Just weeks after Spotify launched in India without securing rights from Warner/Chappell Music Publishing, it is being sued by the country’s oldest record label, Saregama, and will remove that company’s 120,000-song catalog from its platform within 10 days, according to reports in Inc42 and Music Business Worldwide.
The streaming giant had approached the label for a license before its launch in the country, and based on initial negotiations, Saregama allowed Spotify to post its music, senior advocate Sajan Poovayya told Justice Jayant Nath in Delhi High Court. However, the two parties were not able to finalize the deal and the label asked Spotify to remove its content from the platform within 10 days of the court hearing on April 23. The next hearing is scheduled for May 5.
Reps for Spotify did not immediately respond to Variety‘s requests for comment.
While it claimed to have 1 million Spotify’s launch in the world’s second most-populous country has been problematic. The launch was postponed at least twice and contributed at least in part to a drop in the company’s stock, a situation that was worsened by the unusually contentious battle of words between Spotify and Warner over the collapse of licensing talks. While Warner has less than 5% market share in India, Warner/Chappell publishes songs on multiple labels. While the announcement in January that Spotify has inked a content deal with T-Series, the country’s leading music and film company, ensured that it rolled out with plenty of popular content, the streaming giant will soon be without content from Warner/Chappell or Saregama.
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