Apple Music will exclusively stream ‘The Chronic,’ Dr. Dre’s 1992 debut studio album, Rolling Stone reported Monday. As a matter of fact, the seminal album will actually make its streaming debut when Apple Music launches tomorrow morning.
This is newsworthy because ‘The Chronic’ has not yet been available on digital platforms like the iTunes Store, Beats Music, Spotify or Rhapsody due to legal disputes regarding distribution rights.
In addition to signing hip-hop star Tupac Shakur, famed music producer Jimmy Iovine was also responsible for providing distribution, initial funding and financial oversight for the Death Row Records hip hop label, which operated as a subsidiary of Interscope and released Dr. Dre’s ‘The Chronic’ album.
Following a lengthy legal battle, Dr. Dre has managed to snatch digital rights to his album back in 2011, with Dre’s former label Death Row Records holding the rights to physical sales.
Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine co-founded Beats Electronics and Beats Music, with the former becoming hip-hop’s first-ever billionaire after Apple acquired the companies for $3 billion last year.
Another reclusive album to find its first digital home on Apple Music: Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’.
Dre back in 1999 sued Priority Records and Death Row over releasing an album titled ‘The Chronic 2000’ to avoid user confusion as he was not involved in that record in any capacity. His 1999 album titled ‘The Chronic 2001’ was later retitled simply 2001 in order to avoid confusion with the unauthorized release.
You can browse Dre’s collection on iTunes here.
What I’m eager to find out tomorrow is if Apple Music will stream AC/DC, Metallica and The Beatles.
Source: Rolling Stone