Grammy-nominated songwriters Jessi Alexander, Amy Allen, Jessie Jo Dillon, and RAYE have announced they will not attend Spotify's Songwriter of the Year Grammy party on January 28. This means four out of the five nominees in the category are boycotting the event, with Edgar Barrera's stance still unknown.

The boycott stems from Spotify's recent decision to cut royalty rates on premium streams for songwriters and publishers. This change, implemented last year, is expected to result in approximately $150 million less in royalties over 12 months for the songwriting community.

Jessie Jo Dillon, who wrote Morgan Wallen's "Lies Lies Lies," stated: "After some thought, I couldn't in good conscience support this initiative given their approach to bundling royalties. It is very nice to be individually honored, but it is better for me and my entire songwriter community to be paid fairly for our art."

The royalty rate reduction occurred when Spotify reclassified its Premium subscriptions as "bundled" products due to the addition of audiobooks. This reclassification allows the platform to pay lower mechanical rates for songs.

Other prominent songwriters have voiced their opposition on social media. Ross Golan warned fellow songwriters against attending, while 2023 Grammy nominee Laura Veltz criticized the platform's practices, stating "Spotify is robbing you. Songwriters: do not fall for this horse shit."

Spotify initiated the Songwriter of the Year Grammy event to celebrate nominees for the award, which the Recording Academy established in 2023. However, the current boycott highlights growing tensions between the platform and the songwriting community over fair compensation.

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