Record labels forgot these songs existed. One man rescued them
Rob Johnson has revived 725 forgotten songs over six years, engaging fans via social media and addressing contractual issues, leading to millions of streams and renewed interest in overlooked tracks.
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Rob Johnson, a London-based business development professional, has dedicated his spare time to resurrecting forgotten songs from the music industry. Over the past six years, he has successfully facilitated the release of 725 tracks, including works by notable artists like Sting and Cher, focusing particularly on late 90s pop acts. Johnson's journey began in 2016 when he helped a friend, Jan Johnston, get her music online. He realized the potential for a larger project after contacting record labels and discovering a demand for forgotten tracks. By creating a Twitter account called Pop Music Activism, he encouraged fans to request unreleased songs, leading to significant successes such as Victoria Beckham's debut single, which has since garnered millions of streams. Johnson's efforts highlight the challenges of music availability, as many songs remain inaccessible due to complex contractual issues or simply being overlooked by record labels. His work not only brings joy to fans but also provides artists with closure regarding their unreleased material. The process involves extensive communication with record labels, checking contracts, and sourcing original recordings, but the results have been rewarding for both artists and listeners alike.
- Rob Johnson has rescued 725 forgotten songs from record labels over six years.
- His initiative began with helping a friend and expanded through fan engagement on social media.
- Many songs remain unavailable due to contractual complexities or being overlooked by labels.
- Johnson's work has revived interest in tracks, leading to millions of streams on platforms like Spotify.
- The project emphasizes the importance of cataloging music for future generations.
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8 commentsI remember this gem about a guy who had been searching for 15 years for a song that he had recorded off of Ian Camfield's XFM rock show.
https://old.reddit.com/r/NameThatSong/comments/58gt5d/ill_be...
After crowd-pooling the discernible lyrics, and a brief exchange with Ian Camfield himself (who had since relocated to the US), the search petered out.
Then one day, the artist themself just randomly uploaded the song.
Apparently they made a single debut, and then the lead singer went off to become a dentist.
There are other songs I cannot seem to find anywhere though, some cool remixes I remember from back-in-the-day or some live bootleg-y versions that never made it to the streaming services such as "Pearl Jam - Black/We Belong Together/It's OK (Pittsburgh '06)" (https://)www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1pG6cWzWOQ).
Another song that 'suffered' from stolen samples (seeing other peoples' comments), and a personal favorite is "The Orb - Fluffy Clouds" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Fluffy_Clouds). I remember hearing on an interview (many many years ago) that when they were discussing about clearing the stolen bits, someone said "say nothing and release it and we will figure it out later".
Some massive dance classics on this list; nice to see versions that bafflingly weren't on streaming. (Come to think of it I have lots of songs that sadly don't match properly on Apple Music - even some I purchased from the iTunes store.)
Do they mean commercially? Public and private trackers fill much of this void
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