Prolific pop icon Prince released a new album of dance-friendly funk on Monday and, in the latest twist to his tortured relationship with the music industry, he is exclusively streaming it online.
The album is called HitNRun Phase One, a reference to the famously eccentric singer’s recent tours where he announces concerts hours before taking the stage. One such show, an invite-only gig for the charity Autism Rocks, took place at Pacha Ibiza Dubai in February. The record recaptures the vigorous feel of the live Prince experience.
Prince, 57, released the album only on Tidal. It is a coup for the streaming service headed by rap mogul Jay Z, which has struggled to make a mark since a star-studded debut in March.
The immediacy and artistic control of Tidal appealed to Prince, who in the early 1990s wrote “slave” on his cheek and changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in protest against record label Warner Brothers’ control over his work.
His latest move is striking as it comes little more than a year after Prince reconciled with Warner Bros, which released two of his albums simultaneously in September last year and agreed to release remastered editions of his earlier work. Prince says he was pleased to release the record, his 34th studio album, just 90 days after a single meeting with Jay Z.
Echoing an argument made by Jay Z after he bought Tidal from Swedish-Norwegian company Aspiro for US$56million (Dh205.6m), Prince said that the growing streaming industry could transform the industry by letting artists bypass corporate structures.
“Record contracts are just like – I’m gonna say the word – slavery,” Prince said last month. Expanding on his views in an interview with the magazine Ebony, he said that the internet age meant there should no longer be a “one size fits all” model for music.
When he reached his deal with Tidal, Prince pulled his catalogue from rival streaming services but in July put out a single song – Stare, which does not appear on the new album – on industry leader Spotify.
Prince’s views on the internet have swayed widely throughout his career. He was an early enthusiast but in 2010 declared the internet “completely over” and released an album as a free CD bundled in European newspapers.
