TIDAL may be the only place you can stream Prince's music, but it won't be the home of The Purple Sage's vaulted recordings. For now, that is. According to a report from TMZ, Prince's estate has refused Jay Z's $40 million bid for Prince's unreleased recordings, housed behind bank vault doors in the Paisley Park compound.
That report also states that beyond their rejection of the bid for "Roc Nation to exploit any of the intellectual property assets of the Estate," they're also ready to engage in a legal battle over the 15 Prince albums released on TIDAL following the icon's death, claiming them to be unauthorized by the estate. They do, however, acknowledge a deal struck between the estate and TIDAL for exclusive streaming rights to Hit N Run Phase One, though that arrangement was only meant to last for a year, and they estate is still seeking the $750,000 payment for those rights.
Needless to say, it doesn't appear that TIDAL's current monopoly on Prince streams will last too much longer unless a subsequent deal is made. We'll be sure to keep our eyes on the matter as it develops.
