Aaliyah's Music Is Coming To Streaming Platforms, But Her Estate Is Not Happy

Fans of late R&B singer Aaliyah will finally get to hear her music on streaming platforms but her estate is not happy about it.

Almost 20 years after her tragic death, the R&B princess' catalog will be available on various streaming platforms from Aug. 20, her uncle and founder of Blackground Records, Barry Hankerson, said in an interview with Billboard on Thursday.

For years, Aaliyah's fans were clamoring for her songs; so why her songs were unavailable on digital music services?

Hankerson said the delay was due to some disagreements with Aaliyah's estate, run by Aaliyah LLC on behalf of the late singer's mother, Diane Haughton, and brother Rashad Haughton.

"There was a conversation we had that (Diane) didn't want the music out, and whatever my sister told me, I tried to do what she wanted me to do," Hankerson said in the Billboard interview.

"As a parent, I would understand if she did not want the music out. Because who wants to hear the voice of your daughter who's gone? So when she said that to me, I said, 'OK, we're not putting it out. I don't know when, but one day we will.' We literally packed everything up and went on to something else," he added.

Aaliyah's estate refuted the claims, saying no such conversation happened between Hankerson and Diane.

Paul LiCalsi, attorney for Aaliyah LLC, said in a statement that the process of releasing her songs on streaming platforms was delayed because Blackground failed to provide them the full details of the singer's recording contract.

"Aaliyah's estate has always been ready to share Aaliyah's musical legacy but has been met with contention and a gross lack of transparency. For almost 20 years, Blackground has failed to account to the estate with any regularity in accordance with her recording contracts," LiCalsi said in the statement, Billboard reported.

"In addition, the estate was not made aware of the impending release of the catalog until after the deal was complete and plans were in place. The estate has demanded that Blackground provide a full account of its past earnings, and full disclosure of the terms of its new deal to distribute Aaliyah's long embargoed music," the attorney added.

On Thursday, Blackground Records announced on Instagram that the late singer's music will become available on all major digital streaming platforms, starting with the platinum-selling album "One in a Million," on Aug. 20. It will be followed by "Aaliyah" on Sept. 10, the "I Care 4 U" album on Sept. 10 and the "Ultimate Aaliyah" compilation on Oct. 8.

Spotify too confirmed that it will host Aaliyah's catalog.

Blackground Records has partnered with music distribution company Empire Records to release the Grammy-nominated singer's music on streaming sites, Forbes reported.

Born Aaliyah Haughton, the singer died at the age of 22 when her plane crashed in the Bahamas in 2001, just a month after she released her third album, "Aaliyah," which debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Top 200 charts.

Aaliyah was one of the few major singers whose music remained unavailable on Spotify and Apple music for years.

Just hours after Hankerson made the announcement, Aaliyah's estate shared a statement on Instagram regarding the recent development.

"We have always been confused as to why there is such tenacity in causing more pain alongside what we already have to cope with for the rest of our lives. Now, in this 20th year, this unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah's music without any transparency or full accounting to the estate compels our hearts to express a word – forgiveness," the estate said in the statement.