When Prince’s estate recently inked a publishing deal with Universal Music, there was widespread speculation that Universal would be looking to land Prince's catalog on other streaming services in addition to Tidal, the only service where the music is currently streaming. Tidal has now filed papers claiming that it has exclusive rights until at least July 2018, under the terms of an agreement signed with Prince during his lifetime.

Prince was an outspoken supporter of Tidal, using the service to stream concerts and release new music. "Jay Z and the team he has assembled at TIDAL," Prince wrote last year, "recognize and applaud the effort that real musicians put in2 their craft 2 achieve the very best they can at this pivotal time in the music industry." (Billboard)

Prince's estate, however, has reportedly filed its own petition claiming that Prince never singed a formal contract with Tidal; that they have no evidence Tidal ever paid the promised $750,000 advance; and that Tidal is streaming 15 albums completely without authorization, since those albums fell outside the scope of the initial agreement. Those may be the 15 albums added to Tidal's offerings on June 7. (Rolling Stone)

Bowie birthday tribute concerts planned

On Jan. 8, David Bowie’s 70th birthday will be celebrated with a series of tribute concerts around the world, involving dozens of artists. The first to be announced is a show in London, where "Gary Oldman will lead a group comprising Bowie band members Mike Garson, Earl Slick, Adrian Belew, Sterling Campbell, Holly Palmer, and Catherine Russell," reports Pitchfork.

Neil Young spends birthday at Standing Rock

Neil Young turned 71 on Saturday, and the tireless activist spent the day at Standing Rock in North Dakota, supporting protesters opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline. (Neil Young)

Sting to rock Maplewood

Sting has announced a U.S. club tour that will come to Myth on March 2. His opening acts will include his son Joe Sumner. (City Pages)

Google Play starts tailoring tunes to your activity

The newest race among streaming services is the race for ultra-personalized recommendations: knowing exactly what you want to hear right now. Spotify has individually-tailored Discover playlists, and now Google Play is taking that a step further by implementing technology that will take factors like "location, activity and the weather" into account when recommending music, reports TechCrunch. "For example, the service may know if you're at home, at work, flying, exploring a new city, entering the gym to start your workout, and more [...] If you tend to always launch a certain playlist after work, it will soon start appearing at that time here on this screen. If you're about to hop on a plane, a playlist of music for flying might pop up instead."

Chainsmokers unseated in race to outlast Mariah

The Chainsmokers’ race to oust Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men for longest-running chart-topper has ended after 12 weeks: "Closer," the Chainsmokers' collaboration with Halsey, has lost the top spot to Rae Sremmund and Gucci Mane. The new number one, "Black Beatles," is a favorite for soundtracking mannequin challenge videos. (Billboard)

Fight Club soundtrack returns to vinyl

After 15 years out of print on vinyl, the Fight Club soundtrack will be reissued this Wednesday in a pink double-LP set. The film's score was created by the Dust Brothers. (Pitchfork)

Willow Smith responds to election

Willow Smith has written, recorded, and released a new track in response to the U.S. presidential election. "Baby girl I know you're tired," the song begins. "Don't let the world put out your fire." (Billboard)