Entertainment

Judge Slashes Napster Class Action Settlement That Paid Songwriters 30x Less Than Lawyers

Published

9 months ago

September 11, 2025

Vicky

Two years after an appeals court overturned a “measly” class action settlement for songwriters that netted their lawyers a huge payout, a judge has now awarded those attorneys just a tiny fraction of their original fee.

The scathing 2023 ruling rejected a deal struck with Napster that secured just $53,000 for songwriters but paid their lawyers a whopping $1.7 million. The appeals court said it was very clearly “unreasonable” to pay attorneys more than 30 times the amount they actually won for their clients.

On Wednesday, a lower court judge heeded that warning and sharply reduced the amount paid to those lawyers under the settlement — all the way down to $86,022.

“The difference between the settlement value … and the [legal fees] figure … is staggering,” Judge Jeffrey S. White wrote in the ruling, obtained by Billboard. “The court therefore finds it appropriate to substantially reduce the [legal fees] figure.”

The ruling came in a class action filed in 2016 against Rhapsody, which has since rebranded as Napster. It was one of several such copyright cases filed in the mid-2010s over the failure of streaming services like Spotify to properly pay mechanical royalties to songwriters.

But the lawsuit — and its prospects for a large payout — were sharply reduced by a competing class action organized by the National Music Publishers’ Association, which eventually drained roughly 98% of the possible class members. The passage of the Music Modernization Act, which largely fixed the problems that led to the litigation, further reduced the scope of the case.

When Napster finally settled in 2019, it agreed to pay as much as $20 million. But because NMPA’s competing lawsuit had decimated the earlier case, Napster ended up paying only $52,841 to the actual songwriters who chose to participate.

When it came time to figure out how much to pay the lawyers who represented the songwriters, their fees were calculated as a percentage of that hypothetical $20 million cap, not the actual payout — resulting in the outsized $1.7 million award.

That outcome shocked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which ruled in 2023 that the “meager” payout to songwriters didn’t come close to warranting the massive reward to their attorneys: “This case will likely make the average person shake her head in disbelief,” U.S. Circuit Judge Kenneth K. Lee wrote at the time.

Back at the trial court, the plaintiff’s lawyers (from the law firm Michelman & Robinson LLP) once again asked for a big award, offering a revised request of $1.2 million. Even if the direct monetary payout was small, they argued their lawsuit had provided “significant benefits” to songwriters, including aiding the larger NMPA case and even helping the passage of the MMA.

But in Wednesday’s decision, Judge White said he was required to award the lawyers no more than 25 percent of the total benefit they had won for their clients. Under a revised calculation, the judge put that figure at $358,903 — meaning he would award just $86,022 to the attorneys. That figure will be supplemented by an award of legal “costs” (separate from attorney’s fees) of just over $13,000.

One silver lining for the plaintiffs’ attorneys? The judge also rejected arguments from Napster’s attorney, who had urged him to award the attorneys no more than 25 percent of the original $52,841 — meaning just $13,210 in legal fees.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys at issue in the ruling did not immediately return a request for comment.

Entertainment

Which New Music Release Is Your Favorite This Week? Vote!

Published

2 months ago

April 25, 2026

Vicky

It’s the final new music Friday (April 24) of the month, and everyone from Noah Kahan to Kehlani and Suki Waterhouse have put forth some of their best work as May waits just around the corner.

This week, Vermont’s favorite folk-rock singer-songwriter finally returned with a new album after four years of Stick Season, his breakout album that reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The Great Divide is 17 tracks of Kahan reexamining his worldview after struggling with his mental health in the years since he found fame.

And, as if taking cues from the success of first-ever Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “Folded” (which reached No. 6 on the chart in January), Kehlani leans fully into classic R&B flavors in an intentional push to recenter the genre’s traditions. “All the R&B artists, we want R&B to be back,” the artist told Billboard ahead of being named Billboard Women in Music’s Impact honoree. “We want good, long songs. We want three verses and bridges and modulations and all the things – we want that too. We just didn’t think anybody else wanted it. I have an allegiance to the genre, and I’ll keep it there.”

On top of the bounty of new albums, several artists have released fresh singles — including Suki Waterhouse, who returns with “Tiny Raisin” shortly after announcing her next album, Loveland, as well as Hayley Kiyoko and Gigi Perez, who teamed up for heartfelt duet “Collide.” Plus, Dylan Gossett adds “My Boy” to the mix, written as a letter to his son.

But which release is your favorite this week? Let Billboard know by voting in the poll below.

Entertainment

Celeb-Loved Juicy Couture T-Shirts Are On Sale for $8 Right Now (If You Hurry)

Published

2 months ago

April 25, 2026

Vicky

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

It’s been almost three decades since the LA-based casual wear brand Juicy Couture first hit store shelves, and the Hollywood-loved label has made its way back into the spotlight in recent years thanks to the Y2K trend resurgence and newfound love from influencers online.

