and other artists; and appealed the decision by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board to boost mechanical rights payments to songwriters and publishers. Then, in late June, it claimed that according to the new CRB regulations it had overpaid publishers and would claw back from them as-yet-undetermined amounts. In February, Spotify provoked a lawsuit from Warner Music Group when it forged ahead with plans to offer its service in India without reaching a licensing agreement with the major.
With great power come great headaches, however, and since landing in the United States, Holmstén has had to reeducate those used to the old favor-trading. “At the beginning, there was a lot of ‘Hey, if you’re coming [to Los Angeles], maybe I could take your family to Disneyland,’ ” he says. “There were these built-in mechanics in the music industry, and I think the beauty of it now is that it doesn’t matter.
Yet the chill atmosphere belies urgent business. Spotify’s licensing agreements with the majors expire this year, and in light of the corporate frictions that have developed between the two sides, Holmstén, who oversees seven teams in the company’s music division, is under more pressure than ever to maintain good relations with the artistic community -- and they with him, given the power of Spotify’s playlists.
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