UPDATE 2/12/17: You can now stream most of Prince’s discography on Spotify. This comes as a surprising, welcome development given Prince’s litigious, fractious relationship with record labels and music distribution platforms. To celebrate, stream Purple Rain and 1999 below.
Purple Rain
1999
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Yesterday, mysterious Spotify advertisements started popping up around the world, in places like New York City and London. The ads simply featured Spotify’s branding and a purple icon, so naturally, people assumed this had something to do with the purple-est musician of all time, Prince. Here’s the ad that appeared in London:
An intriguing purple @Spotify banner has appeared at London’s Spitalfields Market @Goodstuffers @TalonOOH @InfinityOutdoor ??? pic.twitter.com/DXaBsth59z
— Roy Shepherd (@OOH_Roy) January 30, 2017
Now, it’s being reported that these suspicions are spot-on, as The New York Post cites “a music insider” as saying that Prince’s albums released by Warner Music Group (via Consequence of Sound), which are currently only streaming on Tidal, will become available on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, Google Play, Deezer, and others beginning on February 12, the same day as the 59th Grammy Awards; “The switch gets turned on for everybody during the Grammys,” the insider said.
Dirty Mind, Sign O’ the Times, Purple Rain, and 1999—which include hits like “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Purple Rain” and “When Doves Cry”—are the albums Prince released on Warner, and rights to other songs and albums released via other labels are supposedly being negotiated.
There is also speculation that Bruno Mars, Rihanna and The Weeknd will feature in a Prince tribute during the Grammy ceremony, so all this is adding up to be a perfect storm for a huge uptick in Prince’s presence in mid-February. Bear in mind that this news has yet to be officially confirmed by any of the aforementioned streaming services yet, but what else are we supposed to think? Get ready, all: Prince is (probably) coming.
Revisit our tribute to Prince on Nerdist News:
Featured image: Warner Bros.
