Prince’s classic albums are back on Spotify and other streaming sites

By Trevor Mogg February 13, 2017

prince tops billboard 200 in memoriam 0028 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Prince fans keen to stream the late music legend’s vast catalog of work can now hop onto most leading streaming sites and do just that.

Coinciding with Sunday night’s Grammy Awards, the arrival of Prince’s music on services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora comes 10 months after the artist’s untimely death at the age of 57.

Prince devotees who prefer streaming to digital downloads can now hit their favorite music service for all the classics, including Purple Rain, Dirty Mind, 1999, and Sign O’ The Times.

In protest at Spotify’s free streaming tier and in support of his fellow artists, Prince pulled his catalog from music streaming services in the summer of 2015. But a short time later the artist struck a deal with Jay Z’s Tidal service to host much of his work.

“After one meeting, it was obvious that Jay Z and the team he has assembled at Tidal recognize and applaud the real effort that real musicians put in2 their craft 2 achieve the very best they can at this pivotal time in the music industry,” Prince said in a statement at the time.

However, following the artist’s death in April last year, his estate moved to ink a deal to get Prince’s tracks back on all of the major streaming sites, a process leading to Sunday’s launch.

Commenting on the return of The Purple One’s catalog to online music services, Cameron Strang, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Records said, “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.”

He added that the record label was “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.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Audio / Video

Victrola’s Stream Onyx turntable makes listening to vinyl over Sonos more affordable

The Victrola Stream Onyx Sonos-ready turntable on a wood cabinet with a Sonos Five.

Time-honored audio gear pioneer Victrola is continuing its foray into the wireless record player market, today unveiling the Victrola Stream Onyx turntable at CES 2023 in Las Vegas. An updated and more affordable continuation of its popular Stream Carbon turntable launched earlier last year, the Works with Sonos-verified player allows vinyl lovers to spin their records and wirelessly stream the audio over their Sonos speaker system via Wi-Fi. The new player will retail for $600 and will be available for preorder on January 7.

While Bluetooth-enabled turntables offer the convenience of being able to wirelessly play your records through headphones and speakers, Bluetooth is not the ideal way to do this, as you can lose a lot of the details and accuracy from the vinyl because of the digital file compression needed. Most people wouldn't notice the difference, but using a higher-fidelity wireless system like Sonos to do this is a much better option (especially for audiophiles), one that Victrola started making a lot easier with the Stream Carbon turntable last year.

Audio / Video

Spotify Wrapped 2022: what it is and how to view it

Spotify Wrapped 2022.

For loads of music lovers, the beginning of December is a special time of year when Spotify drops its annual Spotify Wrapped list, a data-derived deep dive into -- for better or worse -- all the good, bad, and embarrassing music we've been cranking into our earholes for the past year. If you're a Spotify devotee, you've likely already gotten their teaser email about this year's list, which usually lands at the end of November or in the first week of December. But if you haven't, no worries, we've got all the details here.
Further reading

Spotify Wrapped 2022 is here: What's your 'listening personality'?
What is Spotify: music, pricing, and features explained
Apple Music vs. Spotify: Which music streamer is the best?
Instafest: How to make your own Spotify festival lineup

Mobile

Spotify app update finally lets you separate your music and podcasts

spotify app home page music podcasts separate tabs reorganization

Spotify is giving the Home page of its app a major makeover by creating separate feeds for music and podcasts. The audio streaming company announced the changes on Tuesday, and the new feature is starting to roll out to Android users, with the iOS app set to receive it soon after.

The revamped Home page will have two separate tabs on the top left corner of the screen labeled "Music" and "Podcasts & Shows." Tapping on the Music tab will take you straight to the music you've been listening to and give you playlist and artist recommendations based on the genres you hear the most. The Podcast & Shows tab will immediately show you the latest episodes of your favorite podcasts, as well as give you suggestions for new ones.