Talk of the town has been the comparable advantages of the Beats Music service compared to streaming competition such as Spotify. Beats big claim to fame is having human beings choose music based on your interests, and therefore can better suit tracks to your current mood. But how about the actual availability of music? Well, you can't get Beats-backer Dr. Dre's album The Chronic on Spotify and...you also can't get it on Beats Music.
Dre, despite being the CEO of Beats Electronics, doesn't see fit to give you access to his classic 1992 solo album. The oddity of the matter is that his second album 2001 is available to listeners. But then again, it's available on Spotify as well. What gives?
Many have suggested that its because Dre doesn't actually own the rights to The Chronic, as it belongs to the record label-which he also started-Death Row Records. That's an outdated argument however. Dre sued his former label early last month under claims that he was owed more than $3 million in royalties for work he released and produced until his departure during 1996. The court sided with Dre, but Death Row has fallen on hard times during the new millennium, and didn't have the money to pay off its debts. Part of the settlement involved turning over the digital rights to The Chronic.
Some performers opt not to stream albums because it's not a high-profit game. But Dre owns 100 percent on the digital rights, so he would get 100 percent of the royalties, as small as they may be (versus most of the royalties going to a label). He can't believe that The Chronic is going to sell well as a physical format nearly 22 years after its release. But then again he might: The album isn't available on iTunes or Amazon mp3 either.
It's an odd situation, considering the producer's otherwise stellar entrepreneurial record. Maybe he's just keeping it for himself.
