In the past, Prince had strongly voiced his opinion regarding unethical streaming services and vehemently refused to list any of his songs on Spotify.
Even as fans debate whether the deceased singer would be unhappy with the latest move, some of his albums have made a comeback on music streaming service Spotify.
With Prince's records now available on Spotify, fans shall be able to listen to particular albums and popular tracks like Kiss and Purple Rain.
For a long time, Tidal had been carrying the exclusive rights to several of Prince's music albums. This was possible since during his lifetime, Prince had decided to not collaborate with any music platforms like Spotify and hade fought for fair compensation for artists and performers.
Even though some on his songs are now available on Spotify, there are several artistes such as Beyonce and Taylor Swift who have refused to become a part of this milieu. Now it seems Adele too is joining the group.
Other Artists Refused To Get Featured On Spotify
With Spotify providing popular tracks and music videos to all its viewers without any subscription, many artists feel that it is quite unfair. Even though an artist does not wish to offend their fans, they feel that some sort of subscription would help the situation. Music is for all but the entire initiative of letting people access it for free only undermines the hard work artists' put in to create masterpieces.
There are quite a few artists who are refusing to lend out their creations for free on such platforms like Spotify. For instance, Taylor Swift has clearly mentioned that people have to pay to hear her music. The Grammy winning artist pulled out her 2014 album from Spotify soon after its release.
"I just don't agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value," remarked Swift at the time.
Similar is the situation for Thom Yorke who feels that these platforms are a metaphor for the death of music.
For the ones who are still wondering as to why Beyonce's album Lemonade is not available on Spotify, there is a whole different reason behind it. Tidal, a rival of Spotify which is half owned by Beyonce's husband Jay Z, coerced her not to put up the path-breaking album on Spotify.
The list of celebrities who are backing out of Spotify due to its no-subscription clause seems to be increasing. Reports are rife that Adele's album 25 was also not featured on Spotify or Apple Music.
Given that more and more artists are pulling out of Spotify, it remains to be seen whether the streaming service would put any value for music or will continue to offer it for free like it is doing currently.
Photo: Thierry Ehrmann | Flickr
