US publishing revenue up nearly 11% to $6.2 billion in 2023, NMPA reveals at annual meeting

During the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) annual meeting on Wednesday (June 12), the trade body said it had projected total US publishing revenue to reach $6.2 billion in 2023, up 10.74 % from the previous year.

The event, held at Alice Tully Hall in New York's Lincoln Center, is considered a state of the union for the American music publishing business. During the presentation, it is also common for the President/CEO of NMPA David the Israelite to announce significant actions it is taking against technology companies on behalf of publishers. This year, it targeted Spotify, sending a formal complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as well as letters to the attorneys general of nine states and a list of consumer groups — calling on them to stop Spotify's efforts to integrate music and audiobooks into its premium tiers. It's the first time the NMPA has involved the FTC in its fight with a tech company.

For publishers and songwriters, Spotify's decision to include audiobooks in its premium tiers and categorize those tiers as “bundles” — a type of program that qualifies for a reduced rate on US engineering royalties, given that many products are offered at a price – it means a lower royalty rate for music, since both music and audiobooks must now be paid for by the same royalty pool. In May, the NMPA began its war with Spotify by sending a cease-and-desist letter to the streamer for allegedly hosting lyrics, music videos and podcast content containing their members' copyrighted musical works without proper permissions.

In Wednesday's FTC complaint, the NMPA says Spotify “defrauded consumers by converting millions of its subscribers without their consent from music-only subscriptions to 'bundled' audiobook and music subscriptions, publicly announcing increased prices for those subscriptions, omitting to offer an option for subscribers to revert to a music-only subscription and by thwarting cancellation attempts through dark patterns and confusing website interfaces.” (For more on this, check out Advertising signfull coverage of the FTC complaint here.)

In addition to Israelite's big announcement, the event also honored top songwriters for their contributions to the music industry — including an opening tribute to the songwriter and outgoing NMPA board member Ross Golan. The NMPA also presented awards to Lana Del Rey, this year's Songwriter Icon recipient, and Savan Kotecha, winner of the Non-Performing Songwriter Icon Award. Elsewhere, “Can't Help Falling in Love” was honored with the NMPA's Iconic Song Award, with a performance of the song by Ingrid Michaelson.

The event included additional jamba talks Robert KynclCEO of Warner Music Group, and Shira Perlmuttercopyright registrar and director of the US Copyright Office.

The NMPA Annual Meeting comes amid a busy year in the music publishing industry. In early 2024, MLC, which assembles and distributes mechanics in the U.S., began its first redesign process — a regular five-year review of its operations to determine whether changes need to be made to the organization.

That same month, UMG pulled its music catalog from TikTok, including its publishing interests, claiming the short-form app didn't pay “fair value” for the music, while also raising concerns about artificial intelligence and the security of users. artists. The NMPA showed its support for UMG on the move and even joined the music giant in letting the NMPA's model license with TikTok, which is used by several independent publishers, expire at the end of April. (UMG and TikTok eventually struck a deal.)