Rap Mixtapes Are Showing up on Streaming Platforms Without Permission

In the past few weeks, rap fans have celebrated legendary mixtapes from Lil Wayne and Rick Ross being uploaded to streaming platforms, but their time on these services may be cut short. A source close to Wayne told Rolling Stone that his Dedication and Da Drought mixtapes, recently removed from Tidal and Apple Music, were “not legal [or] legitimate uploads,” even though they were on his official artist pages. (Reps for Tidal and Apple Music did not respond to requests for comment.)

These uploads reflect potential flaws in the process of adding music to Digital Service Providers (DSPs). Streaming services like Apple Music, Tidal, and Spotify require artists to utilize third-party music distributors such as Distrokid, TuneCore, and RouteNote to upload music to their platforms. H