Lawyers for Dutch musician Mr Probz known for his 2013-14 hit song “Waves”, say they’ve filed a claim worth more than 10-million euros against Sony in Amsterdam. This is over royalties the artist argues Sony fraudulently withheld.
Sony denied the allegations. Mr Probz has around five-million monthly listeners on Spotify and the radio edit remix of “Waves” with musician Robin Schulz has been streamed more than 800-million times.
Mr. Probz whose real name is Dennis Stehr argues that Sony deducted administration and distribution fees from his royalties as they were passed through the company’s subsidiaries, in violation of his contract which specified they should be determined when they were first collected.
“We categorically dispute the claims made and are in the process of reviewing the summons,” Sony Music Entertainment Netherlands said in an emailed response to Reuter’s questions. Mr. Probz has around 5 million monthly listeners on Spotify and the radio edit remix of “Waves” with Robin Schulz has been streamed more than 800 million times.
The Waves video has been viewed 500 million times on YouTube. In a preliminary ruling in 2020, the Amsterdam District Court ordered Sony to return control of Stehr’s music to his company Left Lane BV and to allow his auditor access to all documents relating to the exploitation of his music from 2013-20.
Stehr lawyer Pim Keulen said Sony had not given full access to auditor Grant Thornton, but audits showed that the company “systematically” wrongly deducted fees leading to underpayment of 3-6% on royalties Left Lane should have received from Spotify, TIDAL, Amazon Music and Deezer among others.
‘Waves’ musician Mr. Probz files $10 million suit against Sony over royalties https://t.co/3BaVumbM8W pic.twitter.com/SNZkMcEFhx
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