I have a feeling Prince's lawyers have finagled some sort of contract or legal procedures in which Warner Brothers isn't allowed to release anything else from "The Vault" other than that "Old Friends 4 Sale" CD. Otherwise, I think they would have done it by now. OR it could just be that NONE of these compilations (such as "The Very Best of Prince, The Ultimate Prince") have sold to Warner's expectations.

I think it would be great to see a compilation of previously unreleased tracks (which have been in circulation among fans) released in pristine quality. It would be great to hear many of these songs as they were originally recorded (and not re recorded and destroyed as Prince has done many times in the past).

So, if you COULD have a compilation of previously unreleased tracks, what songs would you include?

I think it's pretty well documented that Prince has completely fulfilled his contractual obligations to Warner Bros., and they have no right to release any previously unreleased material without Prince's approval and payment. So it's not anything that any lawyers have recently finagled...the contract Prince signed with WB has been fulfilled and he owes them nothing now.

Doozer said:

A) I didn't say recently finagled.

B) I never said as a "Contractual obligation".

And C) What good is owning the rights to these songs (Warner Brothers) if all they're gonna do is sit somewhere and collect dust?

I don't feel sorry for Prince and his poor business decisions of selling all the rights to his music and even his own name. That was HIS stupid mistake made when he was young and less informed. But you're basically saying "it's ok" to let years of work, some of which is pure genius, go to waste? Prince got his money for this material already, and squandered it on "Endorphin Machines" and other crap. Your response is VERY prince-esq: all about the money. How can you say that Warner has "No Right" to release this material when they actually own The Rights to these songs?

What are you talking about? What makes you think Warner Brothers has the key to the vault...or is otherwise sitting on a treasure trove of Prince material?

He gave them what he was obligated to give them. They released it. It's over.

Genesia said:

All songs which were recorded and assigned a copyright are owned by Warner Brothers. Prince wasn't smart enough to create a secondary publishing company so that he would own the rights to any of his recorded material while he was under contract with Warner Brothers. Most of those bootleg tracks that you have...Warner Brothers owns them. Not Prince. Example: Crystal Ball. Prince was able to release most of those songs because he never registered them with ASCAP prior to their release. If they were registered, then Warner owns them.
[Edited 1/23/08 11:44am]

^ Wrong.
Prince owns everything not already officially released by Warners.
Warners have nothing whatsoever to do with what's in Prince's vault.

I was hoping you'd turn up.

In sincerity, I tend to believe, that an assortment of Prince's songs, could have been "Soul Emptiers" for lack of coining a better pair of words...

When Prince has a list of hits on one side, Personal favorites, regardless of what the fans want on the other, and an assortment that are undecided...

I tend to believe that some songs that were not released never will be, because of being dated. I'm sure Prince has a few timeless gems that will come out to play at some future point.

DaisyHall said:

OK, then remove "recently" from my response above. Whether they finagled something long ago or yesterday, it doesn't matter. My point is that Warner Bros. has no new or previously unreleased Prince material to release, and that's why they haven't issued any new compilations or albums.



Why would Warner Bros. release any new Prince material unless there was something left that Prince owed to them, or if they were to reach a new distribution deal similar to the recent deals Prince has struck to distribute Musicology, 3121 and Planet Earth?



It doesn't matter -- they don't own anything that they haven't already released.



Again -- you are wrong. They don't own the rights to anything that hasn't already hit the shelves. So hoping for Warner Bros. to release some new compilation of previously unreleased music is not a very good use of time. Any releases from here on out will be up to Prince to release in whatever method he decides is best. Because you haven't been able to buy a CD of Prince material from 1986 that hasn't appeared on any album is Prince's decision, not any record label's. You are misdirecting your frustration.

DaisyHall said:

that was the whole point of why he recorded stuff under the name... WB couldnt touch that..

DaisyHall said:

You are wrong.

Many of the songs that were on the officially released Crystal Ball compilation were actually submitted to WB for official release years ago (i.e. the title track "Crystal Ball", for what eventually became the 2-disc album SOTT). Just because Prince recorded the songs while he was under contract with WB does not mean that WB owns the rights to each and every one of them.

Maybe, if Prince bill WB for the studio time and expenses for recording those songs WB my own the masters. Even if Prince owns the publishing and holds the copyrights.

However, I wonder if 1) the contents of the vault are way over stated and 2) if Prince has any real interest in doing the work to get them ready for release.

There was a topic here some time ago that suggested that Prince was letting the tapes in the vault deteriorate.

once the finally pressing has commenced, then wb owned whatever masters of the songs that were released. if prince pulled a track then it reverts back 2 him regardless if WB heard the songs etc ..what's on the shelves r the only things WB owns the rights 2 do with but must consult with prince b4 issue

Regardless, I do hope to one day see released versions of Witness for the Prosecution, In A Large Room With No Light, & a few tracks like that.