EddieC said:

Since reports are that The Breakdown is now on iTunes (with Warner Brothers as licensing)-

IF Breakdown is on PE THEN PE is on WB?!?!

OnlyNDaUsa said:

I take it that this is just as much about the WB owned vault material. And I seem to recall unreleased songs have a longer time before being eligible for reversion than do released songs.

Also remember the announcements specifically said UNHEARD songs. Not Unreleased.

the sad bit: digital remastering as opposed to true remastering. Led Zeppelin has done the process at least 3 time (a new set is coming out soon which will be the 4th--each album will have extra tracks, live or alternate versions of songs) I hope the Prince albums get the same treatment.

My dream was for Prince to have reissues similar to the ones Rhino had for Elvis Costello : each album a 2 CD set, with the first CD of the original record, and the second CD being live cuts, demos, off-cuts for soundtracks and compilations and tribute albums, and 12" or single mixes

Dunno if it was already posted, but the BBC have an excellent summary here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news...-27081344.

3rdeyeboy said:

If they want one person who will be objective over the remaster planning, they need someone who can bring oversight, of the era. Not Questlove, or Funkenberry, Larry or 3rd eye. They need to call Alan Leeds.

Let's hope for a damnatio memoriae: a reissue of D&P and Love Symbol without any vocal part of the game boyz

Inside info from some1 at WB! = UNOFICIAL

Purple Rain Reissue will be released in Digital format/Vinyl & CD >PR Deluxe is due 4 release this FALL

3rdeyeboy said:

IstenSzek said:

my pick would be susan rogers

Good call. Get a committee of Alan Leeds, Susan Rogers and Sheila E.

AND someone unapologetically not afraid to tell his happy ass the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!

Uh...duh! Yes...ME!

No, not literally ^ him. I do and most sincerely mean ME ...damn it!!!

[Edited 4/20/14 1:34am]

love2thenines2003 said:

Inside info from some1 at WB! = UNOFICIAL

Purple Rain Reissue will be released in Digital format/Vinyl & CD >PR Deluxe is due 4 release this FALL

Okay... but wouldn't June make more sense?

BartVanHemelen said:

Bluu said:

naffi, I think you're about the only person in this entire thread (up to the time of posting this reply) who congratulated Prince on regaining ownership of his masters. Surprised so few fans here mentioned this. If I'm reading the release and articles correctly, this news marks the end of a long, hard-won battle for a cause that has meant so very much to him

.

Pur-lease. P did ZILCH. He could have easily negociated that back in the early 1990s, but then he was too obsessed with the $100 million they waved in front of him. How about you look up what Metallica did: they actually SUED their record company, THAT is fighting. P behaved like a spoiled toddler and it took him 15+ years to finally grow up. "Hard-won"? Yeah, what a victory, Warners gets to release remastered and deluxe editions, probably including outtakes and bonus material -- what a victory for Prince!

.

and was a source of deep dissatisfaction and contention for him (completely understandable considering the critical role ownership plays in an artist's long-term financial security).

.

Didn't seem to bother him when he signed the $100 million contract, until he realised that much of that contract involved him actually working his ass off (i.e. promoting albums like he did with D&P). Only then he realised his back catalogue was where the real money was. So what did he do then? Oh yeah, stomp his little feet and yell "it ain't fair!" while babbling about how contracts could be renegociated (which he never did).

.

It took him nearly twenty years to grow up, twenty years in which that back catalogue has vastly diminished in value. Twenty years in which we should have had at least two rounds of remasters and deluxe editions. Twenty years in which we could have gotten a service that provided fans with numerous soundboard live recordings from all over his career.

.

After the WB releases, nobody's gonna give a fuck about P getting his masters. Because unless he comes up with some spectacular ideas, those things will be worthless since everybody will already own the WB remasters and be perfectly happy with them -- unless they are screwed up by bad mastering and worthless extras, but then the blame for that will also fall on P, and nobody will give a fuck when he comes out with his remasters (which will undoubtedly be blocked for years by contractual obligations).

.

[Edited 4/19/14 2:39am]

I also would like to add that the idea that there would be mass appeal for Purple Rain is spotty at best. If I had to make a prediction, I would go with history on this one. For example, the recent Prince 'Greatest Hits' collections and the amount of albums they sold would be an indicator of what I think a PR re-issue would be worth.

We have to remember the hits that were included on his Greatest hits collections sold millions upon millions on their own--but, the collections themselves did not because his appeal had been diminished so much. I would not think that a PR re-issue would be any different in that light. It's a different time, the market is different, and people other than die-hard fans are largely indifferent or put-off by Prince.

And if the new album that is being talked about is on par with Plectrum Electrum, it will be (rightfully) skewered by the critics and press anyways. But, even if it had material on par with the snoozefest that is "The Breakdown", it'll be recieved luke-warmly outside of die-hard fans, and largely ignored again.

