Sony Music Sues Kroger for Using Hundreds of Songs in Social Media Posts Without Permission

Sony Music sued the American supermarket chain Kroger on Friday, August 21, alleging that the company used nearly 400 recordings by major artists in TikTok and Instagram posts without a licence Billboard.

The complaint, filed in federal court, names songs by Harry Styles, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, SZA, Beyoncé, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Outkast, Prince, Pitbull and The White Stripes among those Sony says Kroger used without authorisation. Kroger operates roughly 2,800 grocery stores across 35 US states.

Sony's filing cites specific examples. One Instagram post advertising watermelons was set to Harry Styles' "Watermelon Sugar." A holiday cocktail recipe post used Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Sony also alleges that Kroger used trending hits — including Miley Cyrus' "Flowers," Doja Cat's "Paint The Town Red" and Beyoncé's "Texas Hold 'Em" — while each song was at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the weekly chart that ranks the most popular singles in the United States.

According to the complaint, Kroger is not a stranger to music licensing. Sony says the supermarket chain had previously entered into numerous licences with Sony Music to include its recordings in Kroger's advertisements — meaning the company knew the process and chose to skip it for social media posts.

A Kroger spokeswoman did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday, August 24.

The lawsuit fits a wider pattern. Major music companies have spent the past two years pursuing brands that soundtrack their social media content with unlicensed songs. Sony Music filed a similar lawsuit against the hotel group Marriott in 2024 over hundreds of songs used in social media ads. Universal Music Group sued the restaurant chain Chili's over music in social media posts. Kobalt, an independent music publishing company, sued 14 NBA teams over the use of copyrighted music in social media videos.

For a grocery chain with thousands of stores, social media clips set to familiar hits are cheap content — a watermelon promo rides the warmth of a Styles chorus, a cocktail recipe borrows Carey's holiday dominance. For the label that owns those recordings, each unlicensed post is a lost licensing fee and, more broadly, a loss of control over where its music appears. The lawsuit asks the court to stop the practice and award damages, though no specific dollar figure has been confirmed in the reporting so far.

What gives the case its edge is Sony's claim that Kroger already knew the rules. If the company had licensed Sony's music for conventional advertising in the past, the argument goes, it is hard to plead ignorance about why a TikTok post needs the same clearance.