Prince pulls music from Spotify, other streaming services

Pop icon Prince has opened a new chapter in his fraught relationship with the internet as he suddenly pulled his music from most streaming services.

A message that appeared on sector-leader Spotify said that Prince’s publisher “has asked all streaming services to remove his catalogue.”

“We have cooperated with the request, and hope to bring his music back as soon as possible,” it said.

The sole streaming service that still carried the Purple Rain legend’s music as of early Thursday was Tidal, which was re-launched this year by rap mogul Jay Z.

Tidal has tried with mixed success to win audiences through exclusive content. It streamed much of a peace concert held by Prince in May in Baltimore in the wake of the death of a black man in police custody.

Prince was an early enthusiast of online music but in 2010 declared that the internet was “completely over” and released an album only as a CD insert to several European newspapers.

The famously eccentric singer last year abruptly left social media, but recently returned to Twitter as he promotes his “Hit and Run” tour in which he announces shows with little advance notice.