Spotify Removes Hundreds Of Popular Comedians Content, One Of Them Is Kevin Hart

Kevin Hart, comedian with problems with Spotify. (photo: twitter)

JAKARTA - Hundreds of albums and works by the most popular comedian have been removed from the music streaming app, Spotify. It's because of royalty and copyright disputes that have been causing problems lately.

The comedians include Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish, John Mulaney, and Jim Gaffigan. First reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the case began when a number of high-profile entertainers chased royalty payments for their jokes when played on the radio, as well as on services such as Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, and SiriusXM.

Comedians aim to collect royalties for the copyright of the compositions that underlie the medium of spoken words. This is similar to the way a songwriter would be paid for their music and lyrics. Spotify itself takes the work of comedians from the streaming platform.

Citing The Verge, Monday, December 6, their efforts were then backed by global rights administration firm Spoken Giants, which works to ensure that comedians are properly compensated for their content.

As the WSJ notes, comedians are typically paid by their label or distributor, along with digital performance rights organization SoundExchange when the digital service plays their content. However, the comedians claim they were not compensated for writing the content, something the Spoken Giants are looking to change.

After failed negotiations with Spoken Giants, Spotify removed hundreds of comedian content from its service. The company says it has paid a significant amount of money for the content in question, and would be happy to continue to do so.

"Spotify has paid a significant amount of money for the content in question, and would be happy to continue to do so. However, given the Spoken Giants debating what rights various licensors have, it is imperative that the label that distributes this content, Spotify, and the Spoken Giants get together. resolve this issue to ensure this content remains available to fans around the world," Spotify told CNBC International.