Best known for its T-shirts, handbags and yes, those velour tracksuits (reportedly designed exclusively for Madonna at first), Juicy Couture pieces were seen on practically every major celebrity in the 2000s, from Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, to Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian. Musicians like Miley Cyrus, Nicole Scherzinger and even Beyoncé have also been spotted wearing Juicy Couture, and now, a new Amazon deal makes it easy for you to get into some JC as well.

LIMITED TIME DEAL

Table of Contents

Juicy Couture Cap Sleeve T-Shirt (Five-Pack)

$38.24 $44.99 15% off

Buy Now On Amazon

Amazon is selling a five-pack of Juicy Couture T-shirts right now for just $39. Part of the “Juicy Sport” line, the cropped T-shirts are made from a super soft and breathable “performance” fabric that features a touch of spandex for easy movement and stretch.

That makes the T-shirts as ideal for a workout or yoga session as they are for pairing with your everyday ‘fits. The crop top look leans into the Y2K aesthetic and Amazon’s website shows the shirts styled with shorts, leggings and mini skirts alike.

This Amazon deal gets you five Juicy Couture T-shirts for under $40. That brings the price of each tee down to less than $8 — a virtually unheard of deal for generic T-shirts, let alone a brand name pick.

We like the five-pack above, which gets you a T-shirt in two shades of pink (including a light pink with the signature Juicy Couture cherries), plus navy blue, gray and black. You can choose from other color combinations online. The tees are available in sizes small to XXL.

ALSO AVAILABLE

Juicy Couture T-Shirts (Three-Pack)

$29.74

Buy Now On Amazon

Don’t need five T-shirts? Amazon also sells a three-pack of Juicy Couture tees for just $30, bringing the price of each individual shirt to under $10.

ALSO CONSIDER

Juicy Couture Queen of Everything Mini Duffle Bag

$45.09 $79.00 43% off

Buy Now On Amazon

And if you need a bag to take to the gym (or for an overnight stay), we like this mini barrel-style duffle bag, on sale for 43% off. The two-tone bag measures approximate 8.2 x 4.9 inches in size, which is enough room for your wallet, keys, change of clothes and toiletries. Choose to carry the bag via the top handle or with the detachable shoulder straps.

All of the above picks are officially-licensed products sold through Amazon’s Juicy Couture storefront. As with all Amazon deals, the sale prices could end at anytime, so we recommend adding the deals to cart while they are still live.

Entertainment

Head Back to Hawkins With New ‘Stranger Things: Tales From ’85’ Soundtrack

Published

2 months ago

April 25, 2026

Vicky

Netflix is bringing us back to the ’80s, and it’s making sure we have the right music for the occasion.

On Wednesday (April 22), Billboard can exclusively reveal that an original soundtrack is coming this week for the brand-new animated spin-off series Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. The score album, composed by Brad Breeck (Gravity Falls, We Bare Bears), will be released globally Thursday (April 23) at midnight ET.

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 also arrives Thursday on Netflix, bringing viewers back to the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the ’80s and reuniting us with some of the original show’s main characters. And much like Stranger Things, music plays a large role in the new show.

“This collection bridges the gap between the eerie depths of the Upside Down and the vibrant, neon energy of the mid-’80s,” Netflix said in a statement.

Tales From ’85 will feature not only a brand-new version of the original Stranger Things theme song, but the first episodes also include a selection of ’80s hits from artists like Black Sabbath, Billy Idol, Cyndi Lauper and more. Needle drops throughout the series include “We Got the Beat” by The Go-Go’s, “A Forest” by The Cure and “We’ll Meet Again” by Vera Lynn, “Rebel Yell” by Idol, and Lauper’s Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Time After Time.”

If it’s anything like the original show, artists with songs played in the new series could see a bump in streams and chart placements in the aftermath of the show’s premiere. After featuring the songs in pivotal moments, Stranger Things brought Kate Bush‘s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” to a new peak of No. 3 on the Hot 100 in 2022, 37 years after its initial release, while Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” made its debut on the chart the same year, 36 years after it came out.

Fans can pre-save Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 (Soundtrack from the Netflix Series) by Brad Breeck here, and find the full score track list below.

Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 (Soundtrack from the Netflix Series) by Brad Breeck track list

Flamethrower (artists: Brad Breeck feat. Brian Parkhurst)
Kids Riding Bikes
Big Snowstorm Coming
Someone In There
HIC Theme
I Just Saved Your Life
Strange Stones
Gotta Go Dark
How Long Is Detention
Sewer Chase (artists: Brad Breeck feat. Brian Parkhurst)
Towns
Clean Up
Investigating Pumpkins
Heaven Eleven
Nice Time Tonight
Storm the Gates
What Were These Things
Ground Rules
seluR dnuorG
Her Royal Nastiness
We Have To Try
Tales from ’85 End Titles (artists: Brad Breeck feat. Cooper Babbes)