Prince’s music confirmed on Spotify

Spotify has confirmed Prince’s Warner Bros. Catalog will be made available to stream on Sunday (12.02.17).
The paid-for streaming company teamed up with the purple outdoor campaign, rather than with the late music icon’s estate to release music including the classics, 1984’s ‘Purple Rain’, 1980’s Dirty Mind, and 1987’s ‘Sign o’ the Times’ on the same day as the Grammys.
In a statement, Spotify said: "The Warner Bros Prince catalogue will be available on Spotify from this Sunday, 12th February (the day of the Grammys).
"Spotify worked directly with Warner Bros on the purple outdoor campaign which was a unique marketing partnership. The estate was not involved."
It comes a day after it was announced that Prince’s estate has chosen Universal Music Group [UMG] to manage the late music icon’s recordings.
The record label giants announced on Thursday (09.02.17) that they signed an agreement between the late ‘Purple Rain’ hitmaker’s estate and NPG Records Inc. – which stands for New Power Generation and was founded by Prince to release his music after Paisley Park Records was shut down by Warner Bros. Records in 1993 – which will grant UMG exclusive licensing rights to the Grammy-winning star’s 25 NPG Records, his early recordings and his vault of unreleased tracks.
This means UMG has become the home of Prince’s music publishing, merchandise and much of his recordings, and with the permission of his heirs they will be able produce new products and experiences from the ‘Kiss’ singer’s works.
In 2018, UMG will also gain US rights to certain prize Prince albums, which were released from 1979 to 1995.
In a statement – released to BANG Showbiz – Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of UMG, said: "Prince was one of the greatest musical talents of all time – an incomparable genius as a performer, recording artist and songwriter. It’s an absolute honor to once again be selected by Prince’s estate to be the home for publishing, merchandise and now for so much of his incredible body of recordings. UMG is committed to honouring Prince’s legacy and vision by creating the highest quality products and experiences."
In 2015, the singer – who died from an overdose in April – pulled all his music from other streaming apps such as Spotify and his music was only previously available on TIDAL.