Prince back on streaming platforms, 2 new albums coming

Prince's early music catalogwas made available across all streaming services on Sunday,almost a year after his death, and record label Warner Bros.said it planned to release two albums of new music from the popfunk musician in June.

Warner Records said in a statement that Prince's music,including his signature album Purple Rain,was being released to coincide with Sunday's Grammy Awards, where Prince was remembered in a special tribute.

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On June 9, it will release a remastered copy of PurpleRain,two albums of previously unreleased Prince musicand twocomplete concert films from the vault of the singer's PaisleyPark recording complex.

The Minneapolis musician, who died in April 2016 at age 57,had shunned most streaming and digital music platforms in 2015,with the exception of Jay Z's Tidal outlet, which seeks toreturn a larger share of profits to artists.

Early record deal included1999,Purple Rain

Prince signed with Warner Bros., owned by Time Warner, 40 years ago, recording albums that included Controversy, 1999, Purple Rain,and Diamonds andPearls,as well as some of his biggest hits likeKiss,Little Red Corvetteand Sign O' The Times.

He split with Warner Bros. in 1996, when he changed his nameto a symbol, but later re-signed with the label in 2014.Sunday's announcement covers streaming for his music through1996.

• Prince's copyright stance makes free digital access to music difficult

"When we make any of Prince's music available to fans from the hits to unreleased gems we are committed toupholding Prince's high creative standards," Cameron Strang,chief executive of Warner Bros. Records, said in Sunday'sstatement.

The streaming deal was reached with the agreement ofPrince's estate and covers platforms such as Amazon Music,Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora.