Prince was notoriously strict on who had access to his music. He was a piracy obsessive and even hired British anti-piracy company Web Sheriff to ensure his music never popped up on Youtube. Man knew his music was the sh-t and he wanted to make sure he got paid off the back of those tracks.
Until July 2015 the purple guy’s music was available all major subscription based streaming platforms, however Jay Z managed to sway him with Tidal’s ‘artist first’ ethos and convinced Prince to stream his music exclusively through Tidal.
Since Prince passed away last year and his family took control of his estate, fans have been wondering if the strict copyright laws on his music might become more relaxed. In an attempt to keep Tidal as the only place to get your Prince fix, Jay Z tried to buy Prince’s back catalogue; a move that didn’t go down too well with Prince’s family who then sued Jigga. Ouch.
Now, just in time for tonight’s Grammy awards (his last album, Hit n Run Phase Two is nominated for the Best Engineered Album award) a select few albums from his extensive discography have re-appeared on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Prime.
Not every album has returned but there is a 40 track Greatest Hits compilation, so it’s likely your favourite track is on there.
As well as being nominated, it’s highly likely that the Grammys award show will feature a tribute to the late artist tonight.