Harvey Danger’s 1998 hit, “Flagpole Sitta,” has been a staple of the alternative rock radio airwaves for over two decades. But despite its enduring popularity, the song has yet to appear on streaming services like Spotify. The reason for its absence is complicated, but it boils down to copyright issues and a long-standing feud between the band and their former label.
The Seattle-based power pop group Harvey Danger first released “Flagpole Sitta” in 1998 as part of their debut album Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? The song quickly gained traction on alternative rock radio and eventually crossed over into the mainstream in 1999. It’s now considered one of the most iconic songs of the ’90s, and it’s been featured in countless movies and TV shows.
Despite its success, however, “Flagpole Sitta” never made its way onto streaming services like Spotify. Part of this is due to Harvey Danger’s complicated relationship with their former record label, Slash Records.
In 2000, the band signed with a new label, but they were unable to re-negotiate their contract with Slash Records in order to release their music digitally. As a result, much of Harvey Danger’s discography remains unavailable on streaming services.
In addition to this contractual issue, there are other factors that have prevented “Flagpole Sitta” from appearing on Spotify. For example, the song contains samples from other songs which could lead to copyright issues if it were released digitally. Also, since many artists receive royalties from streaming services like Spotify, it’s possible that Harvey Danger simply hasn’t reached an agreement with their former label about how those royalties would be split between them and Slash Records.
Ultimately, until these issues are resolved or new agreements are reached between Harvey Danger and Slash Records (or whoever owns the rights to their music), fans will have to continue listening to “Flagpole Sitta” on terrestrial radio or buying physical copies of Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? if they want to hear one of alt-rock’s most iconic songs.
Conclusion:
Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta” has become an iconic alt-rock song but is still not available on streaming services such as Spotify due to complicated copyright issues and a long-standing feud between Harvey Danger and their former record label Slash Records. This situation means that fans must continue listening to “Flagpole Sitta” through terrestrial radio or buying physical copies of Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone? until these issues are resolved or new agreements are reached between both parties involved.