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Prince's music heading to streaming services before Grammys?

Prince's music could be heading to streaming services in time for the Grammys.

The late 'Purple Rain' hitmaker's estate are reportedly edging towards a deal, which involves putting the music legend's songs on Apple Music and Spotify before a star-studded tribute at the Grammys on February 22, which Billboard reports could feature the likes of Rihanna, The Weeknd and Bruno Mars.

According to the magazine, Prince - who died from an overdose in April aged 57 - could be remembered with a TV advertisement tribute, which could be aired during the prestigious awards ceremony and promote that his music will be made available on such services.

The publication also reports that talks are being held between a record label, publishers and performing rights companies to agree on a deal, however nothing has been confirmed.

In November, Prince's music was at the centre of a row between Universal Music Publishing Group and Tidal.

His estate agreed to sell the singer's songwriting rights to Universal - meaning his music could become more widely available to stream - but Jay Z's company insisted they have exclusive rights to the work.

According to the New York Post newspaper, Tidal - who put out Prince's final albums, 'Hit n Run Phase One' and 'Hit n Run Phase Two' - began lobbying a Minnesota court before the Universal deal was struck, claiming the '1999' singer had granted them exclusive rights to his catalog of master recordings.

Tidal submitted a legal letter to probate court Judge Kevin Eide and claimed they would seek injunctive relief if any deals struck by Prince's estate - which still has ownership of his songs - violate the agreement they made with the star.

According to Tidal, Prince had agreed to grant them streaming rights to a 'Hit n Run' remix album, another new LP and the rights to his back catalog.

However, a source claimed Tidal only had a one-year deal to stream Prince's music and are not entitled to rights in the long term.

Prince's estate is managed by industry veterans L. Londell McMillan and Charles Koppelman - who were appointed by bank Bremer Trust - but the 'Little Red Corvette' hitmaker's siblings are reportedly not happy with McMillan and are also keen on being involved with controlling the rights to his music.

In 2015, the singer pulled all his music from other streaming apps such as Spotify.

Source: www.msn.com
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