Prince to Release ’20Ten’ Via European Publications

In 2007, Prince released his album 'Planet Earth' as a free insert in the U.K.'s Mail on Sunday newspaper, invoking the wrath of local music retailers. The album -- which later saw an international release -- is still not available for download or purchase in the U.K.

Now, Prince will repeat his controversial tactic, by releasing his latest album '20Ten,' through another handful of European publications. Billboard reports that the 10-track album will be released in the July 10 issues of the Belgium newspaper Het Nieuwblad, the U.K'.s Daily Mirror and Scotland's Daily Record, followed by the August issue of German Rolling Stone. The Belgium paper has already run a feature interview on the international star to coincide with the album release and his July 10 performance at Belgium's Rock Werchter festival, while German Rolling Stone has already published the tracklisting and description for the album.

Over 2.5 million free copies of '20Ten' are expected to be distributed via the three newspapers on July 10. And German Rolling Stone has revealed that the album will not have a retail or digital release in the German market.

There have been no details on how Prince plans to release '20Ten' in North America. The eclectic musician appeared at the BET Awards on June 27, where he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.