Spotify Hit With Big Lawsuit

The lawsuit comes after the Sweden-based music-streaming service agreed in May to pay more than $43 million to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit brought against it by songwriters who accused the company of not licensing or paying them for use of their music.



Spotify has been sued for allegedly playing thousands of songs from the likes of Tom Petty, Neil Young and The Doors without permission.

Wixen Music Publishing, a song licensee, sued Spotify last week in California federal court, alleging the music-streaming startup is using its songs without the proper license or compensation to the music publisher. The lawsuit seeks $1.6 billion in damages.

Spotify, which has more than 60 million paying users, is expected to go public this year, with a valuation of about $20 billion, according to investment bank GP Bullhound, an early investor in Spotify.