From reading the posts on here I've come to understand that the fans want Prince's catalog remastered. Even though that isn't something Prince has expressed any interest in doing at this point. I just hope you're not all setting yourselves up for a let-down.

I hope this leads to another one-off distribution deal and perhaps a tour in the States to follow.

Anything other than that would be icing on the cake.

People keep going on about remasters. Is this a really big business? Is there big money in it?

jcurley said:

People keep going on about remasters. Is this a really big business? Is there big money in it?

Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon 30th anniversary remaster sold over 800,000 copies.

The Beatles remasters from last year are all bobbling around the 250-300 mark on Amazon's sales ranks even now. Not bad for 40+ year old albums that were remastered and re released almost a year ago.

And if they weren't big business, nobody else would be doing them. As it is, it seems like the only person not interested in remastering them is Prince.

erik319 said:

jcurley said:

People keep going on about remasters. Is this a really big business? Is there big money in it?

Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon 30th anniversary remaster sold over 800,000 copies.

The Beatles remasters from last year are all bobbling around the 250-300 mark on Amazon's sales ranks even now. Not bad for 40+ year old albums that were remastered and re released almost a year ago.

And if they weren't big business, nobody else would be doing them. As it is, it seems like the only person not interested in remastering them is Prince.

So they remaster and then do a big push. But do you believe that people would really go out and buy them in the way people seem to think on here

This is just a distribution deal, not a contract. It is not akin to Prince going to WB with his tail between his legs. Also, the people back at WB in the 90's are probably not there now.

In addition, it seems this distribution may be part of a package agreement, or be paving the way for future releases, possibly of an archival nature.

Whatever, WB involvement could be very good for fans in terms of availability, pricing etc.

WB are obviously happy to work with him.

erik319 said:

jcurley said:

People keep going on about remasters. Is this a really big business? Is there big money in it?

Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon 30th anniversary remaster sold over 800,000 copies.

The Beatles remasters from last year are all bobbling around the 250-300 mark on Amazon's sales ranks even now. Not bad for 40+ year old albums that were remastered and re released almost a year ago.

And if they weren't big business, nobody else would be doing them. As it is, it seems like the only person not interested in remastering them is Prince.

Exactly Plus,I think it's important for a catalog like Princes' to be available in the best possible sound quality.

andykeen said:

This is a great deal for Prince.

Planet Earth was a throw away album. Songs we're put together from all different years into one very weak album, cost would of been nothing, so making it big with the papers was a great financial success for P.

Expect another mish mash album with 20TEN(Not sayying its gonna be bad, but I expect it to be tracks just thrown together), creating no real flow.

Just my two cents!!

my thoughts exactly. as i said on the newspaper interview thread, i also don't understand how a

major label is willing to distribute (and print?) these albums for a one off deal.

what financial gain is there in it for them? i'm sure prince is asking for a big advance and then

he's releasing it at least a month prior to the 'label' release for free all over europe.

planet earth, as a label release, contributed nothing more to the already free newspaper ones.

it came in a somewhat better box but that's it. no booklet, no extra tracks, nothing.

going on that, "20Ten" will likely get the same kind of treatment. so who's going to buy that?

fcuz, since it's not all over the USA as a free copy with newspapers, they are going to shift a

few units. but once warners releases it (even a rush release won't be in stores before mid or

late july) every fan will have had the option to download it because it will hit the internet as

soon as people get their newspapers home on the 10th. and you can bet that a lot of actual

physical copies will find their way to the usa as well.

so that seriously cuts into the numbers of units they will be able to sell in the usa. completists

will still get it but with all the people who don't care about a physical product anymore being

able to have their copy on the 10th or the 11th, how many copies do they expect to sell?

and if they are willing to release "20Ten" under these weird conditions, than why is it so hard

for him to get whatever he wants to release out there through major label distribution?

perhaps he's just interested in trying all possible avenues of release and enjoys getting his

stuff out in weird and new ways. but at the end of the day this leads to scattered releases

that are out of prince before you can say "the gold experience". every album is on a different

label, or no label at all, everything goes out of print and his legacy is like a jigsaw puzzele by

now.

if labels are still willing to work with him, even if he's releasing his product independantly in

different ways at the same time, then why doesn't he just have a major distribution deal for

all his stuff with a single record company?

warners might be humoring him with this just so they can get back around the table to talk

about his back catalogue and open up communication in a more positive way than it has

been going on the past decades. otherwise i can't see the appeal for them to release this and

sell one or two hundred thousand copies, of which prince, i'm sure demands a huge cut per

unit sold and a big advance.

jcurley said:

People keep going on about remasters. Is this a really big business? Is there big money in it?

