New York Post
Legal battle could block Spotify’s plan for IPO
January 3, 2018
Alexandra Steigrad
Legal battle could block Spotify’s plan for IPO
Spotify may need to put its hopes of going public on ice. Despite confidentially filing for an initial public offering, the music-streaming service is facing a heap of legal troubles that could block its efforts to launch an IPO, one New York lawyer said Wednesday. Wixen Music Publishing slapped Spotify, the world’s No.
Spotify may need to put its hopes of going public on ice.
Despite confidentially filing for an initial public offering, the music-streaming service is facing a heap of legal troubles that could block its efforts to launch an IPO, one New York lawyer said Wednesday.
Wixen Music Publishing slapped Spotify, the world’s No. 1 music streamer, with a $1.6 billion lawsuit last month, claiming that it used thousands of songs by artists such as Tom Petty, Neil Young and Stevie Nicks without a license and compensation to the music publisher.
Up to 21 percent of the 30 million songs on Spotify are unlicensed, the lawsuit claims.
“I am pretty confident that Spotify cannot go public with this big black cloud hanging over its head,” the lawyer, Richard Roth of the Roth Law Firm, told The Post.
Roth is not involved in the Wixen legal action.
Stockholm-based Spotify lost $120 million to $240 million in the first half of 2017 on revenues of $2.2 billion, according to The Information, which cited persons familiar with the situation.
The confidential Spotify filing was made under the JOBS Act, which allows for looser IPO rules.
Spotify did not return requests for comment.
