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Sony deal brings 23 more Prince albums to Apple Music

An avalanche of Prince albums is hitting Apple Music this week, thanks to a June agreement between Sony's Legacy Recordings and the estate of the late pop and funk musician.

Mosf of the records were originally released between 1995 and 2010, such as "The Gold Experience," "Emancipation," and "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic." The one exception is in fact a new compilation, simply called "Prince Anthology 1995-2010."

Sony will have to wait until 2021 to gain the U.S. distribution rights for some of Prince's best-known work, such as "Controversy" and "1999," Variety noted on Friday. Warner Bros. Records — Prince's original label — will continue to hold onto his soundtrack albums, such as "Batman" and his most famous work, "Purple Rain."

Prince died of a drug overdose in 2016. While he was alive, the musician was notoriously opposed to having his music on streaming services, which meant that for a stretch just a handful tracks were available on platforms like Apple Music and Spotify.

That changed early last year, when Warner brought its share of Prince's discography to the streaming world. The Prince estate has also reportedly been shopping around unseen film footage to companies like Apple.