I will put this here but it could go ina few remaster topics:

Why all the bickering? Yeah I got into a debate over what was or was not re-mastering but I do not think i made it personal. But some are kind of crossing that line. Why?

If the old CDs sound fine to you then maybe do not buy the new? If I decide that digital remastering is not enough then I will not buy it either. If the extras are not enough same deal.

If prince decides to burn all the masters and lest them all go OOP... i have them backed up on DVD-Rs...

Some are more excited than others... some are skeptical... some are down right cynical...

Truth be told... i am not all that sure i care too much...but I will pick it up...

With a large and varied fan base like Prince has it would be impossible to get all of us to agree on something like this.

bashraka said:

Meshell Ndegeocello ‏@OfficialMeshell 30m http://www.bbc.co.uk/news...s-27081344 … in 2002 Prince called me a "house nigga" for making a record for Warner Bros. Past is prelude aint it

Meshell Ndegeocello ‏@OfficialMeshell 22m One should never air dirty laundry but sure is funny how the world works and how perceptions often trump truth

Meshell Ndegeocello ‏@OfficialMeshell 21m And even the truth is murky water ...

a "house nigga"? That was a crude thing for Prince to say

As far as remasters go the obvious 5 are Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, Purple Rain and Sign.

Does Parade, ATWIAD, Prince have a chance?

Longshots...Batman, Lovesexy, Black Album?

Do we even care about D&P, and TGE?

And what does this mean for The Family, Vanity 6, Jill Jones and Madhouse. Might they get a long overdue digital release? It would be another revenue stream.

SoulAlive said:

bashraka said:

Meshell Ndegeocello ‏@OfficialMeshell 30m http://www.bbc.co.uk/news...s-27081344 … in 2002 Prince called me a "house nigga" for making a record for Warner Bros. Past is prelude aint it

Meshell Ndegeocello ‏@OfficialMeshell 22m One should never air dirty laundry but sure is funny how the world works and how perceptions often trump truth

Meshell Ndegeocello ‏@OfficialMeshell 21m And even the truth is murky water ...

a "house nigga"? That was a crude thing for Prince to say

She obviously didn't take it too personally. She's done a whole tour playing his songs and has never mentioned any conflict between them.

SoulAlive said:

bashraka said:

Meshell Ndegeocello ‏@OfficialMeshell 30m http://www.bbc.co.uk/news...s-27081344 … in 2002 Prince called me a "house nigga" for making a record for Warner Bros. Past is prelude aint it

Meshell Ndegeocello ‏@OfficialMeshell 22m One should never air dirty laundry but sure is funny how the world works and how perceptions often trump truth

Meshell Ndegeocello ‏@OfficialMeshell 21m And even the truth is murky water ...

a "house nigga"? That was a crude thing for Prince to say

It was. I wonder if he was talking specifically about Warner Bros, or if he meant it just because she was on any label. Didn't he make a reference to Lenny Kravitz being stuck on the "plantation" because of his contractual ties? The general metaphor is one used, but this is stronger, and angrier, and more personal--at least it seems like it to me.

Once I saw the terms, I immediately knew why both parties had come to their senses about this. Each side finally saw what the other side REALLY wanted and said "What if I give them what they really want? Then I can get what I really want."

Prince wants his masters. He wants them, wants them, wants them. It is an obsession, a personal thing. It's why he went sour on a $100 million deal and painted "Slave" on his face - "if you don't own your masters, your master owns you."

The label is usually very reluctant to give up the masters. But you have to ask, what do THEY really want? More than anything they want to make money.

The Prince catalog probably still sells a fair amount. But they can't really do anything with it besides sell the same CD editions that have been in print for 20-30 years. At this point, those CDs can be found used for less than five bucks. And they can't do any kind of remastered deluxe editions with bonus tracks to re-sell that catalog to everyone who owns it already... because Prince is angry that he doesn't have his masters.

So WB gives up the thing that Prince really wants in order to get what it really wants, the chance to re-exploit his catalog and make money off of it, with his blessing. If Prince gets what he wants there, it will be done in a "licensing fee" kind of way similar to his other recent deals with majors. At this point, that's probably more than OK with WB- let's just make some damn money.

On top of THAT, Prince gets to release Plectrum Electrum with maximum publicity, in synch with the PR for a 30th Anniversary Purple Rain release. PE seems to be a release he is taking his time to get right and present to he public in a big way. It was never going to come out in the Sunday Times of England. He wants this record to be a big deal.

But that's not the biggest news. It's really quite extraordinary that he has managed to get his masters back from WB. It really says something about the state of the modern music business, and I wonder who will do the same thing next.

