Can anyone answer this question? Why are the albums he owns only available for a limited time? Basically anything from "The Gold Experience" to "3121" is out of print. Why? This makes me very fearful that if he does get his masters back in 2013, that he might take everything from "For You" to "Come" off the shelves for good. What is the point of not allowing folks to enjoy your music? I also have a feeling that "Planet Earth" and "Lotusflow3r"'s days are numbered.

because they are released through one-off distribution deals with labels/retailers.

he pays them a certain amount to press the discs and distribute them and (sometimes) promote them.

once they've done their job for the specified amount of time, i.e., the initial "life" or "run" of the album, they have no interest in keeping the albums in print.

Prince would have to front the costs for re-pressing and distributing. Or, get this... he would have to work with a record company. He could always release OOP items as downloads, but he doesn't like iTunes and seems to be uninterested in anything other than new projects.

Best guess on album status:

For You - In Print
Prince - In Print
Dirty Mind - In Print
Controversy - In Print
1999 - In Print
Purple Rain - In Print
Around The World In A Day - In Print
Parade - In Print
Sign O´ The Times - In Print
Lovesexy - In Print
Batman - In Print
Graffiti Bridge - In Print
Diamonds And Pearls - In Print
- In Print
The Hits 1 - In Print
The Hits 2 - In Print
The Hits/The B-Sides - In Print
Goldnigga - OOP
1-800-New-Funk - OOP
Come - In Print
The Black Album - OOP
The Gold Experience - OOP
Exodus - OOP
Girl 6 - OOP
Chaos And Disorder - In Print
Emancipation - OOP
Crystal Ball/The Truth - OOP
Newpower Soul - OOP
The Vault... Old friends 4 Sale - In Print
Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic - OOP
Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic - OOP
The Very Best Of Prince - In Print
The Rainbow Children - NOS
One Nite Alone - Piano - OOP
One Nite Alone... Live/It Ain’t Over - NOS
N.E.W.S. - NOS
C-Note - Unavailable
Xpectation - Unavailable
The Chocolate Invasion - Unavailable
The Slaughterhouse - Unavailable
Musicology - NOS
Ultimate - In Print
3121 - NOS
Planet Earth - NOS
Indigo Nights - NOS
Lotus Flow3r/MPLSoUND - NOS

This is the main reason why it's bad for the fans if an artist isn't tied in some
way to ONE record company. Prince's back catalogue is a mess! Since the split
with WB, there's been a pretty random series of releases through various
different distributors and different formats. Most of which were one-shot
releases, and will probably never see the light of day again. It's very annoying.

Thread title answers it's own question.

BorisFishpaw said:

This is the reason most fans buy 2 copies of whatever he puts out post-WB. We know it's going to go out of print.

Wel...
Since he left WB he owns the masters for all new releases.
So technically he can reprint them anytime he wants.

Of course it would be foolish to do so.

BorisFishpaw said:

Just wondering why you find that annoying?

Surely you own all the releases, so why is it annoying if they go out of print? If anything, that makes your copy all the more valuable, no?

Why should an artist compromise himself purely to satisfy commercial demands?

NouveauDance said:

It really does!

udo said:

why would it be foolish? I am sure that there are newer fans who would like to explore the albums that they missed.

Mindflux said:

How is Prince "compromising himself" by simply keeping his albums in print? Remember,in the 90s he said that he wants to "flood the market".From a fan's perspective,how can this be a bad thing?

At least his good ones are still in print.

I see that OOP is "Out of Print."

What is, NOS?

Tame said:

"New Old Stock"... Usually something that has been discontinued, but has never been opened.

Giovanni777 said:

Yeah. There's obviously some cases of N.E.W.S and Rainbow Children still getting cracked open. A lot of the other stuff like 3121(I still see the Gold Ticket CDs in stores), Musicology and Planet Earth will just get depleted or warehoused.

SoulAlive said:

Compromising himself did not allude to keeping albums in print, but to being "tied to one record company".

Flooding the market isn't necessarily a bad thing for the fan, but I'm sure Prince has realised that it would be a bad thing for his pocket. With the availability of digital downloads, it doesn't make financial sense for an artist to perpetually fund the re-pressing of cds. People can still access and purchase the music, but without it being a huge financial drain on the artist.
[Edited 5/5/09 6:55am]

This is one con to him being "free". It's a damn shame that you can't easily find Emancipation or 3121 in a record store. You'd think that that would be something Prince would discuss with the record labels he's done distribution deals with. It's not right at all.

errant said:

Sort of right except that, even with "one offs" the labels pay him an advance on his projected share of the profits. If the album is a dud, then Prince walks away with a nice gift while the label or retailer has to lay people off to make up the losses.

The only reason there are albums out of print is because no one has offered Prince a big enough advance. Any label would gladly take on the job of distributing these records.

Mindflux said:

But these albums aren't even available for digital download, never mind physically.

SoulAlive said:

Yes, but did you see Prince apply any logic recently?
I mean: for a quick buck, yes.
But a more prudent, long term approach?
I.e.: a world-wide release of his albums, like the lotusflower fiasco (yes, he didn't succeed in arranging that himself, fact). (and yes, the albums themselves are OK)
I.e.: keeping stuff in print.
Etc.

Why would it be worthwhile for WB but not for Prince? He could print up albums at 10.000 pieces a time or more and store them. And let them out when the supply was needed. No big effort. Easy money.

I still see Emancipation for $4.99 in cut out bins.

Don't forget, you can still get copies used in local stores, plus chains like FYE/Record Town

Better yet, why can't you download them to your computer from his website?

btw, Best Buy seems to be trying to clear out their Rainbow Children stock for $5.99 if anyone is looking for a copy

errant said:

I'd need a half off coupon to even consider purchasing that again, even for that price.

It would be nice to see Prince offer all of those out-of-print albums on his website.

Most of them, to my knowledge, he could easily offer as downloads on lotusflow3r or some other type of online retail outlet.

It baffles me why he doesn't. He could be making a killing off offering online downloads, or even a print-and-ship per order method (even at a premium, many fans would gladly pay this).

I think he's sitting on a huge opportunity. Even if half the new stuff is crap, fans are willing to pay for it.

Tame said:[quote]I see that OOP is "Out of Print."

What about OPP?? Other Peoples Property! (Warner Bros)


[Edited 5/5/09 15:53pm]

I'm sorry Nouveau, but your picture scares me!
[Edited 5/5/09 15:56pm]

ernestsewell said:

They might as well throw them in the garbage where they belong!

violetblues said:

Tremolina said:

We want decent media.