Rocio Mateos
Bob Seger’s good old rock and roll catalog finally land on music streaming services!
On Friday, the roots rocker ended his streaming standoff. His most memorable albums are now available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Napster and Slacker Radio. According to reports, Pandora Premium and Tidal are not included in the deal.
A total of 13 albums from the prolific artist are now available on demand. Including ‘Beautiful Loser,’ ‘Night Moves.’ ‘Live Bullet,’ ‘Stranger In Town,’ ‘Nine Tonight,’ ‘Against The Wind,’ ‘The Distance,’ ‘Like A Rock,’ ‘Greatest Hits,’ ‘Greatest Hits 2,’ ‘The Fire Inside,’ ‘Ultimate Hits,’ and ‘Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man’. He also released 10 albums for digital download that weren’t available before.
Six of his earliest albums, including ‘Noah,’ ‘Mongrel,’ ‘Brand New Morning,’ ‘Smokin’ O.P.’s,’ ‘Back In ‘72’ and ‘Seven,’ and all the albums released after 1991, are yet to be released on the streaming platform. But this is still a great step for Seger.
Conflict between Segel and his label were holding the process back
In 2014, Seger explained that his music wasn’t available online because his management and Capital Records kept discussing the issue. “They agreed to something many years ago about new media and they don’t want to live up to it. Until that’s resolved, we let very little out,” he said, adding that it was frustrating for him that his fans couldn’t access his music on demand.
However, Seger’s manager, Punch Andrews, later told NPR that the main problem was the money. Andrews said that fans and services had been insisting for years on Seger to bring the catalog to streaming. “We have not pulled the trigger there because the rates are low,” he said. “So low, in fact, that the label would not break it down and show the artist how little he would make.”
He remarked that Seger has always been an album artist while streaming and download platforms serve better to single artists.
A statement released by the 72-year-old artist’s management says that the move “offers one of the most sought-after catalogs for digital music distribution. This unites Seger fans around the world,” but any further explanation about the decision has not been shared.
“It’s exciting for us to not only be able to share Bob’s music with his existing fans, but also to introduce him to new audiences around the world.” Spotify exec Troy Carter said, according to the LA Times.
Bob Seger’s digital debut comes after the announcement earlier this month of his North American Runaway Train Tour with the Silver Bullet Band, kicking off in August in Ohio.
