan from its streaming services. Representational image (Source: Getty)

New Delhi: Audio streaming giant and media services provider Spotify has removed the works of some of the most popular comedians, including Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, John Mulaney, and Jim Gaffigan from its streaming services, due to a royalties dispute. A number of high-profile entertainers are pursuing royalty payments for their jokes when they are placed on the radio, and on services like Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, and SiriusXM, the media has reported.

The global rights administration company, Spoken Giants, backs the comics' efforts and works to ensure that entertainers are properly compensated for spoken-word content. The company is working with a group of high-profile comedians to negotiate terms that would allow the comics to be paid when their work is paid on platforms like Spotify, SiriusXM, Pandora and YouTube, WSJ first reported on Saturday.

 

When a digital service plays the content of comedians, they are typically paid by their label or distributor, along with digital performance rights organisation SoundExchange, according to WSJ. However, Spoken Giants hopes to change the fact that these comedians are technically not compensated for writing that content.

 

Spotify removed hundreds of comedians' content from the service after failed negotiations with Spoken Giants. Spotify, in a statement to the WSJ, said it already paid "significant amounts of money for the content in question, and would love to continue to do so." 

 

The comedians aim to collect royalties for “underlying composition copyrights of spoken-word media,” according to the report, similar to the way a songwriter would be paid for their music and lyrics.

 

Spotify has not commented whether the company will try to reach an agreement with Spoken Giants again, or if the comedians' content will make a return in the future.