I keep seeing people wanting re-masters but let us remember, in his new JW mindset, everything is being sanitized.

So you want him to sanitize all our beloved favorites?

SOTT The Cross = The Christ (we have already sat through this)

Go through all the songs that he has in his catalogue of released music and think about how much it will change.

Thanks, but I will deal with them not being re-mastered.

BklynDiamond said:

jcurley said:

People keep going on about remasters. Is this a really big business? Is there big money in it?

I keep seeing people wanting re-masters but let us remember, in his new JW mindset, everything is being sanitized.

So you want him to sanitize all our beloved favorites?

SOTT The Cross = The Christ (we have already sat through this)

Go through all the songs that he has in his catalogue of released music and think about how much it will change.

Thanks, but I will deal with them not being re-mastered.

yeah, that's the main problem with the remastering of his old albums. i just can't see those discs

being too exciting if he's going to re-record half of them and replace lyrics with new ones or just

edit out curse words etc.

unless he will somehow be able to distance himself from those songs without tampering with them

and just allow them to remastered and rereleased as they are, the only thing that remasters will

lead to is butchered classics. you have to wonder if that's worth it.

We don't really know what he'd do with remasters (or if he even cares about remasters/re-releases at all). I know there were censoring issues with Ultimate, but that was then, Prince changes his mind more than his underwear.

I'm sure if anything were to get remastered, it would be Purple Rain first, and possibly only, depending on how that went.

If he re-records the music in any way,or changes the lyrics,I will NOT be buying those remasters

I do not believe for one minute in reality that Prince has any ambition to sign up with the monster he fought so hard to slay. I think he never wants to be tied to one company again. If he does anything with Warner I would say it would have no more glitter or glam than the deals with other companies he has bargained with over the past years.

The big question, is there really anything in it for Warners?

I don't know.

He is not the bread and butter boy he used to be for album sales anymore I don't think. I believe P is happy where he is.

You know, he could have just walked in to be nice and say hello to some old faces. Maybe there is a chick or two in there he forgot to bang.

Or maybe... it's ON!

[Edited 6/25/10 7:31am]

IstenSzek said:

BklynDiamond said:

I keep seeing people wanting re-masters but let us remember, in his new JW mindset, everything is being sanitized.

So you want him to sanitize all our beloved favorites?

SOTT The Cross = The Christ (we have already sat through this)

Go through all the songs that he has in his catalogue of released music and think about how much it will change.

Thanks, but I will deal with them not being re-mastered.

yeah, that's the main problem with the remastering of his old albums. i just can't see those discs

being too exciting if he's going to re-record half of them and replace lyrics with new ones or just

edit out curse words etc.

unless he will somehow be able to distance himself from those songs without tampering with them

and just allow them to remastered and rereleased as they are, the only thing that remasters will

lead to is butchered classics. you have to wonder if that's worth it.

Yeah, see him being the little control freak that he is and the way he is stomping his new found faith at every chance (not that I have a problem with it...whatever gets you through the night), I just see him ruining all the old songs by "cleaning them up".

While I would love to hear crisp clear re-mastered originals....I do not want them if it means they will be sanitized.

hollywooddove said:

I do not believe for one minute in reality that Prince has any ambition to sign up with the monster he fought so hard to slay. I think he never wants to be tied to one company again. If he does anything with Warner I would say it would have no more glitter or glam than the deals with other companies he has bargained with over the past years.

The big question, is there really anything in it for Warners?

I don't know.

He is not the bread and butter boy he used to be for album sales anymore I don't think. I believe P is happy where he is.

You know, he could have just walked in to be nice and say hello to some old faces. Maybe there is a chick or two in there he forgot to bang.

[Snip - luv4u]

The sole function of any business is to make money, warners would not even waste time having a meeting with Prince unless it had $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ written all over it, KISS

HonestMan13 said:

From reading the posts on here I've come to understand that the fans want Prince's catalog remastered. Even though that isn't something Prince has expressed any interest in doing at this point. I just hope you're not all setting yourselves up for a let-down.

I hope this leads to another one-off distribution deal and perhaps a tour in the States to follow.

Anything other than that would be icing on the cake.

It's too late for that one, they already set themselves up for the let-down. NONE of those WB albums are getting remastered anytime soon. Oh well. This is a one off deal, no more, no less. If something more comes out of it, it will come out but I don't expect anything more than just that, a distribution deal

I kind of hope nothing comes of this.

A. Saying "fuck you" to WB and big labels in general was one of the coolest things I think Prince has done, and I'd hate to see him go back on it.

