That question was not really the question I wanted answering; it was merely constructed to attract an audience and stimulate debate regarding the real issue: what were the causes for Prince's relationship to end with Warners? I was looking for different perspectives.

...period point blank, wb spoiled the hell outta p 2 a point.

Supernova said:

That question was not really the question I wanted answering; it was merely constructed to attract an audience and stimulate debate regarding the real issue: what were the causes for Prince's relationship to end with Warners? I was looking for different perspectives. But then, I think you already knew that.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Do you think he thought he was spoilt? This is like child psychology.

IF there is such a thing as better timing for an employee to have problems with the company that employs him/her, Prince's timing wasn't good in terms of his new contractual situation. And those who were in his corner were being phased out of the company. What exactly did Prince find to be the problem(s) beside what he has already said publicly? I have no idea.

Anji said:

Well like most artist/record company battles Prince had had minor artistic disagreements with WB long before the eventual fallout in the 90s. According to Prince, one of the disagreements was due to more of a marketing nature; he wanted to release more music to retail than WB would allow. But in the early '90s WB was going through internal struggles that were not all Prince related at all. Those struggles led to some execs almost coming to blows about company politics.

IF there is such a thing as better timing for an employee to have problems with the company that employs him/her, Prince's timing wasn't good in terms of his new contractual situation. And those who were in his corner were being phased out of the company. What exactly did Prince find to be the problem(s) beside what he has already said publicly? I have no idea.

Anji said:

Well like most artist/record company battles Prince had had minor artistic disagreements with WB long before the eventual fallout in the 90s. According to Prince, one of the disagreements was due to more of a marketing nature; he wanted to release more music to retail than WB would allow. But in the early '90s WB was going through internal struggles that were not all Prince related at all. Those struggles led to some execs almost coming to blows about company politics.

IF there is such a thing as better timing for an employee to have problems with the company that employs him/her, Prince's timing wasn't good in terms of his new contractual situation. And those who were in his corner were being phased out of the company. What exactly did Prince find to be the problem(s) beside what he has already said publicly? I have no idea.

Supernova said:

Tha's why you one o' my peeps. Great insight.

P been fightin with WB ever since

-demanding that he produce his own record and going over budget to do it
-wanting to make a movie
-wanting SOTT to be originally a triple album
-picking which singles to release
-recording what the co. deemed radio unfriendly music like "When Doves Cry" (where's the bass line?)
-demanding that WB finance the building of a record studio in the middle of nowhere, as opposed to LA or NY where it could generate revenue
-create a vanity label, Paisley Park Records

And the list goes on and on.

In some cases, P's decisions coincided with the right forces within WB (the more artist friendly execs willing to take a chance) and the buying public, as well as with trends in the culture--ppl were ready for a new sound, music video primed the audience for movies that showcased a rockstar, etc.

In some cases, they didn't coincide. WB grew tired of indulging Prince's artistic whims and went for the bottomline; and P grew frustrated that his choices weren't being supported by WB; or that Paisley Park Recs weren't getting marketing support.

WB's probably has as many business rationales for their moves as Prince has artist justifications for his... so it's gonna depend on how you wanna look at it.

In his most recent statements (2000) he stated his respect for what a record company represents and the business side of the process that they can take care of; he said he respects WB for getting him where he is BUT he is aware and wants to point out what he feels is lost in the process on the part of the artist, and that's not something he's willing to revisit. ("I've been to the mountaintop...")

P won many of his battles with WB; and in the long run, it seems that artistically AND financially he made the right choices (with the exception of giving up rights to the master recordings, which was/is commonplace at the time).
.
[This message was edited Wed Feb 19 23:26:53 PST 2003 by NuPwrSoul]

Supernova said:

Tha's why you one o' my peeps. Great insight.

P been fightin with WB ever since

-demanding that he produce his own record and going over budget to do it
-wanting to make a movie
-wanting SOTT to be originally a triple album
-picking which singles to release
-recording what the co. deemed radio unfriendly music like "When Doves Cry" (where's the bass line?)
-demanding that WB finance the building of a record studio in the middle of nowhere, as opposed to LA or NY where it could generate revenue
-create a vanity label, Paisley Park Records

And the list goes on and on.

In some cases, P's decisions coincided with the right forces within WB (the more artist friendly execs willing to take a chance) and the buying public, as well as with trends in the culture--ppl were ready for a new sound, music video primed the audience for movies that showcased a rockstar, etc.

In some cases, they didn't coincide. WB grew tired of indulging Prince's artistic whims and went for the bottomline; and P grew frustrated that his choices weren't being supported by WB; or that Paisley Park Recs weren't getting marketing support.

WB's probably has as many business rationales for their moves as Prince has artist justifications for his... so it's gonna depend on how you wanna look at it.

In his most recent statements (2000) he stated his respect for what a record company represents and the business side of the process that they can take care of; he said he respects WB for getting him where he is BUT he is aware and wants to point out what he feels is lost in the process on the part of the artist, and that's not something he's willing to revisit. ("I've been to the mountaintop...")

P won many of his battles with WB; and in the long run, it seems that artistically AND financially he made the right choices (with the exception of giving up rights to the master recordings, which was/is commonplace at the time).
.
[This message was edited Wed Feb 19 23:26:53 PST 2003 by NuPwrSoul]