It's kind of the opposite deal as the one Pete Townshend made a couple years ago, where he relinquished all control of his existing catalog as well as future work, in exchange for up-front payments that you would imagine, allow him to get paid for 100 years of Who reissues while he is alive and able to enjoy the money. Being that he is a 68 year old guy that has not seemed to care too much about how he stuff is repackaged and sold to his audience, and who says yes to every request ever made to license songs for commercials and films, that made sense. It shows a different kind of sensibility at work, for better or worse. We Who fans have had the "opportunity" to purchase Live At Leeds and Who's Next five different times on CD, to say nothing of 180-gram vinyl. Sometimes there are slightly different bonus tracks. Sometimes the extra stuff is only on the superdeluxe set that costs $100 or more. It's nice to have all that stuff out there but sometimes I feel like the quality control to cost ratio is lacking.

I hope the forthcoming Prince reissues are not focused on $100+ box sets with less than four hours of music on them, put it that way. I don't have reason to believe they will, I'm just saying it, since I'm talking about the Who...

But I'm not going to be cynical about this. It sounds like the stars might have finally aligned at the right time for everyone to get what they want.

lezama said:

SoulAlive said:

a "house nigga"? That was a crude thing for Prince to say

She obviously didn't take it too personally. She's done a whole tour playing his songs and has never mentioned any conflict between them.

Which is why I'm surprised she brought it up now. Prince has this big announcement, supposedly great news--and she decides to "air dirty laundry" in the middle of it. I'm thinking she took it at least somewhat personally. I mean, she's calling hypocrite on him, even separate from the term.

Will we the fans get what WE want?

In some cases, almost certainly no. It's impossible to imagine that, if Purple Rain came with an extra 80-minute CD, that everybody would agree what should be on it. The same is true if Purple Rain was expanded to a 10-CD box set.

But I'm ready to wait and see. I could imagine re-buying most of that catalog again if the improvements are significant and the editions are reasonably priced. 2 or 3-disc sets for around $15 to 20 would do the trick.

EddieC said:

funksterr said:

laurarichardson said:

funksterr said: ----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.

Rumors and fact are two different things. The vast amount of fans had no idea this was in the works and those that did believed it was in the works did nothing but bitch about how P would screw it up.

We have to wait and see what happens and we should start seeing something by June. The whole thing should be a lesson to the negative naysays to stop writing Prince off. Dude is not perfect but give him some credit on making a good deal and possibly riding this thing far as he can.

3rdeyeboy said:

laurarichardson said:

PoorLonelyComputer said: -///---That is why he pulled off this deal because he does know what he is doing.

If he knew what he was doing, he wouldn't have signed a deal in 92 then spend 22 years having a tantrum about it, only to jump back into bed with them.

His obsession with the masters has brought him back to the table.

Ask yourself this.Having waited 22 years, and the 35 year rule kicking in with For You since last year, why not wait a few short years for full ownership?

WB have dangled a cash carrot again, and the donkey has come running. WB will suck one last drop of milk from the Purple teat, then hand him over his beloved masters. Win Win.

Wow are you still living in 1992? Dude made the same mistakes loads of artist have made the difference is he got all of his masters back at one time. Some artist do not even live long enought to get the master tapes back and when they do what do they do with them? Nothing.

Why would you wait each year to get them back when you can get them back all at once and get the record company to put the money into reissueing them with the proper promotion and distrubution.

He would not have been able to get the music out without them on a grand scale and get paid on top of that. When will some of you get it in your heads that it is a business and their is nothing wrong with getting paid.

Se7en said:

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.

They made money before they lost money. They are going to be making more with this deal. Some of you cannot stand the idea of brother kicking ass.

bashraka said:

Meshell Ndegeocello ‏@OfficialMeshell 30m http://www.bbc.co.uk/news...s-27081344 … in 2002 Prince called me a "house nigga" for making a record for Warner Bros. Past is prelude aint it

Meshell Ndegeocello ‏@OfficialMeshell 22m One should never air dirty laundry but sure is funny how the world works and how perceptions often trump truth

Meshell Ndegeocello ‏@OfficialMeshell 21m And even the truth is murky water ...

Ouch...

Someone on her page replied, "did he tweet it"?

Even her own fans are questioning why she wanna pull out this old ass beef now?

2002? Really Meshell?

babynoz said:

Ouch...

Someone on her page replied, "did he tweet it"?

Actually Prince has called out people on his websites more than once...

Even her own fans are questioning why she wanna pull out this old ass beef now?

2002? Really Meshell?

Seems to me now is a perfect time, for obvious reasons... and "house nigga"? Really? It doesn't matter whether the WB of today is different than the one of a decade ago or not.

jtfolden said:

babynoz said:

Ouch...

Someone on her page replied, "did he tweet it"?

Actually Prince has called out people on his websites more than once...

Even her own fans are questioning why she wanna pull out this old ass beef now?

2002? Really Meshell?

Seems to me now is a perfect time, for obvious reasons... and "house nigga"? Really? It doesn't matter whether the WB of today is different than the one of a decade ago or not.

If someone said something that inflammatory to me I doubt that I would sit on it for twelve years.

jtfolden said:

Actually Prince has called out people on his websites more than once...

