In a week where most artists have put their music on Apple Music, the typically unpredictable Prince has yanked his music from all streaming platforms apart from Jay Z‘s Tidal.
A Spotify spokesperson told Mashable, “Prince’s publisher has asked all streaming services to remove his catalog.”
“We have cooperated with the request, and hope to bring his music back as soon as possible.”
While Prince wasn’t standing among the likes of Beyonce, Kanye West, Madonna and Calvin Harris when Tidal launched, Prince been supportive of the service – he exclusively streamed his Rally 4 Peace event in Baltimore earlier this year on the platform.
Prince’s discography on Spotify has always been sketchy, with only a few of his releases available to stream before he pulled them, however, Tidal has his entire back catalogue.
That is everything apart from HARDROCKLOVER, the new song that he uploaded to Soundcloud today. It’s only the fourth track to be uploaded onto his Soundcloud profile.
The singer has never been much of a fan of digital music. In 2010 he told The Mirror, “The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it.”
He’s obviously happy to leave streaming execs angry – except for Jay Z, of course.
Listen: Prince – HARDROCKLOVER
https://soundcloud.com/prince3eg/hardrocklover/s-WiPyF
