According to the band’s complaint, a 2021 audit report by accounting firm Prager Metis found Island forking over lower royalty payments from overseas Spotify streams than those coming from the U.S. “Upon further inquiry, Island Records disclosed that royalties from foreign streams are paid to [the band] based upon 60 percent of the revenue received by Island Records' foreign distributors,” the complaint states.
Island signed The Cranberries years before the advent of digital music, and it is “excessive” for the label to continue taking 40 percent of foreign streaming revenue for “passively collecting income from digital service providers,” the complaint states.
Today, online streaming platforms handle marketing, promotion and distribution - not record labels - according to the complaint, which pegs Spotify’s take for these services at 30 percent.
But, according to the complaint, they only got $930,676, alleging Island “significantly underreported” its revenue attributable to video streams.
EXCLUSIVE: In a federal lawsuit, the band accuses Island Records of taking an “excessive” cut of their streaming revenues.
