A documentary about Sly And The Family Stone is coming out in 2019. Dance To The Streaming Music is a 10 year in the making film about Stone’s impact on music and his relationship with the Music Modernization Act. Sly And The Family Stone were the first co-ed, multiracial band to succeed in the mainstream with their unique sound of funk and soul. Independent film director Brady Spensor was able to develop a rapport with Stone through his son Sly Jr. who he knew from other previous projects. Spensor was able to chronicle Stone’s financial problems at the time. Stone won a lawsuit in 2015 against his former manager, an attorney and a production company for $5 million dollars in royalties but a judge ruled later that year he would not be able to collect the money because he signed his royalties over to the company for an ownership stake. The singer was living in a van and desperately needed the money to live. The recently passed Music Modernization Act has changed his financial situation by paying him streaming royalties hence the title of the documentary.Â
Sly And The Family Stone dissolved in 1975 and Stone released four solo albums. His well-known issues with drugs stopped him from reviving his career but he has sporadically performed through the years by collaborating with Jesse Johnson and George Clinton and appearing with The Family Stone.Â
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