Fans of Garth Brooks were rejoicing Thursday evening (1-2) as it appeared that Garth was finally giving in and starting to upload his catalog to Spotify. Tracks from his second album No Fences from 1990 appeared on the streaming service after Garth previously swore it off for an exclusive deal with Amazon Music in 2016.
But it’s pretty clear that Garth didn’t have a change of heart, or was enacting a New Year’s resolution to finally evolve with the rest of the music world. Instead it appears he’s the victim of streaming fraud, which has become more and more pervasive on Spotify and other streaming services over the years.
Not only is the Spotify version of No Fences missing three tracks (“Unanswered Prayers,” “Same Old Story”, and “Wolves”), if you listen to “New Way To Fly,” it’s actually a live track. Most of the tracks sound like they’re at a lower bit rate than normal, or something has been augmented with their sound, likely to circumvent Spotify’s fraud detection. All songs were also marked as “explicit.”
Furthermore, the copyright is not Capitol Nashville, but “Garth Brooks,” and all the songs are credited to “Garth Brooks, Stephanie Davis” as opposed to the actual songwriters.
It’s likely the album will be taken down shortly as soon as Spotify finds out about the malfeasance. But it does illustrate just how easy it is for virtually anyone to upload someone else’s tracks to streaming services, and start earning money from spins.
In 2020, Saving Country Music exposed a sweeping song theft scheme that included over 112 artists, and some 831 total songs where the thieves took tracks from other performers, and distributed under fake artist names. In April of 2024, Saving Country Music also reported on country artist Grant Langston having his unreleased album released on Spotify, ostensibly resulting in him losing control of his own music even before it was released.
The brazenness of thieves redistributing Garth Brooks material proves it can happen to anybody, and how lax the protocols continue to be for uploading songs. Garth is notorious for keeping his music off of anything except for Amazon, including YouTube. A Live in Germany album is on the platform, and was added in 2024, probably in a separate deal.
Unfortunately for Garth Brooks fans without Amazon music accounts, it means they’ll have to wait a little longer to stream Garth’s music.
Attention all Garth Brooks fans! It has recently come to light that the country superstar’s iconic album “No Fences” has appeared on Spotify in what appears to be a streaming scam.
Fans who have stumbled upon the album on the popular streaming platform have been quick to point out that the tracks are not the original recordings from the album, but rather poor quality cover versions. This has led many to believe that someone is trying to profit off of Garth Brooks’ music without permission.
As of now, it is unclear who is behind this scam or how long the fake album has been on Spotify. However, fans are urged to report the fraudulent tracks and stick to legitimate sources when listening to Garth Brooks’ music.
In the meantime, let’s all continue to support Garth Brooks by listening to his music through official channels and purchasing his albums from reputable sources. Let’s not let scammers tarnish the legacy of this country music legend.
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Garth Brooks, No Fences, Spotify, streaming scam, country music, music industry, digital streaming, music streaming, Garth Brooks albums, music news
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