Music org raises lawsuit against Peleton to $300m for no licence music use

Seemingly unable to stay out of the news, Peleton has found itself embroiled in a $300 million lawsuit with a US music organisation for use of songs without a licence.

Having just filed for its IPO, despite huge losses, the indoor cycling firm is alleged to have used over 1,000 songs without the proper authorisation. The US National Music Publisher’s Association initially took out the lawsuit in March claiming $150 million in damages.

Delving further into the use catalogue of music used by the firm, the NMPA found further evidence, with a catalogue of music from the Beatles among those tracks available.

NMPA President David Israelite told Forbes the oversight is “astounding” and that the findings continue to stack as further tracks join the list.

Peleton disputes the lawsuit, claiming it had secured the rights for the music streaming within its product.

“This platform could only have been developed with the close collaboration of our trusted music partners, which include all of the major labels, major music publishers and performance rights organisations, among many others,” Peloton said in a statement.

“We will continue to defend ourselves against claims made in this matter and look forward to pursuing our counterclaims.”

In its IPO filing the firm was to value itself at around $8 billion with a share price of around $27. The firm has gone through several rounds of investor funding in a bid to quickly scale its business overseas, among other plans. As a result it was dubbed the ‘fasting growing company in New York’ at one time.

Goldman Sachs Group and JP Morgan Chase & Co are leading the offering, as Peloton plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol PTON.

Peleton itself has previously brought lawsuits, taking on rival Flywheel Sports over what it deemed to be a patent infringement.