Great article from Billboard Magazine's May 3rd issue, which sheds some light on the deal from an industry/label perspective and the precedent it's setting.

link

The April 18 announcement that Prince had re-signed with his first label, Warner Bros. Records, where he had resided from 1978 to 1996 and produced some of his best-selling and most compelling work, came as a shock to the music industry and fans alike. For one thing, the artist’s fallout with Warners had been so acrimonious that in 1993, Prince bizarrely changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol to protest his label’s insistence that he release less music (and not flood the market).

Even more surprising to industry insiders was the label’s announcement that it had given Prince ownership of the master tapes to all of his Warners albums. In addition to giving the artist the kind of control over his work that he has always sought, it was a lucrative deal. In 2013, his Warner Music Group catalog scanned 286,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan. If Prince had owned the catalog then, Billboard estimates his cut would have been nearly $1.7 million instead of the estimated $657,000 in royalties he would have been paid.

But it’s a sure bet that artists, their managers and their labels were paying attention to the deal for another reason: Industry executives suggest that although WMG’s negotiations with Prince began over the label’s desire to get the artist to cooperate with plans to reissue his records, a key issue on the table -- one that the industry is watching intently -- is Prince’s desire to reclaim his master recording copyrights under the 1976 Copyright Act. Under this legislation, an artist can regain control over a master recording copyright after the first 35-year term of that copyright expires.

Despite its title, the act took effect in 1978 -- copyrights to albums released that year and onward began to expire in 2013. As a result, in recent years, dozens of acts, including the Eagles, Billy Joel, The Police, Blondie and Journey, have filed termination notices, which sets the stage for a watershed moment that one label executive says “scares us silly.”

Not surprisingly, label executives say they prefer negotiation to litigation over termination notices for fear of triggering a landmark ­precedent-setting case. One says that since artists can only reclaim their master-recordings rights in the United States, a label might agree to pay enhanced international royalty rates, if a termination notice is waived. Or, a label may offer the master copyright when facing an artist’s audit or lawsuit over digital royalty payments.

Smaller-selling acts may find labels less responsive to termination notices because, executives say, in most cases the high cost of litigation will outweigh the economic benefits of reclaiming the copyrights.

A major-label executive observes, “There is a ripeness to when to address the issue.”

That's great!! I was irk'd he went back w/ Warner but if he can got his Master's Back, MORE POWER TO YOU!!! and all the other people who are able to get there master's back. Label is just scared b/c there not making there big check off of someone else's talent, leeches!! There worried there job won't be around much longer, espicially in this digital age.

The label shouldn't be making money off of his blood,sweat, and tear's. Maybe he will start playing Paisley now, b/c he's in a good mood getting his catalogue back???Hope so...

It's annoying buying a 1,000+ plane ticket on short notice to see P and having P not doing anything is kind of a slap in the face time after time. Then of course watch when i blew my money an can't make it for awhile he's goin to play, i bet on that.

After his 1st Paisley show couple months back he said we doing this every w/kend. After that he did a 30min set 1 time and that was it. That's not doing it even close to every w/kend.

I was also SHOCKED to find out 4/19 he was hanging out w/ Nick West, woulda been nice to hang out w/ her and have her come on stage and spend that night w/ his fans.

ANYWAY I'm stoked to see what he's going to be throwing on the 30th anniv disc. Maybe the most amazing sounding full demo of Computer Blue!!! The 14m demo i heard years ago and its aazing but def suffered from Tape Tone and prob a 3rd gen recording if not 4th. I will be buying that 30th Anniv disc. If he reissues everything from the 80s w/ bonus tracks/bonus disc worth of tracks, man that will be tight.

Militant said:

Great article from Billboard Magazine's May 3rd issue, which sheds some light on the deal from an industry/label perspective and the precedent it's setting.

link

The April 18 announcement that Prince had re-signed with his first label, Warner Bros. Records, where he had resided from 1978 to 1996 and produced some of his best-selling and most compelling work, came as a shock to the music industry and fans alike. For one thing, the artist’s fallout with Warners had been so acrimonious that in 1993, Prince bizarrely changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol to protest his label’s insistence that he release less music (and not flood the market).

Even more surprising to industry insiders was the label’s announcement that it had given Prince ownership of the master tapes to all of his Warners albums. In addition to giving the artist the kind of control over his work that he has always sought, it was a lucrative deal. In 2013, his Warner Music Group catalog scanned 286,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan. If Prince had owned the catalog then, Billboard estimates his cut would have been nearly $1.7 million instead of the estimated $657,000 in royalties he would have been paid.

