ECM records’ archive made available for streaming

Iconic jazz and contemporary music label ECM has announced that its entire archive has been made available to stream online for the first time – on services including Apple, Amazon, Spotify, Deezer, Tidal and Qobuz. The European label is independent, but has signed a deal with Universal Music to facilitate the change.

Artists who have recorded with ECM in the last five decades include Paul Bley, Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Chick Corea, Gary Burton, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Don Cherry, John Surman, Terje Rypdal, Egberto Gismonti, Enrico Rava, Ralph Towner, Pat Metheny and more recently Vijay Iyer, David Virelles, Craig Taborn, Chris Potter, Tord Gustavsen and Julia Hülsmann.

A statement from ECM reads: “Although ECM’s preferred mediums remain the CD and LP, the first priority is that the music should be heard. The physical catalogue and the original authorship are the crucial references for us: the complete ECM album with its artistic signature, best possible sound quality, sequence and dramaturgy intact, telling its story from beginning to end.  In recent years, ECM and the musicians have had to face unauthorized streaming of recordings via video-sharing sites, plus piracy, bootlegs, and a proliferation of illegal download sites. It was important to make the catalogue accessible within a framework where copyrights are respected."