Example?

Seems to me now is a perfect time, for obvious reasons... and "house nigga"? Really? It doesn't matter whether the WB of today is different than the one of a decade ago or not.

The terms of the deal are much different than the previous. I'd say this is much more of a partnership than anything WB normally would enter into with an artist. And its not like Meshel herself didn't walk from WB after she fulfilled her contract with them in 2003. She wasn't happy with what they were pressuring her to do either. I'm glad she left them as I love the freedom of direction that she took 2007 on..

lezama said:

Example?

The love 4 one another website had a few, the most memorable about Clive at Arista...

The terms of the deal are much different than the previous. I'd say this is much more of a partnership than anything WB normally would enter into with an artist. And its not like Meshel herself didn't walk from WB after she fulfilled her contract with them in 2003. She wasn't happy with what they were pressuring her to do either. I'm glad she left them as I love the freedom of direction that she took 2007 on..

Saying it's a "partnership" is pure fan conjecture unless you are privvy to the contract. Nothing in the press releases indicates must in that way.

Also, what Meshell may have done or how glad you are is irrelevant to being called a "house nigga" by him to begin with... I fail to see how ANYONE can justify that with any decency.

jtfolden said:

Saying it's a "partnership" is pure fan conjecture unless you are privvy to the contract. Nothing in the press releases indicates must in that way.

Indeed. The structure of the CONtract is most important.

Will P get an advance when the sales meet certain expectations?

Or will get paid per Per 10K copies sold?

Maybe his lump sum is a final offer?

It's about managing financial risk for both sides.

Good news and I'm excited to see all that comes from this deal. While remastered tracks are appealing I'd love to hear some totally unheard before stuff. That would be very cool!

BTW: Who was involved with the negotiations on P's side?

I.e.: who's the L. McMillan of these days?

Or rather: how big are the chances that they have a deal that won't bite P in the behind?

(later on, after say 6 months, after 9 months he goes public, etc)

laurarichardson said:

Se7en said:

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.

They made money before they lost money. They are going to be making more with this deal. Some of you cannot stand the idea of brother kicking ass.

I love when Prince is successful and I love when he's kicking ass. This is a victory, yes, but at what cost? That was my point.

.

If Prince had maintained professionalism back in the early 90s and fulfilled his contract with WB back then, who's to say he wouldn't own his masters already? Even if he didn't get them after that mega contract expired, we'd still be here in 2014 talking about him finally getting them -- the difference might've been that we would've had 18 more years of WB albums in-between.

.

Again, I am nothing but overjoyed at the news of him and WB working together again.

udo said:

BTW: Who was involved with the negotiations on P's side?

I.e.: who's the L. McMillan of these days?

Or rather: how big are the chances that they have a deal that won't bite P in the behind?

(later on, after say 6 months, after 9 months he goes public, etc)

He's been in talks with Warners for at least 4 years. I would bet he's got the best lawyers in the business working on his behalf leading up to this deal.

[Edited 4/21/14 4:47am]

paulludvig said:

Seems like some people are rooting more for the record company than for the artist.

jtfolden said:

lezama said:

The love 4 one another website had a few, the most memorable about Clive at Arista...

I thought you said Twitter.

Saying it's a "partnership" is pure fan conjecture unless you are privvy to the contract. Nothing in the press releases indicates must in that way.

Youre right, it is conjecture, but I doubt he'd reenter into a contract unless he thought the terms were good. They're working together now because it benefits the both of them.

Also, what Meshell may have done or how glad you are is irrelevant to being called a "house nigga" by him to begin with... I fail to see how ANYONE can justify that with any decency.

Its not irrelevant to her statement. She made a statement as if he were returning to a "house nigga" type contract, I'm saying thats doubtful.

This sounds exciting

jtfolden said:

lezama said:

The love 4 one another website had a few, the most memorable about Clive at Arista...

The terms of the deal are much different than the previous. I'd say this is much more of a partnership than anything WB normally would enter into with an artist. And its not like Meshel herself didn't walk from WB after she fulfilled her contract with them in 2003. She wasn't happy with what they were pressuring her to do either. I'm glad she left them as I love the freedom of direction that she took 2007 on..

Saying it's a "partnership" is pure fan conjecture unless you are privvy to the contract. Nothing in the press releases indicates must in that way.

Also, what Meshell may have done or how glad you are is irrelevant to being called a "house nigga" by him to begin with... I fail to see how ANYONE can justify that with any decency.

ok its viewed as a landmark deal for artist rights by the Press,,,,http://nypost.com/2014/04/20/deal-with-warner-opens-door-to-artists-rights/

lezama said:

jtfolden said:

Also, what Meshell may have done or how glad you are is irrelevant to being called a "house nigga" by him to begin with... I fail to see how ANYONE can justify that with any decency.

Its not irrelevant to her statement. She made a statement as if he were returning to a "house nigga" type contract, I'm saying thats doubtful.

she dont know...