UPDATE (Feb. 15 at 4:16 p.m. EST): Vultures 1 has returned to Apple Music.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures 1 album has been faraway from Apple Music after 5 days on the streaming service.
Vultures 1 was taken down from Apple Music on Thursday afternoon (Feb. 15) with none clarification as to why.
The challenge was additionally wiped from iTunes and scrubbed from the Apple Music charts, the place the Wealthy The Child and Playboi Carti-assisted “CARNIVAL” had held the No. 1 slot on the High 100: International chart. Nonetheless, “CARNIVAL” has since been added again as a single to Apple Music and YouTube Music.
Earlier on Thursday (Feb. 15), Billboard reported that the album’s distribution firm FUGA — a business-to-business tech and distribution platform for labels — had plans to work with DSPs to take the challenge off streaming in its entirety.
“Late final yr, FUGA was introduced with the chance to launch Vultures 1,” a FUGA spokesperson mentioned in a press release to Billboard. “Exercising our judgment within the odd course of enterprise, we declined to take action.”
The spokesperson continued: “On Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, a long-standing FUGA shopper delivered the album Vultures 1 via the platform’s automated processes, violating our service settlement. Due to this fact, FUGA is actively working with its DSP companions and the shopper to take away Vultures 1 from our programs.”
The FUGA spokesperson didn’t make clear whether or not the corporate would assist facilitate a switch to a different distributor.
Whereas Apple Music has eliminated the challenge, Vultures 1 stays on different streamers like Spotify and Amazon Music as of press time.
Nonetheless, the challenge confronted its first streaming points on Wednesday (Feb. 14) when Spotify eliminated “Good (Don’t Die)” from its platform resulting from claims of “copyright infringement” made by Donna Summer time’s property. The electro-pop deep reduce seems to interpolate parts of Donna Summer time‘s 1977 hit “I Really feel Love” on the pensive refrain, and the property says it didn’t approve of its use.
“Kanye West… requested permission to make use of Donna Summer time’s track I Really feel Love, he was denied… he modified the phrases, had somebody re sing it or used AI but it surely’s I Really feel Love… copyright infringement!!!” the property wrote in an Instagram Story on the official Donna Summer time account Saturday (Feb. 10).
Amazon Music adopted swimsuit with the elimination of “Good (Don’t Die)” on Thursday (Feb. 15), and it seems extra Vultures fallout is on the horizon.
Billboard has reached out to Apple Music and West’s reps for remark.
