SoundExchange Sues Sonos, Napster Over Music-Streaming Royalties

Smart-speaker maker Sonos Inc. and a streaming-music company affiliated with the dotcom-era platform Napster refused to pay millions of dollars in royalties owed to artists, the rights clearinghouse SoundExchange Inc. told a federal court.

Sonos Radio, powered by music streamer Rhapsody International Inc.—which uses the Napster branding—stopped reporting song use and making payments in May 2022, after Rhapsody was acquired by venture capital firm Hivemind, according to a complaint filed Monday in the US District Court for the Central District of California. An ensuing audit found Sonos and Rhapsody owe SoundExchange more than $3.3 million in missing royalties and a ...