Why Is Garth Brooks Not On Spotify Or Apple Music?

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coco
October 25, 2024

Troyal Garth Brooks, the American country singer and songwriter born on February 7, 1962, is the only artist in music history who have released nine albums that were certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (surpassing The Beatles’ former record of six); those albums are Garth Brooks (diamond), No Fences (17× platinum), Ropin’ the Wind (14× platinum), The Chase (diamond), In Pieces (diamond), The Hits (diamond), Sevens (diamond), Double Live (21× platinum), and The Ultimate Hits (diamond). He has won two Grammy Awards, 17 American Music Awards (including “Artist of the ’90s”) and the RIAA Award for best-selling solo albums artist of the century in the U.S.

Currently, fans are only able to listen to Brooks on Amazon Music, after he signed an exclusive deal with the retail giant in 2016. He had previously been a significant holdout on both streaming services and online music stores like iTunes, saying that he wanted to sell albums rather than individual tracks.

Garth Brooks Explains Why His Music not on Spotify or Apple Music 

Garth Brooks had steadfastly declined to license his music to streaming platforms for a significant duration, citing concerns about compensation and misalignment of values. However, in 2016, a transformative shift occurred as Brooks entered into an exclusive partnership with Amazon Music, a collaboration that endures to this day. Despite persistent efforts from streaming giants like Spotify and Apple Music, including direct pitches from Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, Brooks has remained committed to his exclusive arrangement with Amazon. Recently, Brooks shared additional insights shedding light on the reasons behind his decision.

“The fact is that Amazon is a retailer as well, so you can sign your streaming deal, but part of that streaming deal is to move those physical units so the songwriters get paid. And people, we can talk all day that ‘Garth went on to raise his kids, what a great’— Garth did that for himself. I stick up for the songwriters because I’m freakin’ one of them! Everything I do for the songwriters, I do for myself,” Brooks told CRS executive director RJ Curtis.

“I’m the most selfish guy you’ve ever met, okay? But if we don’t take care of these songwriters, what do you guys have to play? It’s just tough, so that’s why I love partnering with [Amazon]. So the physical comes in, and nobody’s doing physical anymore. So these songwriters are still doing well.

“And I hope that songwriters want to get a Garth Brooks cut. One, because I hope that they think that it would be cool. But two, right behind it closely, I hope it’s because they know that if you’re a Garth Brooks songwriter, you’re going to get paid.”

Garth Brooks’ music is on Amazon Music

In 2014, Garth Brooks launched his very own streaming and online music store called GhostTunes. This innovative platform showcased his complete discography and offered a unique approach to music distribution, allowing record labels to have control over how they sold their music. A key emphasis of GhostTunes was ensuring fair royalty payments for artists, highlighting Brooks’ commitment to supporting fellow musicians and advocating for their rights.

In October 2016, Garth Brooks made a significant decision to embrace streaming services by reaching an agreement with Amazon Music. Initially, only a limited number of songs were made available for streaming. However, through subsequent negotiations, the doors were opened wider, and all 16 of his albums became accessible for fans to enjoy anytime through streaming. Following the exclusivity deal, GhostTunes was absorbed into Amazon. This marked a notable shift in Garth Brooks’ approach to digital music distribution, providing greater convenience and access to his extensive discography for his dedicated listeners.

  1. The Ultimate Hits(2007)
  2. FUN(2020)
  3. No Fences(1990)
  4. Garth Brooks(1989)
  5. In Pieces(1993)
  6. Gunslinger(2016)
  7. Robin’ the Wind(1991)
  8. Fresh Horses(1995)
  9. The Chase(1992)
  10. Sevens(1997)
  11. Scarecrow(2001)
  12. Man Against Machine(2014)
  13. The Lost Sessions(2005)
  14. Triple Live Deluxe(2018)
  15. Beyond the Season(1992)
  16. Garth Brooks & The Magic of Christmas Songs From Call Me Claus(1999)
Amazon Music

Will Garth Brooks Eventually Get On All Streaming Services?

The possibility of Garth Brooks joining all streaming sites hinges on the presentation of a highly appealing offer from such platforms. If they manage to entice him with an irresistible proposition, he may consider reaching an agreement with them in the future. However, if no significant changes occur, it is unlikely that his availability will expand beyond Amazon Music. As a devoted fan, acquiring access to his music may still require utilizing Amazon Music for the time being.

October 2024 Update: Currently Garth Brooks has an live album on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4BclNkZtAUq1YrYNzye3N7

How much does Amazon Music cost?

Amazon Music Prime in included in Amazon Prime, which costs $14.99/month or $139/year, with 30 day free trial. So if you are Amazon Prime subscribers, you have already get access to Amazon Music Prime and Garth Brooks’ music.

Amazon Music Prime has the same music catalog as Amazon Music Unlimited but with limited features: shuffle only, no offline playback, no HD and spatial audio and limited skips on mobile.

If you want to listen to music offline or on demand, you can subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited for $10.99/month(Family: $15.99/month, Single Device: $4.99/month, Student: $5.99/month). Amazon Prime users can get Amazon Music Unlimited with discount at $8.99/month or $89.00/year(Family: $15.99/month or $159.00/year).

What’s An Alternative Way To Listen To Garth Brooks on Apple Music or Spotify?

Both Spotify and Apple Music contain an album called Live in Germany 1995 with 10 live songs.

If you’re a user of Spotify or Apple Music and wish to access Garth Brooks’ music, one alternative method is to utilize Pazu Amazon Music Converter. This software allows you to download Garth Brooks’ albums from Amazon Music and convert them to MP3 format. Once the conversion is complete, you can easily add the songs to your Spotify or Apple Music library. This way, you can enjoy Garth Brooks’ music seamlessly within your preferred streaming platform. Amazon Music offers 30 days free trial, which is enough for you to download all your favorite songs, albums and playlists. You can keep the songs forever even after cancelling Amazon Music subscription.

This impressive streaming music converter is specifically designed to effortlessly capture songs from Amazon Music on Mac/Windows and convert them into a variety of audio formats, including MP3, AAC, M4A, AIFF, WAV, or FLAC. Its advanced metadata recognition technology ensures that all important metadata associated with the songs, such as artists, titles, albums, album arts, and track numbers, is accurately identified and preserved throughout the downloading process. This means you can enjoy a seamless experience without losing any crucial information. By utilizing this converter, you can easily acquire unrestricted Amazon Music and store it directly on your local device, enabling you to play these converted songs on any of your preferred devices without any limitations. Immerse yourself in a world of music without boundaries and embrace the joy of uninterrupted musical enjoyment.

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