Why do Albums Disappear?

[Writersblock]

i was listening to an album, for entire month, and now it's gone. It doesn't exist anymore! I've searched it, and nothing. I searched a title from the album and it came up as saved from my playlist, clicked on it, and it said unavailable. This has happened twice now. Is this going to happen to the albums I like and listen to a lot? I pay for premium! Would really like to know why this is happening!

[Lambo_2601 · Accepted solution]

Hey the artist may have taken the music off the platform for unkown reasons.

[Lambo_2601]

Hey the artist may have taken the music off the platform for unkown reasons.

[KC_Pal]

Astoria by Marianas Trench has also dissapeared (mostly).

https://open.spotify.com/album/1f5YsaR0bksx5TpMyiVWAm

[1247342013]

My own album Touch the Earth, by Anticide has dissapeared.  I wanted to realllllly know why my own album was deleted from the archive.  It was strange though how another anticide rapper and I shared the same space after I had uploaded my album.  I used reverbNation.com to upload the album and I'm still trying to get in contact with anyone who might have an answer to why this might be.  If all else fails, I'll pay again but I don't see why I should have to.  Please bring light to this? Anticidele@gmail.com

[osornios]

Hey @1247342013,

You should get in touch with Spotify Artists, and someone from Spotify will be happy to help you.

[Mayombe]

I'll do that. Thanks!!

[Astroturbo]

Seems like albums that have potential to sell are taken out of streaming. I listen a lot to old blues stuff, where artists themselves long gone. Recently T-Model Ford's Pee-Wee Get My Gun was taken out of Spotify streaming, and now it shows up under  this artist's MERCH. The same happened earlier to Junior Wells' Hoodoo Man Blues. Two not very mainstream records that I have enjoyed and listened to a lot.

If this is Spotify trying to earn extra money, or the record company or both togheter, I wouldn't know. But it's about money, that's for sure.

[nwfonseca]

This is why music streaming sucks. I just went to listen to The Island Of Doctor Electro by The Bombay Royal and it is gone! Oh the days of buying CD's unless you lost or damaged it, it didn't just get taken away by the artist or a record label. And, if it did break you could by a new one.

[nwfonseca]

Yep, now they are selling the album merch. Too bad they are selling the album on vinyl. What are we supposed to do with a flipping record, jam it into the fron of our computers? Maybe buy a record player? What next, they will sell it on an old wax tube phonograph? I also dislike blaming the artist, most likely it is the record label.

[ChloëEdwards]

Kittie's 'Oracle' and Die Antwoord's 'Tension' my favourite albums from these artists aren't on Spotify. Disappointment. Then I question if using spotify hurts the industry. I am paranoid. I can't wait to watch alien covenant. I am going to **bleep** myself.

[steventyp]

You must be rather ignorant to think that music labels will sell off the rights permanently for your measly subscription fee. Spotify works by paying the music labels a small fee for every play of their song, this is how Spotify manages to keep costs low while serving nearly unlimited content. Yes they do sign contracts with the labels but these have end dates where they need to be renegotiated. What's likely happening is that the labels are becoming greedy as usual and asking for more and more of the cut when the contract is up for renewal.

[DickWall]

Thats just a more detailed description of why. The point is that for my tenner a month I like to have what I have. The artist:label:streamer organisations kinda need to watch out or they will lose their share of my tenner a month. 

Hmmm! I don't suppose anyone in the music industry is quaking in their shoes at that threat. So suck it up all us mugs "you pays your money and you gets your choice."

I guess it would be better to have a message that says a polite verion of "It's gone suckers!"

[Mayombe]

Actually i consider myself far from ignorant... But i'll never be as enlightened as you oh great one! The measly subscription fee that I pay is what they ask me to pay... If they happen to ask me more for a better service I would pay it without blinking. As amazing as you might find it, I do grasp the dynamics of the business, but as it is all that I'd ask would be for a pre-warning when any algum access is about to expire or even an expiry date on albuns when such can be predicted. That would be good costumer service... What is not great is to open my app and the album that I've been listening to to be gone without warning. Got it...??

[steventyp · Accepted solution]

Your request would be perfectly reasonable if this was something like Netflix where you can just quickly watch all the movies that are due to expire. What were you planning on doing if Spotify gave you warning that an album is being removed? Binge listen to it on loop then totally forget about it when it's gone? The fact is advertising that songs are being removed is simply bad publicity and bad for business with little benefit to the end user. When you realise the song is missing you're either going to buy it, pirate it or ignore it, all of which don't require a pre-warning.

[Mayombe]

What you say is actually true.... I'll just pirate it then. 😉

[raacampbell · Accepted solution]

This happens from time to time. In my experience the albums come back again after a while. Some stuff I was listening to recently vanished from both Spotify and Google Music at the same time. It's been gone for two weeks so far. 

[Pwtsmith]

Yep, Duran Duran - Diamond in the Mind is another one. Great live album, sadly removed.

[lowboy]

steventyp you do realise that Backspacer came out on a label owned by Pearl Jam? They own all the rights to it. So any cash grab is theirs and considering they paid for all the costs assocciated with the recording and making of this album, I say they have every right in the world to make as much money as they can since most of their fans either steal or stream music from services like Spotify which has a very poor royalty rate return. 

[MonsterMe]

I'm a cheap a-hole that happen to live with third world salary. I come to spotify and deezer since it offer me the opportunity to become a cheap non a-hole. So, while I'm not going to cancle my subscription, I guess once again I need to put my old one-eyed patch, find me self a new parrot and gave my computer AIDS for that sweet sweet Scorpions Lovedrive album.