Prince has continued his love/hate relationship with the internet by sneakily previewing a new song on a mysterious purple website over the weekend, only to have it quickly removed.

The Rick James name-checking six-minute long funk track appeared on the website mplsound.com, though the link is now dead. Prince theorists have pointed out the web address may well reference Prince's home town of Minneapolis, and could be utilised again for more authorised leakage before the release of a new album.

Way back in 1997 the purple one became the first major artist to release an entire album on the internet. His antics with Crystal Ball netted him a 2006 Webby Lifetime Achievement Award for his "visionary" use of the medium.

More recently the relationship has soured, with the singer pre-empting his former label Warner by demanding that his videos be removed from YouTube. Then last year he flexed his over-active legal muscle at assorted fan sites, demanding they remove all Prince-related photos and artwork.

Will the notoriously protective Jehovah's Witness find a way to tame the wild beast that is the Internet so he can express his creativity unfettered by the evil record companies, or will he end up giving his new album away free with The Mail on Sunday again? Watch this space.