Just hours after Spotify announced its first-ever annual net profit, the National Music Publishers’ Association has launched an ongoing takedown initiative against the streaming giant for the unlicensed use of music in podcasts on its platform.

Beginning today (Feb. 4), notices will be sent to remove thousands of unlicensed uses of NMPA members’ works, according to the announcement. Over 2,500 detections of infringement are included in the initial takedown notices. The move follows the trade group’s 2024 legal action against Spotify over its controversial audiobooks-music “bundling” deal, which significantly lowered the royalties paid out to music rights holders.

Last May, NMPA sent a cease-and-desist letter to the platform, stating that “Spotify thus appears to be engaged in direct infringement by hosting unlicensed musical works in its lyrics, videos, and podcasts…” The letter demanded that “unlicensed lyrics, music videos, and podcasts be removed from the platform or Spotify will face copyright liability for continued use of these works.”

NMPA President & CEO David Israelite said, “Spotify has thousands of unlicensed songs in its podcasts, which it has done nothing to remedy. This takedown action comes as no surprise, we have warned of this issue for some time.

“Podcasts are a growing source of revenue for songwriters and publishers, and it is essential that podcasts provide lawfully produced entertainment. This is not hard to do, and Spotify knows, and has known, how to fix this problem for their users. We hope podcast hosts will stand up for their fellow creators and demand that Spotify do better.”

The takedown program includes 19 NMPA member publishers including ABKCO, Anthem Entertainment, Big Machine Music, BMG, Concord Music Publishing, Downtown Music Publishing, Hipgnosis Songs Group, Kobalt, Mayimba Music, peermusic, Primary Wave Music, Reservoir, The Royalty Network, Inc., Sony Music Publishing, Spirit Music Group, Ultra Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, and Wixen Music Publishing.

Last June, NMPA filed a legal complaint against Spotify over its music-audiobooks “bundling” deal, which meant a lower mechanical royalty for songwriters. Last month, Universal Music announced a new, multi-year agreement for recorded music and music publishing “focused on growth, innovation and the advancement of artists’ and songwriters’ success.” It also marks the first direct license between Spotify and a major publisher in several years. NMPA offered cautious praise of the deal, saying ““The announcement of a deal between Spotify and UMPG bodes well for the industry.”