Over the years many people have asked me why Prince changed his name 2 back in '93. And I've always explained that it had 2 do with his record contract with WB and the fact that he didn't want them owning his master recordings. But then people bring up the question of why he signed a contract stating such a thing in the first place, as if 2 suggest that Prince knew exactly what he was getting in2. After all, no one signs a contract without reading it first, right? What am I missing here? Did Warners change the contract somewhere along the line, or did Prince just really not pay attention 2 what he was signing, which I would find hard 2 believe...

a number of things:

-He was 17

-Warners was the only record lable (out of several offers) that would allow him 2 produce his own record.

-The WB records back then was very different from the WB records of today. Back in the day, they were known as a real "Artists" lable. They were known 4 nuturing their roster and allowing them 2 grow.

-The real trouble didn't start until 1992 when he signed a 100 Million dollar contract that extended his contract and had him relinquish even more control over his publishing and master recordings 2 the company.

npgmaverick said:

Exactly and he wasn't 17 then, that's the one thing that I didn't understand. Why did he sign that one?

it's amazing to me how nobody learns from those who came before them. Perhaps not when he was 17, but when he resigned with WB in the 92 I believe, Prince should have negotiated ownership of his masters then.

Ray Charles negotiated ownership of his masters when his first recording contract was up.
The Bee Gees publicly fought for and won ownership of their masters in the late 70s/early 80s.

I'm sure others did as well, those are the two I can remember right now. Back in teh early 90s, Prince had leverage with WB. He was selling millions of records and could have walked to get ownership going forward and used that as leverage to get accelerated ownership on his back catalog.

Instead, the issue didn't come up until they refused to release the EP of Peach/Pink Cashmere/the Pope/Nothing Compares 2 U (I think that was the 4th track), instead insisting on waiting a year and putting those on the Hits. Peach was well received on the Act 2 tour, and the time to release it was during the tour, not a year later.

That led to the name change, the independent release of TMBGITW, the attempt to release Come and the Gold Experience on the same day, writing slave on his face, etc. And that's when the ownership of masters issue came out. All of this could have been avoided by learning from those that came before him. Not only that, going independent in '92 over the masters ownership issue wouldh have been much more commercially viable than doing so after he appeared to intentionally sabotage the success of his last few WB releases.

TheEnglishGent said:

He stopped reading after the "$100,000,000" part???

npgmaverick said:

That's basically how I saw it. That and amyhr's take on it.

So it seems 2 me that all those years he complained about record contracts/companies he was referring 2 the notion that the only way 2 get into the music business is 2 sign with a big conglomerate that has the rights 2 the artist's music. But at the same time, he had 2 be angry with himself 4 not bringing up the issue before he signed the extension. So in a way, he had no right blaming Warner Bros - however, I can see his point when it comes 2 someone else owning and making money off of the artist's creative properties. Obviously Prince felt that after all his years and loyalty and records sold under WB that they'd be willing 2 work with him, and they weren't.

TheEnglishGent said:

Well, the contract was only 100 million as long as Prince kept selling in large numbers - 5 million per album. Otherwise the money dropped right down each album that didn't sell that big. This was just after Diamonds & Pearls which sold 5 million copies and Prince thought he could sustain that level. He was wrong, his record sales went down and down. He blamed Warners for not promoting him correctly amongst other things. A lot of the people he had been working with at Warners left and he didn't get on with the new executives. The deal seemed great - 100 million?! Who wouldn't! If everything had gone the way Prince imagined it, he would have been on top of the world - but in hindsight, he made a mistake.

I kind of feel, back then he was totally into the music and left the business small-print to others. Since that contract came back to bite him, he became obsessed with the business side of the music industry, not wanting to be caught out again, which continues to the present.

metalorange said:

And, I believe, adversly effects his musical output...

"just when u think u got more than enough, thats when it all up and flys away"

wHAT???

Like you wouldn't sign with Warners.

alandail said:

This is a good take on it.

Prince didn't seem to have any idea about "ownership of your masters" until after he started fueding with WB after signing the contract extention. No doubt he blames others, such as his management and legal teams, but he should have known better. I have no doubt that it wasnt until after he started fighting with WB that someone brought up the masters issue. Maybe no-one explained it to him properly before, but ignorance is not really an excuse.

