Music Tech Startup Sues Spotify Over Group Listening Features
A British company, Bluejay Technologies, which developed a system that allows friends to share music streaming sessions in real-time over the internet, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Spotify. It argues in an August complaint filed in U.S. federal court that two Spotify features infringe its patent.
Founded in 2014, Bluejay developed an app that enabled one user to be a host, programming a streaming playlist in real-time for friends to consume together. It delivered the equivalent of a so-called virtual DJ session, with listeners able to enter a common listening session.
After its service launched in 2015, Bluejay met with music companies to discuss its technology. The filing indicates the firm was licensed in the UK as an “Internet broadcaster”.
Back in 2018, Bluejay demonstrated its app to Spotify through meetings, but it never heard back. However, it claims that Spotify later cited similar social engagement ideas.
Spotify released “Remote Group Session” in 2020 that allowed up to five Premium subscribers to listen together remotely using invite links. It killed this last year and instead introduced “Jam”, which allowed up to 32 users to collaboratively build playlists for live shared listening.
The features that have been implemented, according to Bluejay, infringe on its patent for “simulated live broadcasting of a programmed audio music playlist session from a host device to multiple recipient devices.” The startup now wants damages and has filed for a court declaration that Spotify has infringed its patented technology.
