“As of the third quarter of 2019, music streaming giant Spotify had 113 million paid subscribers worldwide—but it’s still missing some famous albums,” writes Marina Eckersley in Sunday’s (12/9) The Conversation (Boston). “Services like Spotify and Apple Music can’t just upload whatever music they’d like. Legal disputes, sample clearance issues—when permission can’t be obtained for the use of part of a song in a new song—and rights-holders withholding music can all get in the way…. Legal disputes between artists and their record labels have been happening for decades…. If you’re a fan of the hip-hop group De La Soul, you might have noticed that its 1989 album 3 Feet High and Rising is missing from paid subscription streaming services. This is due to disputes between the group and its label … Rights-holders, whether they are the artist or not, can also choose to withhold music from streaming services. Taylor Swift has famously done this…. Sample clearances can [keep] music from being released or forcing it to be removed from streaming services. It’s common for rappers and hip-hop artists to release ‘mixtapes’—free releases which were once distributed on cassettes but are now commonly distributed on Soundcloud.”
Posted December 11, 2019
