Fan Revives Forgotten Pop Songs on Streaming
Rob Johnson has spent a decade persuading record labels to upload older pop music to streaming platforms.
Updated on Nov. 15, 2026 in Pop
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Rob Johnson, a 43-year-old business-development manager based in London, has spent the past decade convincing record labels to upload older pop music to streaming services. In April 2026, Lisa Lougheed's song "Run With Us", which she recorded as a teenager in the late 1980s, was uploaded to Spotify and Apple Music.
Why it matters
The effort shows how older pop recordings can remain unavailable on streaming platforms until someone pushes for their release. It also brings a long-overlooked artist's work to new listeners decades after it was recorded.
The song "Run With Us" was recorded in the late 1980s and reached Spotify and Apple Music in April 2026, roughly four decades after its recording. The number of other older pop recordings Johnson has placed on streaming services over the past decade was not reported.
The players
Rob Johnson
A 43-year-old London-based business-development manager at a law firm who has campaigned for years to bring older pop music to streaming platforms.
Lisa Lougheed
A Canadian singer who recorded "Run With Us" as a teenager in the late 1980s, and whose song reached streaming services decades later.
The details
Johnson uses polite but persistent email correspondence to contact record labels and works on the effort outside his working hours. He had never met Lougheed, and the release of "Run With Us" came through this outreach rather than through any contact with her.
Timeline
Late 1980s: Lisa Lougheed recorded the vocals for "Run With Us" as a teenager.
Past decade: Rob Johnson began convincing record labels to upload older pop music to streaming services.
April 2026: "Run With Us" was uploaded to Spotify and Apple Music.
Legacy Catalogue
Many pop recordings from the 1980s never reached streaming platforms, leaving them available only through physical copies or fan networks. Efforts like Johnson's show that restoring such catalogue depends on individual persistence with rights holders rather than on any systematic digitization.
Listeners can now find "Run With Us" on Spotify and Apple Music, where it was uploaded in April 2026. Many older pop recordings remain unavailable on these platforms, so access depends on whether a label chooses to release them.
The takeaway
Older music is not automatically preserved on streaming services, and persistent outreach to rights holders can bring overlooked recordings back to listeners. Anyone who cares about a forgotten track can take a similar approach by contacting its label directly.
Further reading
Explore more on Pop music coverage and how older catalogue recordings reach new audiences.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Currency.
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Should streaming services make more older, forgotten songs available to listen to?
