the November issue of jazzwise magazine has a story about the cancelled release of a Miles Davis box set featuring Prince.

here's an excerpt:
'Warner Bros has scrapped plans to release its Miles Davis four-CD boxed set retrospective The Last Word'

'Warner Bros has implied that it's decision was influenced by the refusal of Prince to allow three of his compositions to be on The last Word. This included the track 'Can I Play With U?', originally slated for the Tutu album. The cancellation also means that Miles fans will also miss the chance to hear two tracks, 'Rubberband' and 'See I See', recorded in 1985. Randy hall, who co-produced the tracks, says: 'it's disappointing that the world is still not able to hear his music'.'

that's Prince 4 u... still having a Hard Time with the MAJOR Record Companies... u know it's Time 2 let that go P unless there's more 2 it then that... things that u say Hmmm 2...

Actually, saying "yes" or "no" to releases like this is his only playing card in the game called "I want my masters back". And since we all want remastered recordings of Prince (don't we?) then it's better he finally gets them from Warner as otherwise we'll not get to hear them (as long as they are in Warner's hands). Sad but true...

Who needs remasters when you can get the japanese pressings of nearly all Prince albums which sound way better than the domestic versions. Why should Prince play ball with WB? They didnt cooperate with him on the masters. Why is it always Prince's fault? I am not defending Prince so much as I am defending the position and the principle that I would stand on if I were in his shoes - or high heeled boots.

But prince did cooperate with WB when he signed away his masters in the first place.

what a dumb joke this is
this is warner's idea of revenge ?
fools

'it's decision was influenced by the refusal of Prince to allow three of his compositions to be on The last Word.

4cd's of material and they are pulling it because of 3 songs - I mean come on how logical is that ??
Like Miles hasn't got 3 other outtake/live songs they could put on there instead. More likely they figured it wouldn't sell so why boter releasing it ...

and while we are at it lets blame Prince so everyone will not like him ..how petty and retarded is that ??
Are Warners really so friggin dumb they think ppl will believe this cock'n'bull story ? Guess so ...

'it's disappointing that the world is still not able to hear his music'.'[/quote]

yes

its so sad warners are a bunch of dumb F***ers

Get it right up yez! The boot is firmly on the other foot.

chibi said:

So because he signed away his masters 20 years ago who should just keep letting WB put their foot in his ass.

Do you really think it is o.k to sit back and take shit from people or a corporation?

You really need to think about your comment..

If we gave Prince back the masters, he would play with them, edit out anything controversial, and re-release them to the market, depriving all future generations of his music the way it was written.

Give Prince back his masters? NO. Not unless it can be guaranteed that he will make available to everyone, un-altered releases of his entire catalogue.

Add bonus songs, sure, remaster the tracks, fine. But don't toy with the originals. '

I don't care if he, as an artist, deserves his own work. It may be selfish, but I like his stuff the way it was released now, and I don't want whatever crap is going on in his life in a particular month to affect that.

It´s a shame!! I know it must be horrible to Prince to see his work released by WB (in other words, WB making money on his music), but on the other hand, there is no chance of releasing these if not by WB, since Miles was signed to them. I only wonder when they will be released. I dont care for ´Can I play...´...but the unreleased stuff always sounded interesting.

This sounds on par for WB. First, lose your most talented artist. Your only artist for whom the label musical genius is applicable. Then, bad mouth him at every opportunity, then blame him for everything.
Prince was right about Warner Bros. They are nothing but crooks and liars.

laurarichardson said:

20 years ago? Actually, it's less than ten since Prince renegotiated the contract that made him a corporate VP, gave him his own vanity label, & made him a very rich man. If he had a brain in his head, he'd have been fully conscious that he could have negotiated for his master recordings at that point. Yet since things hadn't gone his way, he decided to throw a tantrum & claim he was wronged. Truth is, he had the chance & he blew it.

