I read lots of negative comments on here regarding Warner Bros. I am wondering if people dislike WB for a particular reason or do they just bash WB because Prince has a problem with the company? Personally I wish he had never left and I think he did more to mess up that relationship than they did. Am I missing something?

They dislike WB because they feel they're supporting Prince by doing so. It's just dumb shit.

Might need snacks for this one too...

CalhounSq said:

Snacks? Please explain.

rialb said:

You make me giggle

CalhounSq said:

Giggling is ok. But could somebody tell me why WB is so vilified? They are no worse than any other major label. Prince wouldn't have been satisfied with anything any of them would have wanted him to do.

EvilWhiteMale said:

exactly. it's just weird...folks shouldn't be hating wb, they didn't sign any contracts with 'em.

rialb said:

Yeah. The whole story. Which none of us are privy to.

But the whole thing came to a head when different people came in to replace some that were already ensconced within the company, not those that signed him, let him develop, and had his back. When people bring this issue up there is a dividing line during his tenure there for that reason. In the '90s he left an entirely different company than the one that allowed him to flourish.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

How do you know?

Emancipation88 said:

show of hands: how many of ya'll here are currently or have ever been signed with warner brothers records? no jivin, cuz i'll know if you're lying.

rialb said:

We... dislike... who... The Leader... dislikes.....!
Because... The Leader... loves... us.....! (He sends us t-shirt with Crystal Ball which say so...)

Criticise him not! Or he shall unleash a terrible vengance upon us...: N.E.W.S. Vol. II !!!

deebee said:

we are trapper keeper....

And to add to SuperNova's comments.

If WB supported albums like TGE then maybe this mess would never happened.

I do not "hate" WB. 50% of the problems Prince had were caused by his on ego.However certain albums had major WB backing and some did not.If you were a major superstar and your lable comes to you and tells you that you will be put in the "Black" division you would be pissed off too.

Just look at what a major can do ....when they want to.

The whole thing was sad.

I agree with the sentiments here that much of the WB bashing basically boils down to idol worship.

Yes, record contracts are heavy on making money for the company and light on making money for the artist, but that's an issue with the whole playing field, not one of the teams.

End of the day - Artist signs contract, artist ultimately takes responsibility for their own actions.

I think Prince has had some very justified points in his tirade, but I think he probably could have gone about it in a way which would have benefited his career more - who knows, he might have even gotten his masters by now if he had.

He's playing the corporate game with Musicology (and Rave, and Emancipation) so what's so different if he had had hedged his bets, and stuck it out with WB for a little longer to see how the storm turned out.

Well we could say it's all what if this, and what if that - but then, that's what this place is for right, open discussion about a topic we all have an interest in.


//
[This message was edited Sun Jul 4 14:51:23 2004 by NouveauDance]

muleFunk said:

You're twisting it.

TGE could have come out a lot sooner, but Prince delayed it even more.

Any promotion Prince did for the album was all done before it's release (when the release date was never), the lead single video wasn't delivered in time and he'd lost interest - by the time it was released, he was already planning Emancipation.

TGE was an album that had the opportunity, IMO to be his biggest commercial hit since Batman.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

My rekkid is coming out this fall tentatively titled "I'm a Nurse: I take temperatures, wipe butts, & all that shit" They keep pushing back the release date, that's why I'm pissed at them.
[This message was edited Sun Jul 4 15:29:20 2004 by psykosoul]

NouveauDance said:

I totally agree. I think Prince really dropped the ball with The Gold Experience. Didn't he want to release three albums (Come, The Gold Experience and the NPG's Exodus) all in the same year? What record company wouldn't object to that? If Prince had focused on The Gold Experience I think it could have been huge.

As for what NouveauDance said I think you should think about it logically. Isn't it in WB's interest to promote the album and have it sell many copies? Maybe I'm wrong but I think it was Prince who kept messing with the release date.

psykosoul said:

NouveauDance said:

You said exactly what I was thinking.I agreed with many of Prince's arguments against Warners,but I just think he handled it the wrong way.He took it to the extreme (writing "slave" on his face...dissing Warners in every interview...delivering less-than-brilliant albums in a transparent attempt to fulfill his contractual obligations).The whole situation could have been worked out in a more peaceful manner,and it's likely that Prince could have negotiated to get his master recordings back.

Warners wanted to protect prince's reputation and market value by keeping the increasingly bad music he was making under wraps.
But he listened to all the idol worshiping ding-bats that told him releasing albums full stuff like "jugead" was worth fighting for.
Now the ding-bats are mad at warners.

Both Prince and George Clinton have had lots of problems with W/B.

Think for both artist when things started getting too big , the company wanted to really "control" them.

Thumparello said:

ummm no,..... they stopped making good music, (i love them both dearly) but thats the truth and it hurts

youll get over it

Thumparello said:

If memory serves me, so did Miles Davis. But this isn't to say that WB is the only record company that certain artists butted heads with.

prince hates wb?
the FAMS hate wb
prince loves god....the FAMS love god
prince sticks lego bricks up his ass..the FAMS stick..u get the idea?!

jonylawson said:

Prince gets a rib removed to suck his own dick
FAMS get rib removed to sick their stuff.....FAMS C FAMS Do...

rialb said:

you missed your re-education seminars. that's all. in other words, no, you're quite correct.

Pop goes the music when the big white rabbit begins to talk....

Supernova said:

of course not. and WB has historically been viewed to be about the MOST artist-friendly label of the majors, giving their acts a LOT of creative and business control.

reminds me of the simpsons

Tomato Day at a Musicology concert...

"Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to announce the talent scout for Warner Bros. Records."

*massive booing, pelting of rotten fruit*

"well, at least this is better than frog day..."