Pop superstar Prince has abruptly withdrawn his tracks from all streaming services including Spotify, which has been thriving for a couple of years now over old contemporaries like Rhapsody and Pandora, apparently, with the exception of newcomer Tidal.
"Prince's publisher has asked all streaming services to remove his catalog," a rep from Spotify confirmed on Wednesday adding, "We have cooperated with the request, and hope to bring his music back as soon as possible," Mashable has learned.
The news comes after Prince's statement in 2010 — "I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else" — caused quite a stir in the music industry.
The eccentric icon also unexpectedly left social media last year but has recently took on Twitter to promote his "Hit and Run" tour, where he announced in a few posts the schedules of his show.
However, Tidal, a company recently acquired last March and relaunched by rap artist/music mogul Jay-Z, remains to be the sole carrier of the phenomenal "The Purple Rain" singer.
The Prince anthology, which includes 20 singles and EPs, 24 albums and three versions of "When Doves Cry," remains in Tidal with its 800,000 subscribers awaiting the service.
According to RTE, Tidal has tried to win music enthusiasts with exclusive content. It streamed the artist's peace concert held in Baltimore last May, following an African American's death in police custody.
TIME revealed that Tidal's prime utility: the support of artists, who otherwise begrudged music streaming services.
Streaming, which offers unlimited and on-demand music, has given rise to a debate from countless artists who felt they were not adequately compensated.
Pop royalty Taylor Swift, approved the streaming of her hit album "1989" exclusively on Apple Music after the company responded to her complaints and increased her compensation.
Hard Rock legends AC/DC also joined different streaming platforms after refusing for some time.
Country hitmaker Garth Brooks and holders of The Beatles copyright remain to be some of the artists to resist streaming.
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