Avicii And Mac Miller’s New Projects Are Making Fans Think Twice About Posthumous Releases

As music fans, nothing can quite prepare us for the heartbreak we feel any time as a beloved artist suddenly passes away. And however it's never easy to cope with a musician's untimely death, it's long been clear that death doesn't necessarily mark the end of a music career. Case in point, it seems that a few departed artists' legacies continue through a string of posthumous releases — several of which are dropped months, years, or perhaps decades immediately after their passing.


Take Avicii's Tim, as an example. The initial posthumous single from the late Swedish producer, whose full name was Tim Bergling, was "SOS" featuring Aloe Blacc, also it was released on April 10, mere days from the initial anniversary of his death. The possibility to hear his signature sound again not only brought fans joy, although also a sense of closure. "It was his way of saying goodbye," longtime fan Lindsay Sperin told MTV News.


When Bergling's full-length LP arrived on June 6, the reaction was similar, with several fans of the EDM superstar feeling grateful he left beyond music that, per year later, would issue insight into the last a couple of months of his life. In general, the album is something society needed to remind people that each person, no matter who you are — famed, successful, pretty, smart, talented, etc. — Is going through something," Sperin added. "And that is so important."


However while some fans took to social media to mention that the album helped fill a void, others wondered if the album was an accurate representation of what the producer's next album would've sounded like had he been alive to finish and release it himself. "It's hard to capture someone's vision in the event you aren't them," Luke Wells, an avid listener of Avicii, told MTV News.


Fans of the late Mac Miller seem to share several of the same fears. Soon after his voice popped back up on two recent tracks — 88-Keys's "That's Life" and Free Nationals's "Time," both recorded before his 2018 death — fans expressed how nice it was to be able hear his voice again, especially on an ecstatic song like "That's Life." "Without this music, fans only have what [Mac] gave [before he died]," Anya Schoenfeld, a fan of Miller's, told MTV News. "The work [he] has been working on for [his] fans and for [himself] was for nothing if it's not released."


Still, other fans have raised concerns on Twitter about whether the release of any further posthumous music from Mac lessens the authority he would've had over his own voice if he was still alive. "It just saddens me that [deceased] artists don't have the control anymore of their music," mentioned Eddie Henriquez, a fan of the late rapper. "[The verse] could've been suggested before [his] death, nevertheless as soon as [he's] not able to reap the advantages. It feels order kind of. Hollow? I'd like to know that an artist has control over their content."


However in spite of the fact that these advice don't define the entirety of both Avicii and Miller's fanbases, the concerns raised — like posthumous releases themselves — are nothing new. On June 7, Warner Bros. Released a new album from Prince titled Originals, a compilation of hits he recorded specifically for other artists, like The Bangles's "Manic Monday" and Sinéad O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U." Michael Jackson's second posthumous album, 2014's Xscape, featured eight songs recorded by the pop icon in the 1980s and '90s before getting remixed by L.A. Reid, Timbaland, and a couple of other producers to prepare the final product, which noticed a mixed reception. Jimi Hendrix, who released three studio albums in his lifetime, had 13 extra studio albums dropped posthumously — not to say 27 live albums and multiple other special releases. While this material was acquired with excitement by plenty of devoted fans, it's not hard to understand why, for others, the continued release of music immediately after an artist's passing can raise an eyebrow.


One of the major reasons why musicians' estates approve such releases is that ultimately, it simply gives fans more. At least in Avicii's case, it's what several of these believe he would've wanted. "Nothing yet praise for @vargasandlagola, @arizona @coldplay as well as all of the other producers for finishing the posthumous @Avicii album 'Tim," tweeted Avicii fan Conor McGee. "It's an astounding way to round off his producing career and it's the way he would've wanted it."


With much of Tim meticulously suggested out prior to his death, and then some songs like "Heaven" already done, completing an album that Bergling would've been overjoyed of became of utmost importance to his co-producers. And from several fans' perspectives, they succeeded. A release like Tim can be therapeutic, and not just for fans, although also for the team that took on the intimidating task of finishing it. "It became almost like a comfort to work on these songs and to have them, to listen to, to remember and to think back on the entire process how they were put with each other producer Karl Falk told NPR.


There's a undeniable value in how much Tim has helped fans, companions, family member, and co-producers grieve the producer's death. And in case the good intentions beyond this posthumous release weren't clear, his team took added measures to prepare ensure the music was released in a way that celebrates his life and cooperates with the others who share the same struggles. And also naming Bergling because the sole producer of the album in its credits, all of the proceeds of the album were donated to the Tim Bergling Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on mental health and suicide prevention created by his family member following his death.


However while several folks are able to justify the posthumous releases by Avicii and Mac Miller, it doesn't seem to be as simple for fans of Lil Peep, another recently departed musician. Since his death in 2017, Peep has appeared on nine singles, including with superstar collaborators like Marshmello and iLoveMakonnen. As soon as Gabriela, a young fan of Peep's, started to notice these releases happening on a semi-regular basis, something didn't sit right.


"His death hit our generation really hard, because it may have been any one of us," she mentioned. "The fans aspire to honor him, yet it feels like the label or whoever is in charge of those releases just wants to capitalize on our generation's loss." However once it comes to "I've Been Waiting," Peep's song with iLoveMakonnen and Fall Out Boy, she admits there's a little more of a gray area. "I love the idea of Fall Out Boy jumping on Lil Peep's track because that would have been a dream come true for him," she added about the artists who was celebrated for merging hip-hop and emo. "And I'm sure a lot of the people who made that happen felt it was a way to honor Lil Peep."


Though the path from buried studio artifact to completely released posthumous track can be complex, fan reactions reveal that as soon as done completely — and at their best — these releases can distribute a significant quantity of relief and healing to those the artists have left in back of. Ultimately, as Avicii fan Sperin concluded, the emotional catharsis may just be outweighing the confusion: "Posthumous music reminds us how special life really is and why speedily our time here can come to an end, and maybe that's a good enough reason for it."