De La Soul Claim Tommy Boy Records Is Only Giving Them 10 Percent of Digital Album Profits
De La Soul's music has been noticeably missing from music streaming services, but the trio wanted to change all that in honor of the 30th anniversary of their debut album 3 Feet High and Rising.
On Tuesday (Feb. 26) Posdnuos, Dave and DJ Maseo confirmed that their catalog will finally be available on streaming services just days before their debut LP's original release date. However, De La claim that, despite their efforts to negotiate, the label who released the album, Tommy Boy Records, only plans to compensate them with 10 percent of the profits from streaming while the label receives 90 percent.
"Dear fans... just got off the phone with Tommy Boy Records... negotiations (or lack there of) to release our catalog on all streaming platforms.. uh oh," De La Soul wrote in a Tuesday Instagram post.
De La Soul's catalog has been held up in limbo for decades because the music reportedly wasn't prepared for digital platforms. "We're completely missing a significant part of this digital era because of all the infractions that exist with the back catalog," Maseo explained to Sway Calloway during their interview on SiriusXM's Sway in the Morning on Tuesday (Feb. 26). "Now fast forward to 2019, Tommy Boy has been able to acquire the catalog back, but there's still some infractions around the catalog for the release, things that we're sure that still aren't cleared that might have more potential issues now dealing with the new medium. Also, for what's on the table for De La is unfavorable."
See De La Soul call out Tommy Boy Records on Instagram and watch them explain their situation to Sway Calloway below.
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