spotify uruguay decision

Spotify has announced plans to continue operating in Uruguay. Photo Credit: Juan Lasala

Following months of uncertainty about Spotify’s future in Uruguay – and late November’s announcement of a full-scale exit – the streaming platform has revealed that it will continue operating in the South American nation.

Spotify disclosed the change of plans in a brief release, having confirmed only weeks ago its anticipated early 2024 departure from Uruguay. As we’ve covered in detail, the since-shelved withdrawal resulted from an update (scheduled to go into effect on January 1st) to the country’s copyright law.

Said update refers specifically to a clause allowing rightsholders and creators to negotiate directly for their works’ use on digital platforms. According to Spotify, absent a modification, the pivot would have compelled it “to pay twice for the same songs.”

And given the substantial portion of revenue that it already forwards to labels and publishers, the service argued that these parties should themselves be made to cover any new costs stemming from the law.

Now, with related discussions having initiated in earnest closer to December’s beginning, Spotify has scored the sought adjustment, relaying that it will therefore “remain available in Uruguay” and “continue to give artists the opportunity to live off their art.”

“The Uruguayan government has demonstrated that it recognizes the value Spotify provides to local artists, songwriters, and fans,” the streaming service communicated. “The clarification to the recent changes in music copyright law means that the rightsholders—to whom Spotify already pays roughly 70% of every dollar it generates for music—should be responsible for these costs.”

Of course, time will demonstrate the exact effect of the underlying decree, particularly when it comes to the newly impacted entities’ responses. (Some lawmakers reportedly attempted in vain to axe the clauses altogether.) A translation of this just-finalized decree spells out that the “party with whom the respective performing artist has contracted…shall be responsible for the remuneration provided for in” the involved articles.

“Third parties who make available such phonograms or audiovisual recordings or communicate them to the public shall in no case be obliged to pay such remuneration nor shall they be the subject of any claim under the aforementioned articles,” the text drives home of the law, which, as noted at the outset, remains set to go into effect on the 1st.

Lastly, Uruguay’s secretary of the presidency, Alvaro Delgado, elaborated upon the development in a brief social media post and when speaking with the media. According to these translated comments and the decree itself, a commission featuring representatives from the affected stakeholders will hammer out implementation details in 2024.