Jay-Z is helping to pick out the songs for the album partnership, which ends the legal dispute between the two parties.
It's happening: new Prince is on its way. Tidal and Prince's estate announced on Friday that a batch of previously unreleased music from the late icon's vaults will make up a new album, expected to be released in 2019, with Tidal owner Jay-Z working directly with the estate on song selection.
Upon its eventual release, the as-yet-untitled album will stream exclusively on Tidal for two weeks before it is released in physical formats. It will also be available to download seven days after its debut, though it's unclear if or when the album will be shared with non-Tidal streaming services.
The agreement between Prince's estate and Tidal, which was approved in probate court on May 9, effectively ends a copyright dispute between the two parties over the streaming service's prior claim to streaming rights of Prince's catalog. Before his death in April 2016, the two parties came to an exclusive agreement to stream Prince's HITnRUN albums. Tidal believed it had an arrangement giving it exclusive rights to the artist's entire catalog, which was later disputed in court by Prince’s label (NPG Records) and publishing arm (NPG Music Publishing).