Music publishers are asking Spotify to remove thousands of unlicensed songs from podcasts on its platform, a massive takedown request spanning work by megastars from Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar to Michael Jackson and Prince.

The publishers’ group says Spotify has known ‘for years’ about widespread violations of music copyrights on the podcasts it hosts.

Just hours after Spotify announced its first-ever annual net profit, the National Music Publishers' Association has launched an ongoing takedown initiative against the streaming giant for the unlicensed use of music in podcasts on its platform.

The news comes just days after Spotify triumphed in a lawsuit over its audiobook bundling model. The post Some podcasts might be disappearing from Spotify following a music publisher purge appeared first on The Manual.