What Prince needs is to continuously release really really good stuff over several albums to rebuild the 'brand' if he wants to fame he seems to so desperately cling to these days. No other off-the-cuff nonsense that he's done in the last 20 years has been sustainable otherwise.

[Edited 4/20/14 3:02am]

Pentacle said:

love2thenines2003 said:

Inside info from some1 at WB! = UNOFICIAL

Purple Rain Reissue will be released in Digital format/Vinyl & CD >PR Deluxe is due 4 release this FALL

Okay... but wouldn't June make more sense?

Last info i heard.....no Reissue of PR on video/BR...Deal with WB only for Audio!

Pentacle said:

love2thenines2003 said:

Inside info from some1 at WB! = UNOFICIAL

Purple Rain Reissue will be released in Digital format/Vinyl & CD >PR Deluxe is due 4 release this FALL

Okay... but wouldn't June make more sense?

I'm thinking this will be sort of like the 20Ten standard issue, followed by the blisteringly off-the-hook 20ten deluxe edition.

This is outstanding news. Here's hoping that for Prince and WB this is a long-term project.

.

The more I'm reading into this on here, the deal seems to really be more than skin deep. The low-hanging fruit is the Purple Rain deluxe remaster, with the "obvious" payoff being that Prince will own his masters. Everyone knows that.

.

But what if Prince's main motivator is the Vault? If what people are saying is true -- that WB owns most or a large chunk of the Vault material from approximately 78-early 90s, then Prince simply cannot release that material in bulk without WB. His hands are tied, which is why when we got Extraloveable and In A Large Room With No Light they were re-recorded (because he owns the compositions, but WB owns the original sound recordings).

.

Because really, once this round of remastered WB albums has come and gone, and Prince owns his masters, the next round of cash-flow will surely be the Vault material.

I'd like to add that nothing has been "won" here.

.

In the past 18-20 years, Prince has taken a huge hit against his legacy. He lost a major driving force behind his music (WB) and his string of subpar material diluted his body of work.

.

WB lost a ton of money with Prince, and I'm sure the "slave" debacle did not look good for them either.

Other news i heard from negotiations between Prince & WB for this DEAL!

Negotiations have begun last summer !

A lot of plot twists during negotiations until last month!

databank said:

novabrkr said:

I suppose if the record company financed those recording sessions then they might very well own the "sound recordings". They do, for that reason precisely. I don't think they own the compositions as such No, of course they don't. , so that's something that has allowed Prince to release re-recorded versions of his older unreleased stuff (e.g. "In A Large Room With No Light").

Regardless, I don't think WB can own every demo and sketchy recording Prince might have done during his time with them. Just things that they can be proven to have "paid for". It might be a bit difficult for them to prove that things that were done in Paisley Park all alone by him should belong to them. Actually yes. WB paid some studio recordings but they also gave P advances to finances further recordings on his own, and anyway they were not really involved in financing his tours if I'm not mistaken and still, according to Alan Leeds they owned even the live recordings because Prince was under an EXCLUSIVE contract meaning that EVERYTHING he produced at this time belonged to them unless a deal was made between WB and another record company (for produced artists on other labels) and, curiolsy, most of the Paisley Park albums whose masters reverted to Prince when WB shut the label down (another Alan Leeds revelation).

If all this is true then I don't blame Prince for fighting WB

love2thenines2003 said:

Pentacle said:

Okay... but wouldn't June make more sense?

Last info i heard.....no Reissue of PR on video/BR...Deal with WB only for Audio!

This article:

http://nypost.com/2014/04...ts-rights/

claims that whilst the deal announced is with Warner Bros. Records, there are said to be plans for re-release of the movie through (the now unrelated) Warner Bros. Entertainment.

3rdeyeboy said:

IstenSzek said:

my pick would be susan rogers

Good call. Get a committee of Alan Leeds, Susan Rogers and Sheila E.

The project shouldn't involve people with to much invested interest.

langebleu said:

love2thenines2003 said:

Last info i heard.....no Reissue of PR on video/BR...Deal with WB only for Audio!

This article:

http://nypost.com/2014/04...ts-rights/

claims that whilst the deal announced is with Warner Bros. Records, there are said to be plans for re-release of the movie through (the now unrelated) Warner Bros. Entertainment.

I hope u are right ...we will see !!

Pentacle said:

love2thenines2003 said:

Inside info from some1 at WB! = UNOFICIAL

Purple Rain Reissue will be released in Digital format/Vinyl & CD >PR Deluxe is due 4 release this FALL

Okay... but wouldn't June make more sense?

