Music icon Prince is the latest artist to get selective over where their music library can be streamed.
The Purple Rain singer has removed his catalogue from YouTube, Spotify, Deezer and Rdio (via TechCrunch). The library is currently only available on Jay-Z’s Tidal service and, strangely, Google Play Music.
As for Apple Music, well the provocative star had never planned on jumping in bed with them anyway.
The decision to side with Tidal isn’t entirely surprising considering the backlash against streaming services offering free tiers. Prince also has ties with the artist-owned service after it backed his Rally 4 Peace concert in May.
Why he’s continuing to stream on Google’s platform remains to be seen. Perhaps his people just overlooked the largely irrelevant service?
On his artist page, Spotify wrote: “
The announcement comes following Taylor Swift’s choosy attitude towards streaming services.
The Bad Blood singer publicly slammed Spotify for offering a free tier, while siding with Tidal. She’d lodged similar complaints about Apple’s decision not to pay artists during the free trial; a decision swiftly reversed.
Read more: Spotify vs Apple Music
Artist segregation on the various platforms isn’t great news for consumers, who have become used to streaming everything they want by subscribing to one platform, but it could lead to more uniform payments for artists in the long run.
Prince, Taylor… who will be the next household name to draw a line in the sand?
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.