Apparently Warner Music Group is up for sale:

http://www.reuters.com/ar...7620110211

Let's hope it gets bought by a company that sees the potential in Prince's back catalog.

I said at the time of 2010's UK release that he'd pretty much burnt his UK distribution bridges.

'07 Planet Earth given away with the mail on sunday....his next release was a live cd inside a book.

2009 was lotus flower,mpls sound and that other one which IIRC was only available in the UK as an import (initially anyway).

Then in 2010 we got 2010 free with the daily record.

I think i'd like to see him open another online music club with the backing of an album and your only fee would be what it would cost to DL the album.

Remember when Radiohead released In Rainbows and asked their fans to pay what they wanted for it?

Imagine an established artist like Prince risking something like that?

[Edited 2/12/11 5:51am]

Why should we be concerned, it's Prince's concern how his stuff finds an audience - we get his stuff one way or another because we know when and how it's coming.

muirdo said:

I think i'd like to see him open another online music club with the backing of an album and your only fee would be what it would cost to DL the album.

I think that model could work for the post-WB material. Prince might not make a lot of money off of it, but he could view it as a promotional tool for his concert series. His fans would laugh if he started another subscription-based service, but if it was just a question of paying per album, maybe people would give it a shot.

electricberet said:

muirdo said:

I think i'd like to see him open another online music club with the backing of an album and your only fee would be what it would cost to DL the album.

I think that model could work for the post-WB material. Prince might not make a lot of money off of it, but he could view it as a promotional tool for his concert series. His fans would laugh if he started another subscription-based service, but if it was just a question of paying per album, maybe people would give it a shot.

I miss a proper jewel case.

Prince has as many choices 4 distribution now has he EVER had.

Why do u think he has been experimenting with different methods all of this time?

muirdo said:

electricberet said:

I think that model could work for the post-WB material. Prince might not make a lot of money off of it, but he could view it as a promotional tool for his concert series. His fans would laugh if he started another subscription-based service, but if it was just a question of paying per album, maybe people would give it a shot.

I miss a proper jewel case.

Aye me too, these cardboard fucking things are a pain in the arse, cd gets scratched all to fuck if yer not careful, i put the buggers in a proper case anyway to avoid that.

I like those new-ish cases we get with the rounded corners, now those are quality jewels.

NouveauDance said:

Why should we be concerned, it's Prince's concern how his stuff finds an audience - we get his stuff one way or another because we know when and how it's coming.

Because talking about it helps to pass the time, I guess.

electricberet said:

Apparently Warner Music Group is up for sale:

http://www.reuters.com/ar...7620110211

Let's hope it gets bought by a company that sees the potential in Prince's back catalog.

Now that's some serious news... I wonder if Prince is one of the potential interested buyers, possibly along with a few partners.

Giovanni777 said:

electricberet said:

Apparently Warner Music Group is up for sale:

http://www.reuters.com/ar...7620110211

Let's hope it gets bought by a company that sees the potential in Prince's back catalog.

Now that's some serious news... I wonder if Prince is one of the potential interested buyers, possibly along with a few partners.

According to this article, Sony Music and Universal Music are among the bidders:

http://www.nypost.com/p/n...OkXjICkKOO

A buyout by Sony would be good news, I think. They have done a very classy job with remasters on the Columbia label. See, for example, the Bob Dylan mono box set and the various Bootleg Series issues.

Giovanni777 said:

errant said:

um, late 2009 when he announced LotusFlow3r. and some of that was from about 4-5 years worth of work. which negates both of your points.

Dude. Belgian interview - 6/23/2010. This is when he said he had three albums finished.

You do have a point there, though, with there being a gap sometimes between recording, engineering, mixing, and mastering and physical production and distribution.

BUT... This is kind of like when he has a few intensive recording sessions, let's say with Sonny and Mike. He then pulls out those sessions, and tracks other instruments and vocals. Then it gets mixed, mastered, etc.

I'm thinking when he said that he had three albums "ready", that means everything is done and finished, except for the physical duplication and distribution.

He's made this same sort of statement numerous times over the last 30 years with nothing coming of it. It's the kind of throwaway comment he uses all the time in interviews. I'm not sure why it's a cause for concern this time. Who knows if it's even true?

Regardless of how it's distributed if I want it I'll find a way to get it but I think Prince has been doing a good job of it so far except for 20Ten I mean wth was that all about only distributing it over seas but I still got it

muirdo said:

I said at the time of 2010's UK release that he'd pretty much burnt his UK distribution bridges.

'07 Planet Earth given away with the mail on sunday....his next release was a live cd inside a book.

2009 was lotus flower,mpls sound and that other one which IIRC was only available in the UK as an import (initially anyway).

Then in 2010 we got 2010 free with the daily record.

I think i'd like to see him open another online music club with the backing of an album and your only fee would be what it would cost to DL the album.

Remember when Radiohead released In Rainbows and asked their fans to pay what they wanted for it?

Imagine an established artist like Prince risking something like that?

