De La Soul has scored a small victory in their battle with Tommy Boy Records. On Tuesday (February 26), Pos, Dave and Maseo revealed their catalog would finally be available on digital platforms — but at a high price.
According to an Instagram post, 90 percent of the streaming revenue would go to the label while 10 percent would be divvied up between the group.
In the caption, De La urged their fans to support 2004’s The Grind Date and 2016’s And The Anonymous Nobody instead, the two albums not released through Tommy Boy.
Now, the legendary New York trio has support from TIDAL and JAY-Z. In another Instagram post, De La revealed the streaming service wouldn’t be sharing their catalog until their issues with Tommy Boy were hashed out.
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“Dear Fans, just got off the phone with TIDAL,” the post read. “In support of the artist, TIDAL has decided not to stream our catalog until this matter has been resolved. Thank you TIDAL…Thank you JAY.”
Prior to De La’s most recent update, the group explained how shocked they were to hear Tommy Boy wasn’t concerned with any potential sample clearance issues — at least not now.
“Dear Fans…so check this one out!!” the post begins. Monday, when confronted and questioned whether or not all samples had been cleared for our catalogs streaming release, Tommy Boy felt that it would be better to move forward with the release and deal with all claims/lawsuits later on…really???? That’s just not smart business. We don’t want to be sued.”
They apologized to their fans in the caption.
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“We are being placed in the line of fire @discogs @spotify @applemusic @tidal @googleplay @deezer @vinylmeplease @amazonmusic,” it read. “We understand respect and appreciate your support and business.
“We regret that you and fans have been place in the middle of this mess. De La Soul cannot afford negligent hurried business. We are fighting for our livelihood. Imagine trying to settle a #phantom2millionddollardebt and now possible lawsuits lurking??? There goes that 10% Thank you @tommyboyrecords.”
Several of De La’s peers have pledged support for their situation, including Questlove, A Tribe Called Quest’s Jarobi White and The Beat Junkies’ DJ Rhettmatic. They’re calling for a “Tommy Boy Boycott.”
Check out their reactions below.
