*After learning that Prince’s estate squashed its recent deal with Universal Music Group to be the exclusive administrator of the artist’s publishing, Jay Z’s streaming-music service Tidal filed a petition in Minnesota on Friday claiming it was blindsided by the move, and that it should be consulted on any deals having to do with the late singer’s music, reports Page Six.
Before his death in April, Prince began pulling his tunes from non-Tidal sites. Tidal’s Universal deal, however, would mean that Prince’s catalog could possibly be available to more streaming services.
Earlier this month, Prince’s estate — which is controlled under bank Bremer Trust — sold Prince’s songwriting rights to Universal. But Tidal is claiming it had a deal in place with the singer while he was still alive to put out what ended up being his final albums — “Hit n Run Phase One” and “Hit n Run Phase Two” — as well as one further album of new music, plus a remix album.
Tidal also claims it had rights in place to stream Prince’s catalog. It began streaming 15 Prince albums to commemorate the late artist’s birthday in June.
Further complicating the matter, TMZ reported Monday that Prince’s estate claims Tidal doesn’t have the rights to stream the 15 albums and “wants nothing to do with [Jay Z’s] offer to snatch up any of the late singer’s music catalog,” although it named no sources.
The court documents filed by Tidal claim that the service has “the right to exclusively stream [Prince’s] entire catalog of music, with certain limited exceptions,” and asks that Tidal be informed of any deals the estate makes.
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