WB has every right to make money too.

mediadarling said:

And moreover Prince has the oppurtunity to get the rights to his masters back 35 years after transfer of rights. That is something only US copyright law provides for. Prince should therefore feel lucky he was born in the USA and signed to a US companty under US law, because else he would have signed away his masters "forever" and...for the "entire universe"... and that ain't no shit...

Nevertheless, WB screwed up this Miles release themselves. You don't plan a release when you don't have all the permission you need. Since these prince songs in question are still unrelased (not officially published already) WB can not obtain a compulsory license to publish them on record without prince's express permission.

Prince knows this is his right and therefore uses it relentlessly. Too bad for the fans tho'. It makes me wonder whether Prince understands the reasons why fans go after bootleg recordings. In all actuality if he keeps refusing to release his older stuff, unedited, and unaltered live shows...prince forces fans to search for and purchase (or trade) bootlegs. Well okay, we get ONA live (a day before the general public)... but that isn't a recording from the concerts I went to see this year. Moreover I fear that the Xenophobia celebration set will not see the light of day with an artist who -allegedly- was thinking about releasing it himself but then refused because bootleggers were already doing that... That way prince forces his fans to act illegally...


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[This message was edited Fri Dec 6 7:57:11 PST 2002 by Abrazo]

isn't it quite stupid that the box isn't released because of Prince's decision ?
Why don't they just release it without that music. Now it sounds like it is Prince's fault.

mediadarling said:

---
I would not care if this all took place yesterday(LOL). Why would Prince do anything to in rich WB. Only a true fool would continue to work with this company.

As far as his contract 10 years ago. I would hope that his business manager was negotiating the contract. This is the job of his lawyers and managers. Maybe they did not think to ask for the master. None of us will ever know what went on during the negotiations.
As far as his vanity label and V.P. status if you read DMSR
Mr.Leeds said that WB never put any money or tine into Paisley Park and seemed to have added it as just a way to keep Prince around. The label only existed on paper. The V.P status seems to have be added as some perk with little or no authority.

I am sure certain that his time at WB made him a rich man but that was then and this is now.

In the era of Enron and out of control corporate greed I am baffled as to your bizzare defense of a greedy corporate monster like the music industry.

Please read a book called Hit Men: Power Brokers & Fast Money Inside the Music Business.
Hit Men by Fredric Dannen.
You can find this book on Amazon.com The book is all about the corrupt shit that goes on in the industry.

dawntreader


12/06/02 1:24pm
isn't it quite stupid that the box isn't released because of Prince's decision ?
Why don't they just release it without that music. Now it sounds like it is Prince's fault.



The reason is simple obvious and pathetic

Prince is crossing over into the JAZZ audiance, and WB wants to get the open minded MILES davis fans pissed off at Prince...

WB wants to discredit Prince in his new "potential" public, they already fried him in the "Pop" aisles of the record stores and radios.

No more, no less.

laurarichardson said:

sorry Laura...

I think artists need to take their responsibilities in to their own hands.
[This message was edited Mon Dec 9 15:30:25 PST 2002 by Abrazo]

Yes, it is a pity Prince will not give permission to release the Miles tracks. But this is not the only reason why WB did not release the boxset. I do believe it was originally going to be a five CD box, containing the all-star 'La Villete' performance. WB must not have been able to sort out all the various legalities, so they downsized it to 4 cds. Without the Prince tracks, and no 'La Villette' performance, it would not be as interesting or desirable. So, lets not blame it all on Prince. Let's wait and see if WB can finally release it as 5cds because we really need to hear ALL this very important music. Also, Prince has hours and hours of jams recorded with Miles, he should negotiate with WB to get them released!

Abrazo said:

---

If you have a law degree or a
Mba you might be able to handle your own business affairs.
Most artist do not even have a high school diploma.

The average person cannot handle their finance's as there are know record numbers of people in the USA filing for
bankruptcy.

laurarichardson said:

I know Laura, but that is the exact reason why artists need to do everything to educate themselves properly about the business affairs. So that no- one is so likely to take advantage of their ignorance or trust.