Prince compares record contracts to slavery: 'Don't sign'

With almost four decades in the industry, Prince knows first-hand just how cutthroat the music business can be. During a rare press conference at his Paisley Park Studios, the Purple Rain hitmaker compared record label bosses to slave masters.

He also took the opportunity to warn aspiring artists against signing their lives away, claiming that record contracts will rob them of their bargaining power.

"Record contracts are just like — I'm gonna say the word — slavery," he said on Saturday 8 August. "I would tell any young artist... don't sign," he said.

He added that musicians often have no control how their music distributed or which streaming services their material appear on.

The 57-year-old's remarks come just weeks after the pop legend removed his entire discography from all streaming services, including Spotify, Apple Music and Rdio, except Jay Z's Tidal.

"Prince's publisher has asked all streaming services to remove his catalogue," a message on the singer's Spotify page read. "We have cooperated with the request, and hope to bring his music back as soon as possible.

Although Prince offered no explanation for his decision to restrict access to his songs and albums to Tidal he has since revealed that his collaboration with Jay Z gives him the freedom to collaborate with other artists on songs which might appear on other platforms.

"Once we have our own resources, we can provide what we need for ourselves," he said. "Jay Z spent $100m (£65m) of his own money to build his own service. We have to show support for artists who are trying to own things for themselves."

Meanwhile, Prince is preparing to release his new album HITNRUN through Tidal on 7 September. The album will also be available as a CD.