Music Biz: Prince Music Is Finally Coming to Apple Music & Likely Spotify Soon

[playahaitian]

Ever since Prince embraced streaming in 2015 after years of shunning the internet, Tidal has been the sole hub for the majority of his catalogue. But there's a significant shake-up in that exclusivity underway: Sources with knowledge of the deal have confirmed to Vulture that Apple Music will be bringing Prince's catalogue to its streaming service shortly. They've partnered with Warner Music Group — home to Prince's discography — to widen the accessibility of Prince's music. Following Prince's death, fans had to scramble all across the internet to legally stream his music; months later, Tidal added 15 more Prince albums to its already stacked collection (though whether or not they had the rights to stream any of these albums has been contested by Prince's estate). Apple Music may not be alone in landing the Purple One: Spotify is also said to be nearing a similar deal, as evidenced by new purple ads that have popped up in New York's Union Square this morning. Billboardreports that Prince's music could arrive on both Spotify and Apple Music surrounding the Grammys. Spotify has declined to comment to Vulture.

 

[Mr. Del]

Not sure if this is what Prince would have wanted, but he's not here to challenge it, and didn't leave any instructions for his intellectual property, sooo...

 

[playahaitian]

http://www.okayplayer.com/news/prin...licensing-deal-w-umg-to-manage-the-vault.html

After numerous attempts at bidding + owning the catalog of the late, great Prince Rogers Nelson, it appears that the Universal Music Group has been granted exclusive licensing rights.

According to Billboard, the deal, which is a multi-year agreement between Prince’s estate, NPG Records and UMG, licenses the 25 albums Prince created under the NPG banner, including Emancipation, Musicology and 3121 + empowers the label to put out unreleased works from “The Vault”.

At the start of 2017, UMG will have the rights to “certain renowned albums,” unleashed unto the world by 1Prince between 1979 and 1995. It is not specific as to what projects they will be receiving, but that time period, as Prince fans will note, marks the Purple One’s initial deal with Warner Bros. “Prince was one of the greatest musical talents of all time — an incomparable genius as a performer, recording artist and songwriter,” UMG chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge said.

“UMG is committed to honoring Prince’s legacy and vision by creating the highest quality products and experiences.”

With UMG now serving as ground zero for all things Prince — this agreement will also include publishing rights and merchanding. “I am thrilled the NPG catalog and Prince’s highly sought after unreleased recordings will reside with UMG, where we have found a partner who is passionate about presenting Prince’s music with a holistic vision that celebrates his iconic status across recorded music, publishing and merchandise and will continue to deliver the highest quality experiences that fans have come to expect,” longtime Prince associate, L. Londell McMillan said.

What does this mean for the proposed deal for Prince’s music to appear on non-Tidal streaming services? Stay tuned to Okayplayer as this story continues to develop, and hopefully we will have an answer for you.