DJ COMMUNITY

Is Prince’s Catalog Finally Coming To Apple Music And Spotify?

When it comes to anything purple, the first thing you think about is Prince. As it turns out, these ads are about Prince, and they signify some possible good news for not just Spotify, but also Apple Music customers.

Tidal is the streaming service that has held Prince’s music since he decided to join the streaming movement in 2015. But according to Vulture, sources close to a new deal confirmed that Apple Music has partnered with Warner Music Group, which is the original home of Prince’s discography, to ensure that more people will have access to the late music legend’s catalog. Vulture said that Spotify is also close to a similar deal. While they haven’t commented on it just yet, they dropped hints in the form of those purple ads in New York’s Union Square train station today. The Purple One’s catalog could reportedly make a debut around the Grammys for both services (on February 12).

Prince

This is great news, but you can’t help but wonder if this move would have been approved by Prince, considering that he seemed to be a big fan of Tidal and had issues with Warner Bros. in the past over artistic control. When speaking on releasing HITNRUN through Jay Z’s streaming service to Entertainment Weekly in 2015, Prince said, “Jay allowed us to pick the art work, the design of the page, the related-content features. Why shouldn’t you be allowed to do that when it’s your music, your creation?”

However, those behind Prince’s estate stated that Tidal wasn’t given permission to stream his full catalog. Jay Z tried to make a $40 million bid for rights to Prince’s unreleased music late last year, but TMZ said the offer was rejected. According to NME, the estate said they didn’t want to sign a deal for “Roc Nation to exploit any of the intellectual property assets of the Estate.”