Songwriters nominated for Songwriter of the Year at the 2025 Grammy Awards will be absent from Spotify’s Grammy Party celebrating songwriters, citing the controversial singer as the reason for their absence. Some cited the platform’s loyalty policy.
Four of the five Songwriter of the Year nominees (Jesse Alexander, Amy Allen, Jesse Jo Dillon, and RAYE) did not attend the Spotify event, and Dillon and Allen announced the change. Spotify, which admitted to Billboard that it was a considered decision, last year introduced a subscription tier that bundled premium with audiobooks, resulting in $150 million in payments to songwriters in the first 12 months. is expected to decrease.
Dillon, who has been nominated for Songwriter of the Year two years in a row thanks to credits with Post Malone, Morgan Wallen and Megan Moloney, told Billboard: “After some thought,… I could not support it in good conscience.” This initiative is based on a royalty bundling approach. While it’s great for individuals to be recognized, it’s better for me and my entire songwriter community to be fairly compensated for our art. There is no song without a songwriter. ”
Similarly, Mr. Allen’s representative said that Mr. Allen was declining because of a reduction in royalties. A rep for RAYE (who was also nominated for Best New Artist) said she never attended the party in the first place and said she is an “outspoken advocate” of “industry-wide conversations” about songwriters’ rights. Ta. Meanwhile, Alexander did not reveal the reason for his absence from the event, but confirmed that he would not be attending.
Spotify has never been popular among musicians, but the boycott of the Grammys party comes amid growing discontent. In October, Lily Allen revealed she makes more money from foot photos on OnlyFans than she does on Spotify, despite having 8 million monthly listeners, and won the 2023 Grammy Award for Songwriter of the Year. Laura Wertz, who was nominated for , talked about the recent royalty reduction on her Instagram Story. , “Spotify is stealing your money. Songwriters, don’t fall for this crap.”
Meanwhile, Spotify itself posted record profits in 2024, and CEO Daniel Ek now earns far more than the platform’s most streamed artists. What’s more, in December of this year, there were reports that the company was adding ghost artists to its playlists in order to minimize royalty costs.