But it’s a sure bet that artists, their managers and their labels were paying attention to the deal for another reason: Industry executives suggest that although WMG’s negotiations with Prince began over the label’s desire to get the artist to cooperate with plans to reissue his records, a key issue on the table -- one that the industry is watching intently -- is Prince’s desire to reclaim his master recording copyrights under the 1976 Copyright Act. Under this legislation, an artist can regain control over a master recording copyright after the first 35-year term of that copyright expires.

Despite its title, the act took effect in 1978 -- copyrights to albums released that year and onward began to expire in 2013. As a result, in recent years, dozens of acts, including the Eagles, Billy Joel, The Police, Blondie and Journey, have filed termination notices, which sets the stage for a watershed moment that one label executive says “scares us silly.”

Not surprisingly, label executives say they prefer negotiation to litigation over termination notices for fear of triggering a landmark ­precedent-setting case. One says that since artists can only reclaim their master-recordings rights in the United States, a label might agree to pay enhanced international royalty rates, if a termination notice is waived. Or, a label may offer the master copyright when facing an artist’s audit or lawsuit over digital royalty payments.

Smaller-selling acts may find labels less responsive to termination notices because, executives say, in most cases the high cost of litigation will outweigh the economic benefits of reclaiming the copyrights.

A major-label executive observes, “There is a ripeness to when to address the issue.”

Quite interesting that what Prince has been denigrated and dragged through the mud for seems like it is coming to fruition. Patience pays off. Gotta say, the man had a long-term vision, stuck to his guns, and it seems to be paying off.

BlackandRising said:

Militant said:

Great article from Billboard Magazine's May 3rd issue, which sheds some light on the deal from an industry/label perspective and the precedent it's setting.

link

Quite interesting that what Prince has been denigrated and dragged through the mud for seems like it is coming to fruition. Patience pays off. Gotta say, the man had a long-term vision, stuck to his guns, and it seems to be paying off.

Agreed. For all his tenacity and obstinance - to say the least - name another band or artist who've negotiated their entire catalog back ? (U2 may have, none other come to mind...)

For whatever that reason, the piece didn't add Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan to that list of artists filing termination notices.

Alot of the 1980s acts, once their turn comes up, will file notices too and hope to get their catalogues back piecemeal or force a deal on the label like Prince/WB.

Good luck to them!

BlackandRising said:

Militant said:

Great article from Billboard Magazine's May 3rd issue, which sheds some light on the deal from an industry/label perspective and the precedent it's setting.

link

Quite interesting that what Prince has been denigrated and dragged through the mud for seems like it is coming to fruition. Patience pays off. Gotta say, the man had a long-term vision, stuck to his guns, and it seems to be paying off.

Prince is a PIONEER, these knucklehead radio driven executives need to pay attention, they should have YEARS Ago, Prince has always been way ahead of his time, the ones who wrote him off are now watching more closely, its hilarious to watch

SO PROUD!

It was a total debacle of what WB put him through. If i'm understanding right he was getting his master's no matter what right since it was the Copyright Act right??

So i'm super shocked he would resign w/ WB!!! I thought Epic or Columbia he was going to sign w/ unless that was total bs i heard??

He has been shafted but i'm would say there's been other artists that have went throught the ringer worst then him. Like soo many r&b/funk groups who got ripped off and broke and people like Rick James. George Clinton (who went broke while everyone sampled his music!!!lucky he got his songs back and can finally see some money/be alive to get the songs),etc.

P always had money, a lot...the fight was more out of respect....How much i love his music sometimes i don't feel he always gives it back. Like when yr throwing a lot of money away to fly/see him @ Paisley and he's a no show. His words were he would play til eternity, i don't expect that, but if yr doing fri/sat he could do jus Sat like did, b/c let's face it, everyone's there hoping to hear/see him.

Where's the compassion for the fan's??Makes us chant it, sometimes we do need to practice what we preach. Lately i feel the fans are getting put thru the ringer, traveling for nothing. Then the time u don't travel he plays. Just not fair for the bunches of us flying from west coast to MN.

I'm just glad artists are getting there music period. No one else shuld own a song they didn't play on/write. thats straight up getting jacked!!

Gotta love this:

.

In 2013, his Warner Music Group catalog scanned 286,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan. If Prince had owned the catalog then, Billboard estimates his cut would have been nearly $1.7 million instead of the estimated $657,000 in royalties he would have been paid.

