Metal Blade Has Added a Ton More Catalog to Spotify (Prosthetic Records Too!)
In February of this year Metal Blade started adding albums from their vast catalogue to Spotify — albeit only a few — after being one of the few remaining metal labels absent from the service. It appears now that Metal Blade has started adding catalogue to the service en masse, as multiple MetalSucks readers have reported getting notifications over the past couple of days. Hooray! More music for you and me.
Yes, I pay the $10 monthly subscription. It’s absolutely worth it for a) the higher quality audio, b) no commercials, c) unfettered access to the mobile app. Plus it feels good to be putting money into the system rather than just being a total leech.
In February when Metal Blade first jumped on board, Cannibal Corpse, Amon Amarth and The Black Dahlia Murder each only had one studio album posted on the service. As of today all three bands have almost all of their Metal Blade catalogue posted, although there are some noticeable inconsistencies (BDM’s 2007 release Nocturnal is missing while 2005’s Miasma is present as is their newer stuff [save their brand new album], Amon Amarth’s newest album is posted while Cannibal Corpse’s new one is not). It’s not clear whether these albums are still in the process of being uploaded (very possible), whether there are specific exceptions, or what exactly the reasoning is. Younger Metal Blade bands like Abiotic, Lazarus A.D. and Gypsyhawk do not have their newest albums posted (while some of their older stuff is), which makes me think MB might be sticking by an “all but the newest album” strategy; except for the above Black Dahlia catalogue gaps and the fact the newest Amon Amarth is posted. Huh.
Meanwhile, Prosthetic Records — FINALLY on the service — appears to be following a similar strategy that is equally as head-scratching. Darkane , Shining and Dew-Scented’s newest records are posted, while neither of Animals as Leaders’ two Prosthetic releases are. The Acacia Strain’s Wormwood (2010) is up. Holy Grail’s newest record is not posted but their old one is. And so on and so forth. In any case it’s great to see Prosthetic releases finally appearing on Spotify in some capacity.
Maybe the decision of whether an artist appears on Spotify — and which of their albums do — ultimately rests on the band and their management’s preference with regards to the service. I will do some investigating and report back soon.