The answer is:

PRINCE IS A NUT CASE

He knew exactly what he was getting himself into, and he signed the deal like a big boy. The problem arose when he had one of his many brain fuck-ups. Then suddenly WB was the enemy. Prince just made a fool of himself.

He signed with Warner Bros in 1977 because they were the only ones that would let him produce himself. Furthermore, the contract guaranted 3 albums, instead of the usual one album contract.

He signed the new contract for $100 million for 6 albums in August 1992. At first Prince was very happy with the deal. In June 25 1992 Warner Bros postponed the release of Carmen Eletra's album. Warner Bros were disappointed with the sales of the Love Symbol album in October 1992. In 1993 when he wanted to release Goldnigga with Tony M rapping Warner Bros refused to release it. Warner Bros didn't want a new Prince album in 1993. Warner Bros wanted to release a greatest hits album. Prince wanted out of the contract. They said you signed the paper. So he changed his name to get out of the contract, so he could release his music on his own NPG Records. (1994 he released the Most Beautiful Girl.)

i don't understand what you all are wondering about... He wanted to sign with a record label and he went with the best offer. Simple.

Its like why are any of you working your jobs? The money, the means.


he only raised a fuss years later when he had his own money, and was comfortable for life.

alandail said:

I agree with everything you said.

metalorange said:

I often wonder how things would have turned out if 'Love Symbol' (the first album under the new contract) had been a HUGE success,selling over 5 million copies or so? Would Prince have went to war with Warners? I also think,when Warners decided to shut down Paisley Park Records,they ruined any chance of having a good relationship with Prince.That may have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

He needed a J.O.B..
[Edited 4/8/05 2:22am]

It always amazes me, the kinda comments that come from people when we start talking about the whole contract issue - you know, he shoulda known this, shoulda known that, he knew what he was signing, doesn't everyone read contracts? WTF??!!!!

All so holier than thou and "my shit don't stink"!! The fact is people the world over get fucked by contracts, small print and legal terminology. But, none of you lot, eh? Never made a mistake in your lives have you?

Another fact is he is a MUSICIAN. Not a lawyer, not an executive, not a suit! And, as a musician it is unlikely that he was/is familiar with the masses of legal shit that go with signing with one of the world's largest companies. People expect so much of him. Nobody here would even be offered the chance to negotiate a $100,000,000 contract, yet people seem to be so confident in knowing that they wouldn't have made such apparently obvious mistakes.

Did you ever read every bit of your employment contract? Without skipping the bits that look the same as everyone elses? Ever read all the print that came with that loan application? Always read the End-user Licence agreement with every bit of software you download? - some of you need to get a reality check and get off your fucking faux pedastal!

Mindflux said:

WORD!!

Mindflux said:

except he had the wherewithal to hire his lawyer to take a look at that sucker for him. 'cause if he didn't have his lawyer take a look he was kinda naive. and if he did hire his lawyer to take a look and the attorney misrepresented the terms and conditions he should have booted whoever was acting as his attorney at the time.
[Edited 4/8/05 18:45pm]

XxAxX said:

I think he did get rid of his lawyers of the time. Eventually he hired Llondell who negotiated the release from his contract.

That has always been a question of mine also, why in 1992 would u sign a contract if then you did not have ownership.

paisley2002 said:

The day when record labels put their stockholders first over their artists (Prince, Teena Marie, George Michael, TLC, Madonna, etc.), it was the day that I hated Pop Culture in General.

Mindflux said:

Case In Point: NO ONE read the fine print before installing ANY software!!!

metalorange said:

good. he should have someone he can trust in his corner.

rudeboynpg said:

In other words, there was a time the The WB Music Group own the stagename "Prince".

And yes, they did have the audacity to tell "Prince" what he could/couldn't do with his music.

Therefore by change his stagename from "Prince" to "", Prince could still have a album for the WB to release on their timetable. But they could no longer tell him what he can do with his music because he wasn't using the name "Prince" during his final years with the WB!

BOTTOMLINE: It was never about money. It was all about control. And if Prince could not have the right to control how his music should be made & market, then forget it!!!

Mindflux said:

Amen, Brother.....now if you can only get Amyhr to open up his windbag and read this, the ORG would be alot better off....WORD!!! LOL.....nice one Jester!!!
[Edited 4/9/05 13:02pm]

metalorange said:

It's amazing to realize he made half of the value of that multi-album contract in 2004. Not just in record sales, of course, but ultimately "freedom" did pay off handsomely.