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Because Prince has been so great at keeping his non-WB output in print. Hell, the dude can't even be arsed to release things worldwide. Wanna know how much 100% of nothing is? Still nothing.

overdosethekatatonic said:

That's great!! I was irk'd he went back w/ Warner but if he can got his Master's Back, MORE POWER TO YOU!!! and all the other people who are able to get there master's back. Label is just scared b/c there not making there big check off of someone else's talent, leeches!!

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Yeah, leeches. I mean, it's not like they financed his movies, or did their utmost best to restract and destroy an album less than a week before its release, or released dozens of albums by protegee acts,...

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I mean it's not like Prince was a grown man when he RE-SIGNED AT LEAST TWICE with WB.

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The label shouldn't be making money off of his blood,sweat, and tear's. Maybe he will start playing Paisley now, b/c he's in a good mood getting his catalogue back???Hope so...

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Yeah, it's not like Prince blocked artists from releasing records by holding them to their contract with his record company. (Hint: Margie Cox.)

.

It's annoying buying a 1,000+ plane ticket on short notice to see P and having P not doing anything is kind of a slap in the face time after time. Then of course watch when i blew my money an can't make it for awhile he's goin to play, i bet on that.

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That's WB's fault? P being a douche is WB's fault?

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ANYWAY I'm stoked to see what he's going to be throwing on the 30th anniv disc. Maybe the most amazing sounding full demo of Computer Blue!!! The 14m demo i heard years ago and its aazing but def suffered from Tape Tone and prob a 3rd gen recording if not 4th. I will be buying that 30th Anniv disc. If he reissues everything from the 80s w/ bonus tracks/bonus disc worth of tracks, man that will be tight.

.

You do know that that release will be on... WARNERS! Ooooh evil!

BlackandRising said:

Quite interesting that what Prince has been denigrated and dragged through the mud for seems like it is coming to fruition. Patience pays off. Gotta say, the man had a long-term vision, stuck to his guns, and it seems to be paying off.

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The delusion is strong in this one. P stomping his feet like a spoilt brat is "long-term vision"

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You know what would have been a long-term vision? NOT SIGNING A BAD CONTRACT YOUR ENTIRE ENTOURAGE WARNS YOU ABOUT.

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Sitting on your ass for 20 years isn't doing shit.

XNY said:

Agreed. For all his tenacity and obstinance - to say the least - name another band or artist who've negotiated their entire catalog back ? (U2 may have, none other come to mind...)

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Metallica. When they renegociated their contract in 1994. Guess which record company? http://www.billboard.com/...recordings

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REM. In 1996. Guess which record company? http://articles.latimes.c...rner-bros Oh no wait, that was for the next five records they were going to make. They had already negotiated reversion of ownership rights to its current six-album Warner catalog.

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Plenty more like that. The Rolling Stones also own much of their back catalogue, everythign from 1971 on IIRC. FYI when the Stones signed with Decca back in the 1960s, "they got three times a new act's typical royalty rate, full artistic control of recordings, and ownership of the recording masters."

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Stop pretending Prince is unique. Plenty of other artists knew the value of those rights long before Prince and acted on that. Plenty of P bios will tell you P followed music classes in school which informed him of such deals. P got "screwed" because he AS A GROWN MAN was too obsessed with beating Michael Jackson's and Madonna's contracts and thus signed a "$100 million contract" that was a load of BS and did so AGAINST the advice of his entourage.

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P never cared much about his masters until it became clear to him that his new recording contract forced him to work hard to earn that money, i.e. sell 5+ million copies of each album, a feat he'd only managed twice before: with PR and with D&P -- and D&P was the result of lot of work, including a long worldwide tour.

BartVanHemelen said:

overdosethekatatonic said:

It was a total debacle of what WB put him through. If i'm understanding right he was getting his master's no matter what right since it was the Copyright Act right??

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Nope. You can bet your ass that WB would not have given up those rights just like that. Don't forget that P has signed numerous contracts over the years. This was going to be a court battle.

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Seriously, how naive are people? Yeah sure, WB was just gonna hand over that fairly lucrative back catalogue "because the law says so". Yeah, as if law isn't up for interpretation. I bet they had plenty of contracts with P's signature that could be used as proof that law didn't apply.

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He has been shafted

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No he wasn't.

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I'm just glad artists are getting there music period. No one else shuld own a song they didn't play on/write. thats straight up getting jacked!!

