Funkadelic discography getting taken off spotify?

Records/Books
1

not sure if it’s just an australian thing, but over the last couple weeks i’ve noticed a couple of funkadelic albums are no longer available to play on spotify :frowning:

from what i can tell, Toys and Reworked by Detroiters are completely gone and i’m pretty sure Vital Juices used to be on some kind of deluxe Standing on the Verge album which included a single edit of SOTV, but it’s nowhere to be seen.

this has definitely only been in the last couple of weeks or so, anyone know if there’s some kinda rearrangement of p-funk licensing going on at the moment?

2

Checked Spotify. No Toys or Reworked by Detroiters in Europe… And no extra tracks on Standing on the Verge. Strange.

3

Yeah, they were also removed in the US on YouTube and iTunes (and I assume else-where too).

I noticed over a month ago, in the US at least, some of the earlier albums not available on YouTube were added to the “Funkadelic - Topic” (Funkadelic, America Eats…, Cosmic Slop…, Standing On…, Let’s Take It…, Tales of…), as well as a few compilations. The ones that were already there were re-uploaded.

On iTunes, the albums that were based on the CD releases with bonus tracks were taken down and replaced with versions with the original tracks only. Some of the albums also had strange prices, different from the usual x.99 ($12.90, $9.03, $11.61). While it’s a bit sad the bonus tracks are gone, I am happy that “I’ll Stay” is no longer the short version.

Anyways, I think it is something to do with Westbound, as other Westbound acts (Junie, Ohio Players, Elbernita “Twinkle” Clark, The Fantastic Four, C.J. & Co., Gary Chandler, Dennis Coffey, Tag Team, (and maybe more?)), and the Hydraulic Funk album (annoyingly uploaded on the “Various Artists - Topic”) had catalogs updated or added to within a week-or-so span.

4

Thank funk for Cds :grin:. Haven’t done any comparisons lately, but I’ve always kept up a subscription to Google Play, now YT Music as they seemed to have the widest PFunk back catalogue at the time I did compare. I had a trial subscription to Apple Music a while back and they also seemed to have a good selection. Can’t afford to pay for them all though and it’s a stupid situation that they all seem to differ

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5

Seen other labels remove stuff from the web before they’re about to re-release the same stuff as a “new” album. Like combining two EPs into a single album or bundling tracks into a new compilation. So maybe Westbound is planning to release the bonus tracks as a compilation of rare Funkadelic stuff. But that wouldn’t explain Reworked by Detroiters being removed. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

6

This may be the latest development in the legal back and forth between Armen and GC. George may have gotten some kind of injunction pertaining to certain projects released by Armen over the years. I believe the US album has been removed as well…

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7

I just noticed in the U.S. Fuzzy Haskins solo albums were taken down too :sweat:. (I was planning to listen to it at some point, so know they were available.)

8

Yeah man, they’ve been removed from Tidal. I’ve been absolutely canning those two albums - particularly the first one. Sad times.

9

This is so crazy. I was thinking that @swang’s theory were pretty plausible. But Fuzzy’s albums have nothing to do with GC’s and Armen’s legal thing…

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10

Maybe I’m misremembering, but I swear Dope Dogs was on iTunes, but isn’t there now. And I don’t think that album has anything to do with Westbound. Thankfully, it is still available elsewhere (Amazon, Spotify, etc.).

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11

Live at the Beverley has gone from Tidal. Thank god for cd’s indeed. I’m off to get a one now. :metal:

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12

You’re correct. But Fuzzy’s albums were released on Westbound. Additionally (as @FreedomFlower noted), Live at the Beverly has been removed as well. Armen somehow had his hand in that release if I recall correctly.

The mystery continues…

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13

I have the Westbound albums on my Spotify. I’m in the US. Still no Warner Bros releases.

14

Do the Westbound albums have the bonus tracks?

Spotify in Europe got the Warner Bros albums and the old Westbound albums (without the bonus tracks).

15

I just checked and they don’t have the bonus tracks. Do we know if they are doing a release soon or is this more GC and Armen drama?

16

Haven’t heard any info on why they’re doing it.

17

In the US Hardcore Jollies, Uncle Jam Wants You and Electric Spanking were finally made available on the Funkadelic YouTube music channel. At the moment said albums are still unavailable on Spotify, but I’d assume that will change soon if they’re available on YouTube.

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18

I see that a 2015 remaster of “One Nation” just showed up on Tidal. :thinking:

19

They seem to have three including that one- there’s one with a different cover that has the words cd1 next to the title - where’s cd2 Tidal?

Also they have a second spanking of war babies which is actually just one nation. Up your game Tidal.

At least that’s what it looks like from the UK

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20

Good spot! All 4 WB Funkadelic albums are now on Tidal (including multiple versions of “One Nation” and its single). I suspect the other major streaming services have uploaded them as well…

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