Prince songs to return to Spotify, Apple Music on Grammys Sunday

Songs of late music legend Prince will again be available on multiple streaming-music services on Sunday, in releases timed for the 59th Grammy Awards.The Purple One's Warner Music catalog, including the albums "Purple Rain," "1999" and...

Prince songs to return to Spotify, Apple Music on Grammys Sunday

Songs of late music legend Prince will again be available on multiple streaming-music services on Sunday, in releases timed for the 59th Grammy Awards.

The Purple One's Warner Music catalog, including the albums "Purple Rain," "1999" and "Sign O' the Times," will be available Feb. 12 on subscription-streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Napster and iHeartRadio, according to multiple reports.

The expanded streaming deals come after the mercurial artist in 2015 pulled his music from all streaming services -- with the exception of Tidal, the Jay Z-led company that has pledged friendlier terms to musicians. Prince, who had contentious relationships with music labels, distributors and internet companies, had personally promoted Tidal including in the days just before his death.

But in November, Prince's estate sued Jay Z's Roc Nation, alleging Tidal of copyright infringement by continuing to stream songs from his back catalog (a charge that Roc Nation and Tidal have disputed). That same month, the artist's estate inked a music-publishing management deal with Universal Music Publishing to expand distribution for Prince's works.

Prince -- along with pop-star George Michael, who died on Christmas Day last year -- will be honored with a special tribute at the Grammys. The kudocast, hosted by James Corden, will air on CBS Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Variety has confirmed that iHeartRadio will be among those adding Prince's song catalog to its services Sunday, when the service will turn itself purple to honor the artist. In addition, it is launching an original "iHeartPrince" radio station (available to both subscribers and non-subscribers) that will feature programming on how Prince influenced today's top performers and include interview segments with Prince talking about his music and career.

Spotify, meanwhile, last week placed purple-hued ads in New York City's Union Square subway station with only the service's logo, per a Billboard report. Currently, the only Prince tune on Spotify is the 2015 single "Stare," from his final studio album, "Hit n Run Phase Two."

Prince died at 57 on April 21, 2016. He was found dead in his Paisley Park estate outside of Minneapolis in what was ruled an accidental overdose of Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid pain medication.

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