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Newburyport singer-songwriter Melissa Ferrick wasn't necessarily looking to be the face of a class action lawsuit against music streaming giant Spotify as 2015 drew to a close. Her focus was -- and remains -- her music, including touring in support of her 12th album, and her Berklee College of Music songwriting students.
Nonetheless, Ferrick says she was "thrilled to be available" to stand up and be the spokesperson for a group of composers owed royalties by the four-year-old Swedish company, which now boasts 70 million subscribers and a valuation of more than $8 billion, according to the complaint filed on behalf of Ferrick and the other class members.
Ferrick first became aware that Spotify was stiffing her as she was taking over the administration of her publishing rights. In the early stages of her relationship with music royalty collection start-up Audium, founder Jeff Price noticed something curious when reviewing the statements of Ferrick's publishing royalties. Other services -- Pandora, iTunes, XBox -- were listed as having paid their fair share of fractional pennies for each stream, but Spotify was nowhere to be found.
Price introduced her to Los Angeles attorney Henry Gradstein, and Ferrick soon...