B. You know he'd fuck with any new releases of his old music. And let's not indulge any pipe dreams about vault favorites finally seeing the light of day; unless they're fairly clean lyrically, they're not going to come out or will get sanitized before their release and we'll all still be listening to our bootlegs.

C. Fan remasters keep getting better and better and I don't doubt they'll someday equal anything that could have come out officially.

purplecam said:

HonestMan13 said:

From reading the posts on here I've come to understand that the fans want Prince's catalog remastered. Even though that isn't something Prince has expressed any interest in doing at this point. I just hope you're not all setting yourselves up for a let-down.

I hope this leads to another one-off distribution deal and perhaps a tour in the States to follow.

Anything other than that would be icing on the cake.

It's too late for that one, they already set themselves up for the let-down. NONE of those WB albums are getting remastered anytime soon. Oh well. This is a one off deal, no more, no less. If something more comes out of it, it will come out but I don't expect anything more than just that, a distribution deal

I disagree with U. Prince would not go back to WB unless he was up to something. There will be something else. Its already been said....

IstenSzek said:

BklynDiamond said:

I keep seeing people wanting re-masters but let us remember, in his new JW mindset, everything is being sanitized.

So you want him to sanitize all our beloved favorites?

SOTT The Cross = The Christ (we have already sat through this)

Go through all the songs that he has in his catalogue of released music and think about how much it will change.

Thanks, but I will deal with them not being re-mastered.

yeah, that's the main problem with the remastering of his old albums. i just can't see those discs

being too exciting if he's going to re-record half of them and replace lyrics with new ones or just

edit out curse words etc.

unless he will somehow be able to distance himself from those songs without tampering with them

and just allow them to remastered and rereleased as they are, the only thing that remasters will

lead to is butchered classics. you have to wonder if that's worth it.

Yeh but would that be a remaster? Wouldn't that be an update.?

SoulAlive said:

erik319 said:

Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon 30th anniversary remaster sold over 800,000 copies.

The Beatles remasters from last year are all bobbling around the 250-300 mark on Amazon's sales ranks even now. Not bad for 40+ year old albums that were remastered and re released almost a year ago.

And if they weren't big business, nobody else would be doing them. As it is, it seems like the only person not interested in remastering them is Prince.

Exactly Plus,I think it's important for a catalog like Princes' to be available in the best possible sound quality.

That may be true but everyone keeps going on about sound quality on here. None of us had any problems listening to his music before current technology. We didn't need to hear the crickets chirping outside the studio window to be satisfied. Remastering is for the fans but not necessarily a priority for the artists who have moved on to new work. Record companies love it though cause it gets them more money off a product they long ago abandoned. It's cool if it happens but it's not a requisite for every artist to do so.

i should tell you what went down

but if i did you would just think i was crazy.

ANDROGYNINE Continues....

is a hint a rumor?

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

purplecam said:

It's too late for that one, they already set themselves up for the let-down. NONE of those WB albums are getting remastered anytime soon. Oh well. This is a one off deal, no more, no less. If something more comes out of it, it will come out but I don't expect anything more than just that, a distribution deal

I disagree with U. Prince would not go back to WB unless he was up to something. There will be something else. Its already been said....

You are absolutely right, there is something else to the WB meeting but if it's something other than remasters or there aren't any remasters that come out of this meeting, will you be sad or mad about it? Will it make you or anyone else pissed if it's just the distribution of the new CD and nothing more? It's not the end of the world if those CD are never remastered. It would be great if they were and I'd buy it and enjoy it but I know for me, I will survive if there isn't a louder version of SOTT. I'll keep it moving like I am now.

[Edited 6/25/10 11:35am]

ANDROGYNINE said:

i should tell you what went down

but if i did you would just think i was crazy.

ANDROGYNINE Continues....

is a hint a rumor?

Hi, Notprince.

squirrelgrease said:

ANDROGYNINE said:

i should tell you what went down

but if i did you would just think i was crazy.

ANDROGYNINE Continues....

is a hint a rumor?

Hi, Notprince.

ANDROGYNINE said:

i should tell you what went down

but if i did you would just think i was crazy.

ANDROGYNINE Continues....

is a hint a rumor?

Aren't you in the wrong forum? Org artist forum is that-a-way.

[Edited 6/25/10 11:51am]

ANDROGYNINE said:

i should tell you what went down

but if i did you would just think i was crazy.

ANDROGYNINE Continues....

is a hint a rumor?

One of these 2 extremes will happen if they do work out a deal...

A- Either WB will milk it for everything they can, Prince will put together an incredible album and he will be more "relevant" than he has been since 1992...

