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Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s album distributor Vultures 1 is in the process of removing the album from streaming services, the company confirms to Rolling Stone, stating that the album had been uploaded even though the distributor had previously refused to work with West on the release.
FUGA, a music distributor owned by Downtown Music Holdings, said Thursday that while the company had turned down an offer to work with West last year, another FUGA user who apparently worked with West had uploaded the album anyway.
“At the end of last year, FUGA was presented with the opportunity to launch Vultures 1. “Exercising our discretion in the normal course of business, we decline to do so,” a spokesperson for Downtown Music, FUGA’s parent company, said in a statement. “On Friday, February 9, 2024, a long-time customer of FUGA delivered the album Vultures 1 through the platform’s automated processes, violating our service agreement. Therefore, FUGA is actively working with its DSP partners and the customer to eliminate Vultures 1 of our systems.” (A representative for West did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
The news was first reported by Billboard.
Music distributors work on behalf of artists to upload music to streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. Distributors usually have the discretion to remove music. Presumably West would need a new distributor to re-release the album assuming he can’t reach a deal with FUGA.
FUGA’s decision is the crescendo of what has already been a disaster release, even by Kanye West standards. The album suffered multiple delays before finally being released last week. Since the release, Ozzy Osbourne criticized West last week for using an unauthorized Black Sabbath sample, calling West an anti-Semitic. Donna Summers’ estate also said West used the singer’s “I Feel Love” despite not getting clearance for the song.