Apple Music may earn exclusive rights to unreleased Prince concert film

What originally began as Tidal exclusives, Prince’s future catalog of work may find its way onto Apple Music. Troy Carter, Spotify executive and Prince’s entertainment estate advisor, is currently negotiating deals to have unreleased footage of the late popstar exclusively available on a music streaming platform. Sources told Billboard that although Carter works for Spotify, the deals are being shopped with music streaming company’s rivals as well.

In a 1983 performance by Prince, a film was shot where the artist debuted several songs that would go on to be in his 1984 movie Purple Rain. This footage is currently being shopped around, sources have told Billboard. There is additional footage from the making of that film that could be put together to create an original documentary.

This situation presents a possible conflict of interest for estate advisor Troy Carter. On one hand, his role at Spotify requires bringing the best content to the music service. On the other hand, he has a priority to do what’s best for Prince’s estate. As Billboard notes, this is especially important considering the estate’s past.

…Prince’s former attorney L. Londell McMillan and entertainment executive Charles Koppelman — had conflicts of interest that may have resulted in missed opportunities for the estate. Those range from an allegedly mismanaged tribute concert in Minneapolis in October to a $30 million licensing deal negotiated by McMillan with Universal Music Group…

This potential exclusive streaming deal wouldn’t be Apple Music’s first, but it would add ammunition to their music streaming service fight. Originals like Planet of the Apps and Carpool Karaoke, alongside exclusives, show that Apple is aggressively padding out its video content library. Though Carpool Karaoke has been delayed until “later this year,” Apple continues to move forward with other deals.

The rights to Clive Davis’ “The Soundtrack of Our Lives” was reportedly acquired by Apple Music last month. Set to release June 25th, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ documentary will be an Apple Music exclusive for at least a year. Even Kygo, famously known as a house producer, will have an exclusive documentary debuting on Apple Music next month. Ultra Music, Kygo’s label, shared that these documentaries bring “our artists to life as a three-dimensional experience.”