Netflix adds and removes content from its catalog every month, often leaving many viewers confused and saddened when their favorite show suddenly disappears. That’s just the nature of the game when it comes to film and TV streaming platforms, though, a result of constantly changing ownership rights.
Over the weekend, however, Apple Music users woke up to a similar predicament: The College Dropout, the groundbreaking 2004 debut album from Kanye West, was suddenly no longer available for purchase or streaming. It doesn’t come up at all when searched, as though the record never existed.
Update — Tuesday, July 17th 1:00pm CT: Kanye’s The College Dropout has been added back to Apple Music’s library.
Per reddit, unhappy fans reached out to Apple’s customer support in hopes of finding some answers. The company responded saying that “the record label pulled the album from Apple Music.” The label in this situation is Def Jam, who put out the LP via its subdivision Roc-A-Fella.
The label has since released a statement (via Stereogum), saying that they didn’t intentionally remove the The College Dropout from Apple Music’s library. Instead, “there must be some sort supply chain glitch,” they explained, and promised to get the album added back to the music streaming service.
Curiously, the rest of Kanye’s albums (808s & Heartbreak, Late Registration, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, ye, etc.) weren’t affected by this “glitch” — despite having also been released through Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam. If you’re in need of your daily dose of “Slow Jamz” or “Through the Wire”, the LP is available on other platforms like Spotify.
In the meantime, revisit our feature Dusting ‘Em Off: The College Dropout feature, in which we dived back into one of the best rap albums of our time.
