{"id":105556,"date":"2025-08-05T13:03:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T12:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?p=105556"},"modified":"2025-08-05T13:03:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T12:03:14","slug":"sony-files-lawsuit-against-napster-unpaid-royalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/sony-files-lawsuit-against-napster-unpaid-royalties\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony Music files lawsuit against Napster over missing royalty payments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 style=\"user-select: auto;\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff; user-select: auto;\">The major label has claimed the streaming platform owes millions in royalties and kept using its music after a terminated deal.<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Napster is facing serious legal trouble following a new lawsuit filed by Sony Music. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/sony-music-napster-lawsuit-unpaid-royalties\/\">Billboard<\/a>, the major label claims that Napster owes more than $9.2 million in unpaid royalties. This is not the first lawsuit to involve Napster and unpaid royalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sony alleges that Napster stopped making royalty payments over a year ago, which led to the termination of their licensing agreement in June 2025. Despite the contract ending, Sony claims Napster continued to stream its music and videos, raising further legal concerns around copyright infringement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in June, US licensing agency <a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/soundexchange-sues-sonos-napster\/\">SoundExchange also filed a lawsuit<\/a> against Sonos over unpaid royalties during the time its Sonos Radio service was powered by Napster between 2020 and 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What makes the situation more concerning is that these issues have not been resolved, even though Napster was bought in March by Infinite Reality. The firm <a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/napster-acquired-by-infinite-reality-for-207-million\/\">acquired Napster<\/a> for $207 million, not long after it completed a massive $3 billion funding round, which valued it at $12.25 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/musically.com\/2025\/08\/05\/sony-music-sues-napster-alleging-9-2m-in-unpaid-royalties\/\">MusicAlly<\/a> points out, with such significant backing, many expected that any outstanding debts with music rightsholders would be settled quickly. But with Sony Music now taking legal action, it\u2019s clear that not all issues have been addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Napster\u2019s spokesperson gave a short statement to Billboard, saying: \u201cWe have no comment on pending litigation. However, we deeply value our relationships with all of our partners. We remain committed to rebuilding Napster\u2019s relationships with all of the major labels and are hopeful for a swift and amicable resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether this lawsuit will be settled privately or go to court remains to be seen. But for now, it\u2019s a reminder of how critical licensing agreements and timely royalty payments are in the music business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/\">Distribute your music to all major streaming platforms around the world, and start earning royalties with RouteNote. Sign up today to get started.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The major label has claimed the streaming platform owes millions in royalties and kept using its music after a terminated deal. Napster is facing serious legal trouble following a new lawsuit filed by Sony Music. According to Billboard, the major label claims that Napster owes more than $9.2 million in unpaid royalties. This is not the first lawsuit to involve Napster and unpaid royalties. Sony alleges that Napster stopped making royalty payments over a year ago, which led to the termination of their licensing agreement in June 2025. Despite the contract ending, Sony claims Napster continued to stream its music&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":105557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[2747],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.4.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Sony Music files lawsuit against Napster over missing royalty payments - RouteNote Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sony Music has sued Napster over unpaid royalties and the use of music after a deal ended. Get the full details here.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/sony-files-lawsuit-against-napster-unpaid-royalties\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sony Music files lawsuit against Napster over missing royalty payments - RouteNote Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sony Music has sued Napster over unpaid royalties and the use of music after a deal ended. Get the full details here.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/sony-files-lawsuit-against-napster-unpaid-royalties\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RouteNote Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-05T12:03:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-05T12:03:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tingey-injury-law-firm-veNb0DDegzE-unsplash.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"5180\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"3453\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Johanna Campbell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"RouteNote\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/\",\"sameAs\":[],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/routenote-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/routenote-logo.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"RouteNote\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"RouteNote Blog\",\"description\":\"The World of Digital Music - Distribution - Stores and Free Music\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/sony-files-lawsuit-against-napster-unpaid-royalties\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tingey-injury-law-firm-veNb0DDegzE-unsplash.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/tingey-injury-law-firm-veNb0DDegzE-unsplash.jpg\",\"width\":5180,\"height\":3453},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/sony-files-lawsuit-against-napster-unpaid-royalties\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/sony-files-lawsuit-against-napster-unpaid-royalties\/\",\"name\":\"Sony Music files lawsuit against Napster over missing royalty payments - RouteNote Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/sony-files-lawsuit-against-napster-unpaid-royalties\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-05T12:03:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-05T12:03:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"Sony Music has sued Napster over unpaid royalties and the use of music after a deal ended. 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