Why Is De La Soul Not on Spotify?

De La Soul is one of the most iconic rap groups of all time. They have been around since the late 1980s and are considered to be pioneers in the hip-hop genre.

Their music has been influential to not only rap fans, but to many other genres such as funk and jazz. Despite this, they are notably absent from the popular streaming service Spotify.

The reason for this is due to a long-standing dispute between De La Soul and their former record label, Tommy Boy Records. The group originally signed with Tommy Boy in 1989 and released their debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, in 1988. However, in 2005, they sued the label due to unpaid royalties and copyright infringement claims.

Since then, De La Soul has been locked in a legal battle with Tommy Boy. This has resulted in their music not being available on streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music as Tommy Boy still owns the rights to much of De La Soul’s music.

The dispute has also caused issues for De La Soul’s latest album And The Anonymous Nobody.., which was released in 2016 after a successful crowdfunding campaign. Even though it was released through AOI Records (owned by De La Soul), Tommy Boy still holds the rights to some tracks on the album.

This means that unless a deal is reached between De La Soul and Tommy Boy Records, fans will continue to be unable to stream their music on Spotify or other popular streaming services.

While it is unfortunate that fans are unable to listen to De La Soul’s classic tracks on popular streaming services, it is important to remember that this dispute is ultimately about ensuring that artists are fairly compensated for their work. Although Spotify may seem like an ideal platform for listeners and artists alike, it pays very little per stream compared with other forms of revenue.

Until a resolution between De La Soul and Tommy Boy can be reached, fans will have no choice but to purchase physical copies of their albums or seek out alternative methods for listening such as SoundCloud or YouTube.

In conclusion, why is De La Soul not on Spotify? It comes down to an ongoing legal dispute between them and their former record label over unpaid royalties and copyright infringement claims which has resulted in their music not being available on major streaming platforms.