It's so unfair, will it every be re released?
[Edited 4/5/09 21:46pm]

maybe in an edited form - bad language censored

damn said:

Take it up with Time/Warner.

Prince has no say so in this matter.
[Edited 4/5/09 22:07pm]

actually, take it up with Prince.

i think they co-own this one.

errant said:

No... Prince has no say so on the distribution or 're-distribution' of his WB material which includes TGE.

You know part of the big reason behind the 'slave' thing, the name change and the crusade about owning your own masters. WB owns the rights to the masters as they do with all of the albums Prince made while on their label.

TGE has been out of print for years. WB never wanted to promote it... and unlike many of his past albums... they haven't re-distributed it at all. And probably have no intention of doing so.

Glad I bought a copy when I did ,

Luckily I found a copy a year or two ago in the used section at Newbury Comics.

BigDaddyHQ said:

i don't think this is right. i believe the terms of prince's various deals with wb always gave him final refusal over releases. he has signed off on everything wb has released, including 'the black album' and the various 'hits' collections.

it's likely that both wb and prince share disinterest in the material.

damn said:

You can surely find it in your local record store that sells used CDs.

stanleylieber said:

I doubt Prince determines which albums WB should distribute, print or reprint. They would probably have to mutually decide to "remaster" and release albums from his catalog. I do remember there being a unique arrangement for the Gold Experience due to his inclusion of TMBGITW that probably hastened WB's financial decision to let it go out of print.

jdcxc said:

obviously we're not privy to the details, but often in these contracts, once something goes out of print, a new agreement is required to bring it back into print.

This is Prince's call.

emesem said:

Why do you say this?

I found a gently used copy in the AMOEBA store in SF. That place is awesome!

Who knows, but you CAN get one, I did!

Their is some on Ebay.

http://music.shop.ebay.co...ec0Q2em282

BigDaddyHQ said:

Not true. Prince co-owns that album, WB were actually very keen to release it
as they recognized it's hit potential. Prince basically held the album to ransom,
refusing to allow them to release it unless they gave him ownership of it's
masters. Just look at which albums are in print and which ones aren't. It's
the majority of the WB catalogue (where they own the masters) that are
still widely available. While nearly all the albums that Prince owns are out
of print.

There are always plenty of copies on Amazon, currently from about £8.

It's not discontinued in my house...I'll play it later today in memory of this thread.

Yeah, there are always copies available on Amazon. Just depends on how much you want to spend.

I doubt you'd have any problems finding any of Prince's CDs online. His side projects, that's another story...

I'm hoping that in 4 years we will start to see Remastered versions being released when Prince gets his masters back.

Se7en said:

But how good will the remastering be if done on the cheap? And will they only be availble with an annual membership fee to r3masters4jehovah.com?

NouveauDance said:

Good point. And will they be edited? If so, why bother?

NouveauDance said:

BorisFishpaw said:

Yeah, they aren't even on iTunes. So Prince owning his masters is actually a bad thing for fans.

jdcxc said:

Record companies love catalog, especially with Itunes its all gravy for them. If they could provide Gold they would in a second. Prince is pretty much hoarding his post 95 work where he can in hopes of getting a huge advance down the road. Its hardly ever about the music but about the $.
[Edited 4/6/09 7:26am]

damn said:

It's pretty easy to find. I see it all of the time at used cd stores.

BorisFishpaw said:

I know you to be a pretty bright guy on these matters.. but I kinda remember reading just the opposite, that they (WB) didn't want to release it because Prince was over saturating at the time.

I'm pretty sure what went done specifically is in 'The Vault'... but I'm not home right now to verify.

Well, it's kinda a bit of both to be honest.

WB were very happy with album, but they didn't want to release it straight
away. Prince wanted to release it instantly, but the real sticking point was
that he also wanted to retain ownership of the masters for it and wouldn't
hand the album over on the terms of his then current contract.

BorisFishpaw said:

And my 2 cents... in 1994 Prince wanted to release COME at the same time as wanted to release TGE. WB were rather cool to this idea so with held TGE and amended the tracklisting of COME.

WB were still keen to release TGE but as Boris says not so soon after COME so refused to give them the masters.

In the final deal for the album WB agreed to let retain the masters which is why it is the only album released by WB that is also labelled NPG Records (C&D released a year later was only WB).
[Edited 4/6/09 11:23am]
[Edited 4/6/09 11:23am]

Thanks guys, I bought one off amazon for 12 euro, but seriously an album of that quality should be availble in all record shops