Snoop Dogg has finally come clean about his decision to pull the Death Row Records catalog from streaming services. Snoop, who recently brought the label, says that despite getting “millions and millions” of streams, artists aren’t getting paid for their music.
Snoop sat down with N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN on a recent episode of Drink Champs, where he opened up on a myriad of topics, including his decision to pull the Death Row Records catalog from streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.
The label, which was infamously founded by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey, was home to hip-hop classics like Tupac’s All Eyez on Me as well as Snoop’s first two solo albums—Doggystyle and Tha Doggfather.
To top things off, Snoop recently secured the rights to Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, but don’t expect to find it on Spotify.
“First thing I did was snatch all the music off those platforms traditionally known to people because those platforms don’t pay,” Snoop revealed. “And those platforms get millions of millions of streams, and nobody gets paid other than the record labels. So what I wanted to do is snatch my music off, create a platform similar to Amazon, Netflix, Hulu. It’ll be a Death Row app, and the music, in the meantime, will live in the metaverse.”
Snoop said he did it “on purpose,” and that the move was about “power” and “control.”
“And now, when they finally decide to put some respect on those streams, because nobody in here can tell you what a stream adds up to. It’s a fraction of a penny; it’s a third of a penny. You get 100 million streams, and you don’t make a million dollars,” Snoop explained. “What the f—k is that? You want me to keep giving you my music, but somebody making the money and that ain't me.”
The rapper says he wants to create a new avenue for his music, likening streaming services to the slave trade. He recently announced his intention to sell his ’90s smash hit Nuthin’ But a G Thang as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) via Death Row Records, which might prove to be more lucrative than the pay from any streaming platform.