I stumbled onto this Q&A with Alan Leeds from 2005. Great insights throughout but I found his response about expanded reissues of Prince's catalog interesting:

Is there a concrete plan for Prince's music once he passes away?
(Orger: Graycap23)

I have no idea if Prince has a will or any other legal contingency for what happens to his archive in the case of his death. I hope he does.

Though no lawyer, I assume his tape archive would be viewed as part of his general estate. On the other hand, anything that was recorded during the years he was under contract to Warner Brothers couldn't technically be released without Warners approval or involvement.

I recall Prince expressing his distaste for what happened to the Jimi Hendrix archive and even some reservations about the James Brown reissues I've been involved with. He once sarcastically asked, "Does James know you have all these out-takes and unissued songs?" I assured him that JB was cool with how we were treating his archive (and even cooler with the bucks he was raking in) but I don't think Prince was convinced.

Despite legitimate arguments to the contrary, when it comes to catalogue - compilations and reissues - I've found that many artists lack the overview to understand what the audience for these projects really wants. Some artists are simply too close to their songs - which frequently end up meaning something entirely different to their audience. And their memories are often less accurate than a researcher's homework.

Alan Leeds is always refreshingly sober. Wish he, or someone of the same tone, was still in the 'inner circle'.

He did a good job on The Hits The B-Sides, except for that fade out on When Doves Cry

If Prince were ever to turn it over to someone, Alan would be the best candidate. Prince should look at it as freeing himself from all that worry, and just trust Leeds. But we all know that's not likely.

You can easily see what Prince values as his mainstream vs collector appeal in his recent setlists which wander from "Kiss" to "In a Large Room with No Light" to "Beginning Endlessly".

I think he is reasonably aware of his catalog and outside opinions of it.

[Edited 11/16/11 17:17pm]

kenkamken said:

He did a good job on The Hits The B-Sides, except for that fade out on When Doves Cry

If Prince were ever to turn it over to someone, Alan would be the best candidate. Prince should look at it as freeing himself from all that worry, and just trust Leeds. But we all know that's not likely.

He did the liner notes, but AFAIK he wasn't responsible for putting the collection together?

NouveauDance said:

kenkamken said:

He did a good job on The Hits The B-Sides, except for that fade out on When Doves Cry

If Prince were ever to turn it over to someone, Alan would be the best candidate. Prince should look at it as freeing himself from all that worry, and just trust Leeds. But we all know that's not likely.

He did the liner notes, but AFAIK he wasn't responsible for putting the collection together?

I thought Alan Leeds only did the liner notes too. Here's what I found online:

Warner Bros. had initially considered releasing a larger 4-5 disc box set, but this was quickly rejected as the retail price was considered to be prohibitive. Prince contributed six previously-unreleased songs to the whole set, and at one point wanted to be more involved in the release, but Warner Bros. were already behind schedule on the set, and in the end paid Prince not to be involved.

kenkamken said:

He did a good job on The Hits The B-Sides, except for that fade out on When Doves Cry

The original 45 faded out. 7 inch singles usually were edited because they couldn't hold much time, and also because many radio stations wouldn't play anything over a certain amount of time.

NouveauDance said:

Alan Leeds is always refreshingly sober. Wish he, or someone of the same tone, was still in the 'inner circle'.

NouveauDance said:

Alan Leeds is always refreshingly sober. Wish he, or someone of the same tone, was still in the 'inner circle'.

Co-sign.

SoulAlive said:

NouveauDance said:

Alan Leeds is always refreshingly sober. Wish he, or someone of the same tone, was still in the 'inner circle'.

There is no room 4 level headed folks in that camp these days.

MickyDolenz said:

kenkamken said:

He did a good job on The Hits The B-Sides, except for that fade out on When Doves Cry

The original 45 faded out. 7 inch singles usually were edited because they couldn't hold much time, and also because many radio stations wouldn't play anything over a certain amount of time.

These were the days of the "tripple threat". They would get you to pay for the same song 3 times. The 45 single, the album version, and the 12inch single, which was an extended version of the song.

NouveauDance said:

Alan Leeds is always refreshingly sober. Wish he, or someone of the same tone, was still in the 'inner circle'.

But Andy Allo is there! She can't be a pushover!

Trickology said:

NouveauDance said:

Alan Leeds is always refreshingly sober. Wish he, or someone of the same tone, was still in the 'inner circle'.

But Andy Allo is there! She can't be a pushover!

leonche64 said:

MickyDolenz said:

The original 45 faded out. 7 inch singles usually were edited because they couldn't hold much time, and also because many radio stations wouldn't play anything over a certain amount of time.

These were the days of the "tripple threat". They would get you to pay for the same song 3 times. The 45 single, the album version, and the 12inch single, which was an extended version of the song.

Most people bought one or the other. They didn't buy all three. Maybe a collector did that, but not the general public.

Prince released many songs recorded under contract with WB since he broke his contract with 'em, obviously without asking their approval or giving them any money, so i guess they have no power over this material.