An online petition is calling for the work of the Italian artist to be released on digital streaming services.
The team behind Italian festival Club to Club have launched the petition via change.org, and they’re asking for 500 signatures. The aim is to make the discography of the late composer and singer-songwriter Lucio Battisti available to stream on digital platforms, including Spotify. Battisti, who died in 1998, is recognised as a key figure of Italian songwriting in the 60s and 70s.
“Lucio Battisti’s entire catalogue, whose diffusion has been subject of controversy throughout the years, is not available on the streaming platforms to this day,” the team write to Crack Magazine via email. “The internet, able to spread an intellectual work beyond its temporal and geographical boundaries, is still orphan of one of the most important chapters in the history of Italian music, which is at risk of being ignored by new generations.”
“Battisti was an artist who, with his music, profoundly moved (and still does) thousands of people, with lyrics that carry messages of love, hope and freedom, all while instilling feelings and sensations that encompass joy and carefreeness to apprehension and sadness,” the petition states. “It is of vital importance that Battisti’s art keep thriving while also being easily accessible”.
Currently, there’s an ongoing legal dispute between the successors of the late artist. The collection Il Meglio di Lucio Battisti briefly appeared on Spotify in September 2018 and was swiftly pulled down. It was uploaded with typos in the song titles, in an unauthorised move, by Universal Digital Enterprise. However, the label is not associated with Universal Music or Acqua Azzurra, which belongs to the Battisti family.
Head here to sign the petition.