Spotify Wins Bundling Appeal Ruling as Royalty Dispute Continues

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3▲1 ▼0Impact / 5
Summary · why it matters

A federal judge on September 1, 2026 declined to allow an early appeal of the ruling that Spotify Premium qualifies as a music-and-audiobook bundle, leaving a favorable decision intact for Spotify USA Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Spotify Technology S.A. The remaining dispute concerns the bill: the Mechanical Licensing Collective alleges that subscription revenue is being allocated and reported incorrectly, and that the price of Audiobooks Access overstates the value of Premium's audiobook component, reducing the revenue share attributed to music. The September 1 order also struck the subsidiary's defense that MLC had unfairly singled it out for enforcement. Spotify Technology S.A. disclosed approximately €473 million of potential liability for March 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026 if MLC ultimately succeeds completely in challenging Premium's classification as a bundle, though that estimate concerns the original bundling challenge and the remaining calculation claims require separate quantification. The January 2025 ruling recognized that the 15 hours of monthly audiobook listening included in the plans at issue had more than token value, and Spotify reported 300 million Premium subscribers, up 9% year over year, and revenue of €4.8 billion, up 14%, in second-quarter results announced August 4.

Impact on assets 5

Communication Services▲ · 4 stocks
Spotify Technology SA
SPOT
▲ PositiveRegulationrelevance

Judge declined early appeal, leaving intact the ruling that Spotify Premium qualifies as a bundle, favorable in the MLC royalty dispute.

Artificial Intelligence▲ · 1 stocks

Off-coverage companies 2

Spotify USA Inc.Private▲ Positive
Regulationrelevance

The subsidiary won the September 1 order keeping the favorable bundling ruling and striking MLC's singling-out defense.

Mechanical Licensing CollectivePrivate± Mixed
relevance

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