Prince Removes Music From Most Subscription Streaming Services

The latest move in the developing chess game of streaming music has been made by the musician Prince.

On Wednesday, just a day after Apple introduced its new music app, Prince removed his music from most subscription streaming services. A note on Prince’s Spotify page says: “Prince’s publisher has asked all streaming services to remove his catalog. We have cooperated with the request and hope to bring his music back as soon as possible.”

But Prince left his music on Tidal, the subscription service that Jay Z bought this year and has styled as an artist-friendly outlet. Although Prince was not one of the 16 acts who were identified as the “owners” of Tidal at its introduction in March, he has used it for exclusive content like the live stream of his Baltimore concert in May.

Prince is a longtime advocate for artists’ rights, particularly his own.

Last year, he took full control of his publishing catalog and made a new deal with his former record company, Warner Brothers, with whom he publicly feuded in the 1990s. The arrangement gave Prince ownership of his recordings but allowed the label to continue distributing his classic albums like “1999” and “Purple Rain.”

The arrival of Apple’s new streaming service, Apple Music, has led to sudden changes in the availability of popular song catalogs, as artists and record labels have negotiated with Apple over its licensing terms and considered the pros and cons of streaming.

Apple at first angered independent labels by refusing to pay royalties during free trials of the service, but it quickly shifted course last month after Taylor Swift complained. Ms. Swift soon added her music to the service, as did AC/DC, a longtime holdout to streaming.