I paid $0.00 for the In Rainbows download - only because it was just that, a download. I bought the CD when it was available. But you're right, that experiment paid off handsomely for Radiohead.

what about a release through REDLINE again?.Im not sure how well the rainbow children done but thats an avenue for getting it out to the fans that he has not used in 10 yrs.Does REDLINE still exist as a label/distributor.

I predict that his new album will be "released" by a german/british newspaper

the days of Musicology/3121/PlanetEarth are long gone...

prince has plenty of options but he's an adventurous guy & will no doubt already thought of his next crazy way of getting the music out like he's on a mission

I'm not so concerned about Prince as a business man, no matter how he releases an album he still makes money on it one way or another. He's the type of man who don't give away anything for free.

I'm more concerned about what will happen when he kicks the bucket (which I hope won't happen for another 60 years) with his unreleased catalogue. Who will be in charge of it? If JWs get a hold on it, we'll never hear anything good again.

Well....I had most of this on a post that is rotting...but it fits better here with some editing, and remixing...so not a true cross-post, which I usually frown upon...but a good cross-post is better than a post getting crowded with huge pictures that ruin the flow of the actual writing...

I love the man, but I do not trust him. He bitched about bootleggers, and then gives tapes freely to everyone from bodyguards to the window cleaner. He is the greatest musician who has ever lived, better than the Beatles, U2, James Brown, Bob Dylan, and Mozart combined. He is also a total nutjob. A great, but lesser artist, David Bowie is worth over a Billion Dollars, due to shrewd business sense. Prince has unpaid bills, and there are tons of companies in Minnesota that will not even return a call to him for business due to bad word of mouth. Someone with Prince's talent should be worth at least $500 million, but dumb decision after another continues to keep his finances on the edge... Maybe he could start a new website and charge $777 for a "half lifetime membership."

Hell, if he had somewhat of an organized tour with decent ticket prices, he could at least make a ton of money this year, but so far the 20Ten tour has seen New Jersey shows not sell out, has had several sellouts at MSG, except for the last one, since he still had tickets priced a bit high, and did not give them time to sell out. Just see what Kevin Smith had to say about him after the waste of time Documentary at the Celebration. Just think...he had TONY M IN THE BAND....NUTJOB!!! As much as it pains me to say this...he's full of dumb decisions. Of course, I can listen to Anna Stesia, Old Friends 4 Sale(bootleg version, of course), and If I Was Your Girlfriend, and I forgive him for being a nutjob.

I actually like most of his studio output, and laugh at the non-musicians here who claim that Chaos And Disorder and Lotus Flow3r stink, but have not really listened to them. Not that me being a songwriter gives me that much more insight....I just think I actually listen to the recordings. My cds have marks and scuffs on the back from listening overkill. Many of the people who will say my post is crazy can see every last wrinkle on their face on the back of their Chaos disc...admit it...you haven't really listened to it.

Now...his live performances...I like most of the tours...but when he plays cover songs? Nope...I'm not going to approve of him turning into Rod Stewart. Female Singers taking lead vocals for 30% of a concert? Nope, he won't get away with that one either...or turning Let's Go Crazy into a song with only a first verse.

I can see the responses to this...I am crazy since I said he was better than the Beatles, U2, and Mozart combined....

and I am crazier for calling him a nutjob.

dandeeland said:

Anyone would be crazy to deal with him at this point. I dont know why Prince just doesnt release straight through his own website. Look how rich Alanis morissette is now and thats the only way she does it. Prince is dumb

Does she? Her website is still showing her last retail album (2008) advertised. I didn't think she has worked on a new album since?

Se7en said:

muirdo said:

I said at the time of 2010's UK release that he'd pretty much burnt his UK distribution bridges.

'07 Planet Earth given away with the mail on sunday....his next release was a live cd inside a book.

2009 was lotus flower,mpls sound and that other one which IIRC was only available in the UK as an import (initially anyway).

Then in 2010 we got 2010 free with the daily record.

I think i'd like to see him open another online music club with the backing of an album and your only fee would be what it would cost to DL the album.

Remember when Radiohead released In Rainbows and asked their fans to pay what they wanted for it?

Imagine an established artist like Prince risking something like that?

I paid $0.00 for the In Rainbows download - only because it was just that, a download. I bought the CD when it was available. But you're right, that experiment paid off handsomely for Radiohead.

I thought Radiohead admitted that the download trial was a flop, because too many people didn't take the option of paying (myself included). Thats why they ended up releasing in in a traditional format later.

SquirrelMeat said:

Se7en said:

I paid $0.00 for the In Rainbows download - only because it was just that, a download. I bought the CD when it was available. But you're right, that experiment paid off handsomely for Radiohead.

I thought Radiohead admitted that the download trial was a flop, because too many people didn't take the option of paying (myself included). Thats why they ended up releasing in in a traditional format later.

Hmmm - I don't recall reading that anywhere. I remember hearing that they were pleasantly surprised how many people actually paid something, but wanted to offer a physical CD for the collectors.