A release in the fall makes a lot of sense. Christmas is just around the corner, and that set would be a great gift.

ludwig said:

Pentacle said:

Okay... but wouldn't June make more sense?

A release in the fall makes a lot of sense. Christmas is just around the corner, and that set would be a great gift.

Yes, except that the anniversay is in June.

udo said:

EddieC said:

Since reports are that The Breakdown is now on iTunes (with Warner Brothers as licensing)-

IF Breakdown is on PE THEN PE is on WB?!?!

Maybe? Is The Breakdown on PE? I have no idea. The Breakdown's on WB. That's all I know. Did I say something else?

jjhunsecker said:

My dream was for Prince to have reissues similar to the ones Rhino had for Elvis Costello : each album a 2 CD set, with the first CD of the original record, and the second CD being live cuts, demos, off-cuts for soundtracks and compilations and tribute albums, and 12" or single mixes

And a fine dream it is. Those Costello re-issues are wonderful.

Pentacle said:

ludwig said:

A release in the fall makes a lot of sense. Christmas is just around the corner, and that set would be a great gift.

Yes, except that the anniversay is in June.

But it's also only two months away--so they probably wouldn't be ready to release that soon unless everything's already done (which if they just now did the deal it wouldn't be, at least not as well as we'd like it to be). If it takes a little bit of time to do it right, I hope they take that time. We've waited so long at this point, a little longer wouldn't hurt.

Daydreaming: officially remastered Undertaker CD as bonus somewhere?

Daydreamin number two: some decent truely unheard songs from '86 or whatever.

There is a 12-minute or so long version of "Computer Blue" out there that could be the greatest piece of art Prince has ever created...clean that shit up remaster it whatever but release that shit properly and I'll be one happy motherfucker.

hardwork said:

There is a 12-minute or so long version of "Computer Blue" out there that could be the greatest piece of art Prince has ever created...clean that shit up remaster it whatever but release that shit properly and I'll be one happy motherfucker.

For me, this alone would be worth the purchase.

blacknote said:

hardwork said:

There is a 12-minute or so long version of "Computer Blue" out there that could be the greatest piece of art Prince has ever created...clean that shit up remaster it whatever but release that shit properly and I'll be one happy motherfucker.

For me, this alone would be worth the purchase.

Yes, indeed. There should be a national 800 number financed by the federal government for people feeling suicidal to call in to that does noithing but play that long version of "Computer Blue" endlessly in a loop. If THAT does not make a person feel that life is worth living, I don't know what will.

hardwork said:

blacknote said:

For me, this alone would be worth the purchase.

Yes, indeed. There should be a national 800 number financed by the federal government for people feeling suicidal to call in to that does noithing but play that long version of "Computer Blue" endlessly in a loop. If THAT does not make a person feel that life is worth living, I don't know what will.

I understand the interest, but to me the 4 minute version really is the best.

Same goes for the (album) edits of The Beautiful Ones, Darling Nikki, Purple Rain and Let's Go Crazy.

laurarichardson said:

funksterr said:

I'm being honest and realistic. Not only is he screwing The Revolution out of this news, but he just bailed on agreements he had with one or possibly two other labels. I woud not be surprised at all, if that got messy. Then how long before he becomes dissatisfied with WB, which is not at all the same powernouse label it was in the 1980's. It's essentially a mom and pop operation at this point and it'sno guarantee that they can sell Prince's old music into the hundreds of millions of dollars that Prince is likely expecting. Prince being Prince, as soon as he doesn't get his way on something, he quits. Remember the Rave deal with Clive Davis when he sat on the sidelines and watched the record tank? Do you honestly think WB has a strong legal and binding contract with Prince that forces him to release all the original material in it's original form? And promote it? Is Purple Rain the movie finally getting a real remaster? Will we finally get that infamous "barn scene" from the WDC video? If so then the excitement is justified, but the announcement reads as though this agreement is sort of an at-will arrangement. In that case you only have to go back to the Kobalt announcement from not even a year ago, lol, to understand why I'm skeptical that we will actually get a no bullshit remaster of the good stuff.

----The truth of the matter is you have no idea if the revolution is being screwed or if he walked out on the Kobalt deal.Until yesterday we the public did not even know this was the works and none of know the terms of the deal. Bottom line Prince is winning and the fans are winning.

This deal has been rumored to be in play for a while. People have been posting about it on this site for years. The surprising thing is that Prince agreed to it. The possibility of the deal itself, though, was known for a long time. I expected should it happen though, that it would be accompanied by a Purple Rain reunion tour, with new music from Prince and The Revolution and The Time, maybe even The Family. I still think that it is a minor possibility, but the news that 3EG is part of the deal, more than likely means there won't be any Revolution reunions... ever. If not now, on the 30th anniversary of their biggest selling album, then there would be no reason to ever do it. So that's surely the end of that.