(March 11, 2021) Legendary songstress Anita Baker may be one of the most popular and biggest selling female vocalists of all time, but her music has been surprisingly tough to find these days. Search on Spotify and her albums – including her signature collection Rapture – are nowhere to be found. Combine that with the recordings she made in the 90s and early 00s which were never released (and some of which were reported destroyed), and, to quote one of her hits, you have a “Mystery.”
Baker issued a tweet earlier this week that may give hope that there will be a change: “Miraculously, I have out-lived ALL of my artist contracts. They no longer “own” my name and likeness. And, by law, 30 year old masters are 2B returned 2 me. Unfortunately, they’re gonna make me fight 4 it. I’m prepared 2 do that. Please don’t advertise/buy them ABXO.”
It isn’t clear what’s in the contracts that Baker is referring to, or that she is right about the legal ownership of masters. But, it DOES appear that the current purgatory that exists for much of her music may be resolved, one way or the other. Here’s hoping that Miss Baker’s beautiful catalog of music will become fully open and available to her fans, and that she’ll be fairly compensated for the masterpieces she created.