IIRC, the downloads were really low bitrate - 160kbps.

electricberet said:

Others have pointed out that Prince may not own the artwork that goes with the WB albums, and that the other musicians who played on them may have some claim. I don't think anyone can know for sure without seeing the relevant contracts. But we do know that Prince and WB are talking and I don't see any reason for them to be talking unless it involves remasters as part of a package.

Yes, it is safe to say that Prince may not have a claim on the artwork and some other musicans may have a claim on some recordings and that we know nothing for sure unless we see all the contracts and then perhabs some matters are still not clear. However these are resonable assumptions. The fact that they are talking proves as much at least, that they both realise they are better off settling the matters and trying to both benefit than letting it go to court, or sit back and do nothing.

I hope something good comes out of it. Like:

Properly remastered, unedited reissues of all his WB albums, accompanied by a CD with outtakes and B-sides of the particular album, a CD with a full blown sound board recording of the according tour, a DVD of all the music videos of the particular album and a DVD of a full blown live show.

Not gonna happen, if not for Prince not wanting it or it not being profitable than for legal and logistical issues, but who gives, one can dream

-

[Edited 2/13/11 7:19am]

It's been talked about before, but I think I'd like to see his next album released as a magazine. Or if not his next album, a magazine collection with vault material.

I'd happily pay £9.99 to get a copy of something like this through the door every month. The scope for articles, interviews, etc is huge. Doesn't always have to be vault material either, could be a concert dvd one month, a protege CD, an unreleased remix CD, it goes on an on...

Prince, if you've run out of distributors and have resorted to checking this website/thread for alternate methods of distribution, send me a PM!

[img:$uid]http://img576.i.../img:$uid]

Love your post ^^^^

[Edited 2/24/11 2:46am]

erik319 said:

It's been talked about before, but I think I'd like to see his next album released as a magazine. Or if not his next album, a magazine collection with vault material.

I'd happily pay £9.99 to get a copy of something like this through the door every month. The scope for articles, interviews, etc is huge. Doesn't always have to be vault material either, could be a concert dvd one month, a protege CD, an unreleased remix CD, it goes on an on...

Prince, if you've run out of distributors and have resorted to checking this website/thread for alternate methods of distribution, send me a PM!

[img:$uid]http://img576.i.../img:$uid]

How about he starts his own proper magazine.

802 said:

erik319 said:

It's been talked about before, but I think I'd like to see his next album released as a magazine. Or if not his next album, a magazine collection with vault material.

I'd happily pay £9.99 to get a copy of something like this through the door every month. The scope for articles, interviews, etc is huge. Doesn't always have to be vault material either, could be a concert dvd one month, a protege CD, an unreleased remix CD, it goes on an on...

Prince, if you've run out of distributors and have resorted to checking this website/thread for alternate methods of distribution, send me a PM!

[img:$uid]http://img576.i.../img:$uid]

How about he starts his own proper magazine.

Er.. that's what I was getting at The mock up was for effect

erik319 said:

802 said:

How about he starts his own proper magazine.

Er.. that's what I was getting at The mock up was for effect

Can't see that picture on my computer, because the computer's not very good.

802 said:

erik319 said:

Er.. that's what I was getting at The mock up was for effect

Can't see that picture on my computer, because the computer's not very good.

Oh lol, that makes sense now tried to do a 'what if...' mock up of what it might look like.

skywalker said:

Giovanni777 said:

I've been concerned lately about Prince's next release...

Without a widespread release of '20ten', and having used many various methods of distribution, while not having a website, how would any upcoming releases be distributed?

We've heard that he already has three albums worth of material since finalizing '20ten', but will we ever hear them?

Will he collaborate with yet another label or Target for distribution?

Does he have the desire to share his new music with his fans, seeing as how a masterpiece like 'Lotusflower' was largely unappreciated?

Yeah, I said it... I'm concerned.

~G

Agreed. I am also concerned about his legacy/treatment of his past works.

Listen, I get that Prince thinks that art and business don't mix. That said, having a sporadic business plan ultimately hurts in the long run...not just the Prince's bottom line, but the art/music as well. Gotta take care of your legacy P so people can still party with you in 2099.

So True, when you consider the treatment other legends get on remasters and special releases. That re-issue of Exhile on Mainstreet was the shit. Target ended up marking him down to what? a buck or something to get LF off of the shelves. It's like he has this weird fear of mortality and giving the classics the respect they deserve (thus shoring up his legacy) is an offense on his "there is no such thing as time" position. Name a legendary Artist that so many mainstream fans are misinformed about as much as Prince. I'm sick of people coming to me (having caught him in some oddly planned context) and saying "Damn i didnt even know he played like that". I'd rather see him handle the classics and unreleased stuff correctly than to see him play them. If he can just do that he would get a pass from me, treat 1999 correctly and you can play whatever the hell you want live.

erik319 said:

I heard that his next release was going to cost $777 and would be telepathically broadcast into the minds of paying fams.

Apparently, you don't get album artwork though.