Prince’s Catalog Returns To Streaming Services, Vault Recordings Out In June
Prince’s catalog is returning to streaming services in time for the Grammys. Spotify hinted at the news last week, when they papered the Union Square subway station in New York with purple ads featuring the company’s logo. Prince’s early Warner Bros. catalog (1979-1996) is available now on Amazon Music, Spotify, and Google Play; Apple Music, Napster, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and others will follow shortly. (Previously this music was exclusive to Tidal.) Universal Music Group has made a deal with Prince’s estate for the pop star’s more recent recordings, so it looks like we’ll be able to stream those soon too, along with previously unheard songs from his vault, some of which are already slated for a 6/9 release.
Here’s WB CEO Cameron Strang via press release:
Prince recorded his most influential and popular music during his time with Warner Bros. and we are deeply aware of our responsibility to safeguard and nurture his incredible legacy. Warner Bros. is thrilled to be able to bring Prince’s music to his millions of fans around the world via streaming services, fittingly on music’s biggest night. We’d like to thank Prince’s estate, Universal Music Publishing, the Grammy Awards and all of the streaming services for their great collaboration in making this landmark event possible.
We’re also pleased to announce our plan to release the remaster of Prince’s most iconic album, Purple Rain, along with two incredible albums of previously unreleased Prince music and two complete concert films from the Paisley Park vault on June 9.
When we make any of Prince’s music available to fans – from the hits to unreleased gems – we are committed to upholding Prince’s high creative standards and we know fans will be thrilled when they hear these albums and see these films.
Bruno Mars will lead a tribute to Prince at tonight’s Grammy ceremony.