Amazon Proposes Cutting US Songwriter Royalties as CRB Reviews 2028–2032 Rates

Streaming services, music publishers and creator groups have submitted their opening rate proposals to the US Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) for the 2028–2032 period, known as Phonorecords V. The proceeding will establish the statutory mechanical royalty rates paid by digital platforms to songwriters and music publishers in the United States.

While most major services, including Spotify, are pushing to maintain the current 15.35% headline revenue-share rate, Amazon has proposed lowering the statutory rate to 13.4%. The move prompted David Israelite, CEO of the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), to publicly brand Amazon the industry’s “worst offender” while criticising its ongoing use of subscription bundling discounts.

In contrast, music publishers are arguing that the statutory rate should rise to 20% of revenue, accompanied by per-stream minimums and tighter restrictions on bundling deductions. A coalition of songwriter organisations has proposed discarding the revenue-share formula altogether in favour of a flat rate of $0.0030 per stream across all service tiers. The CRB is scheduled to hold formal hearings on the submissions in early 2027.