OR

B- WB will "try" to milk it, but Prince will give them a crappy album full of Cause & Effect, Purple and Gold and Hot Summer material.

purplecam said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

You are absolutely right, there is something else to the WB meeting but if it's something other than remasters or there aren't any remasters that come out of this meeting, will you be sad or mad about it? Will it make you or anyone else pissed if it's just the distribution of the new CD and nothing more? It's not the end of the world if those CD are never remastered. It would be great if they were and I'd buy it and enjoy it but I know for me, I will survive if there isn't a louder version of SOTT. I'll keep it moving like I am now.

[Edited 6/25/10 11:35am]

I'm like U. U right it won't be the end of the world if the remasters don't happen. But it would be very sad that we fans have to suffer & watch other artist get remastered & Prince doesn't. Because of problems Prince has had with WB. But I do understand what Prince is doing. I think he is waiting until he has control over his masters so he can reap the full benefits of that. Because when his old catalog gets remastered. Warners is going to make a fortune, & I don't blame him for wanting to be a part of that one bit... That's why i think its a gr8 idea he is dealing with WB again & that there is something big going on. Because Prince is not stupid like people make him out to be here....

U r so cool Purplecam. I hope U not doin anything naughty on that cam...lol

I really dont want them to make something gay or weird. Prince and Warner Brothers just seems too dumb.

ronnwinter said:

One of these 2 extremes will happen if they do work out a deal...

A- Either WB will milk it for everything they can, Prince will put together an incredible album and he will be more "relevant" than he has been since 1992...

OR

B- WB will "try" to milk it, but Prince will give them a crappy album full of Cause & Effect, Purple and Gold and Hot Summer material.

Yeah its a weird situation because in one sense Prince has disavowed himself from the highly regarded music he created, but at the same time has also fought vigorously for them. He has changed very drastically in a very short time and i dont think he really knows what he wants or any sense of who he is anymore. Purple and Gold? come the fuck on, the dude is a genius but he's definitely lost his grasp and direction of the artist that people were in awe of among other things.

I like option A, WB would respect the work a lot more than Prince at the moment and Prince would get a nice payout to pay his bills and wipe his hands of his naughty-word legacy. It would be a win win for everyone.

Does anyone remember those before and after pictures taken by the Taliban before 911? Where in Afghanistan they would blow up these incredible ancient works of art depicting Buddha that had been methodically hand carved into the sides of mountains. Taliban religious police would take dynamite to it. They would systematically destroy the most incredible non muslin works of art from the 5th century because it didn't fit their religious beliefs.

While we are at it, I think WB should also buy Paisley Park and get a restraining order against Prince to keep him the fuck out of there too. I dont want to compare Prince with the Taliban or his work with that of 5th century hand carved art, but when it comes to religious dogma they may be just as fucked in the head. If modern day Prince started fucking with his classics, i say might as well just go at it wit Dynamite too, what the fuck.

[Edited 6/26/10 16:02pm]

violetblues said:

ronnwinter said:

One of these 2 extremes will happen if they do work out a deal...

A- Either WB will milk it for everything they can, Prince will put together an incredible album and he will be more "relevant" than he has been since 1992...

OR

B- WB will "try" to milk it, but Prince will give them a crappy album full of Cause & Effect, Purple and Gold and Hot Summer material.

Yeah its a weird situation because in one sense Prince has disavowed himself from the highly regarded music he created, but at the same time has also fought vigorously for them. He has changed very drastically in a very short time and i dont think he really knows what he wants or any sense of who he is anymore. Purple and Gold? come the fuck on, the dude is a genius but he's definitely lost his grasp and direction of the artist that people were in awe of among other things.

I like option A, WB would respect the work a lot more than Prince at the moment and Prince would get a nice payout to pay his bills and shake his hands of his naughty-word legacy. It would be a win win for everyone.

Does anyone remember those before and after pictures taken by the Taliban before 911? Where in Afghanistan they would blow up these incredible ancient works of art depicting Buddha that had been methodically hand carved into the sides of mountains. Taliban religious police would take dynamite to it. They would systematically destroy the most incredible non muslin works of art from the 5th century because it didn't fit their religious beliefs.

While we are at it, I think WB should also buy Paisley Park and get a restraining order against Prince to keep him the fuck out of there too. I dont want to compare Prince with the Taliban or his work with that of 5th century hand carved art, but when it comes to religious dogma they may be just as fucked in the head. If modern day Prince started fucking with his classics, i say might as well just go at it wit Dynamite too, what the fuck.

[Edited 6/25/10 17:53pm]

'Extraloveable'? no.