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Yeah, it's not like those labels PAID FOR THAT MUSIC.

.

And for the love of jebus, learn the difference between their, there and they're.

BartVanHemelen said:

laurarichardson said:

How do you know that he has been sitting on his for 20 years doing nothing.This deal was probaly in the works for more than a year and who knows he may tried other deals in the past.

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There is little evidence of that, there's plenty of evidence of P badmouthing WB and refusing to grant permission when WB really didn't even have to ask him anything. That tune only changed in the past year or so, when he GREW UP and finally started behaving like a grown-up and started proper business negociations.

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You do not look to your entourage for business decisions at the end of the day you have to make the final decision.

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Yes, it would be absurd to follow the advice of your manager and your friends who all are telling you to NOT sign a contract that is bad for you. Yes, P made the final decision and then months later regretted doing so and then started bitching how the record label was mean to him. Yeah, he really was an adult about that. Took full responsibility. Oh wait, no, he didn't.

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I know it is hard to admit it but Prince has more work ethic and persistence than most of the asshats in the music industry and he is going to laugh his ass to the bank now and you just need to get the fuck over it.

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He'll make a fraction of what he could have made if he hadn't been a stubborn child 20+ years ago. Just look at his idiotic bitching about the likes of iTunes not wanting to pay him millions of dollars for a new album and thus he didn't release anything. Let's try maths, shall we: 50% of something is still more than 100% of nothing.

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Anyone who looks at P's post-WB career (especially the last couple of years) and claims that it went as well as it could have been, is an idiot. The simple fact that Prince continues to do greatest hits tours says all you need to know. The simple fact that there's a long trail of unpaid bills and unpaid taxes says all you need to know.

XNY said:

BlackandRising said:

Quite interesting that what Prince has been denigrated and dragged through the mud for seems like it is coming to fruition. Patience pays off. Gotta say, the man had a long-term vision, stuck to his guns, and it seems to be paying off.

Agreed. For all his tenacity and obstinance - to say the least - name another band or artist who've negotiated their entire catalog back ? (U2 may have, none other come to mind...)

The Bee Gees fought for and got the rights back to their masters back in the early 80s. I'm pretty sure that's why their album "Tales from the Brothers Gibb" contained music that was released across multiple lables. Had Prince simply paid attention to the terms the Bee Gees used when they signed with WB in the 80s, he could have avoided the entire fight over masters.

[Edited 4/26/14 3:55am]

laurarichardson said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Gotta love this:

.

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Because Prince has been so great at keeping his non-WB output in print. Hell, the dude can't even be arsed to release things worldwide. Wanna know how much 100% of nothing is? Still nothing.

Are you smoking crack? Outside of the master tapes he got back by 2013 the rest of catalogue would have been WB responsibilty.It is now a really shit company that was not doing anything with the catalogue to bring in money.

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You are the one smoking crack. Emancipation is WB's responsibility? NPS? TRC? The Chocolate Invasion? 3121? Lotusflower? NEWS? Make list of all of P's non-WB output since 1996 and note how NONE of it is still in print.

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Oh and what was WB supposed to do without P's collaboration? P bitched about the CD-singles with 12" mixes they released in the early 1990s. P bitched about WB daring to release a compilation. P refused WB to include Erotic City on a compilation.

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Hell, even when he was with WB P was a bitch to work with. They paid him several millions just so he'd get out of the way and they finally could release The Hits/The B-Sides.

alandail said:

XNY said:

Agreed. For all his tenacity and obstinance - to say the least - name another band or artist who've negotiated their entire catalog back ? (U2 may have, none other come to mind...)

The Bee Gees fought for and got the rights back to their masters back in the early 80s. I'm pretty sure that's why their album "Tales from the Brothers Gibb" contained music that was released across multiple lables. Had Prince simply paid attention to the terms the Bee Gees used when they signed with WB in the 80s, he could have avoided the entire fight over masters.

[Edited 4/26/14 3:55am]

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Exactly. Plenty of artists have fought for ownership of masters long before P started using that as a phoney excuse to fight WB, because the real one -- "I'm a grown man who signed a bad contract against the advice of everyone I know because I got greedy and wanted to have the biggest record contract in the world" -- would have been pathetic.

rebelenterprise said:

@Bart formely known as genius...

you always manage to find something to complain about...

why you don't start your own career & show us how great you are. you must be a genius,

i'm not saying that prince ist perfect (who is), but give me a break.

what is your profession? are you in the music business? maybe musician, songwriter, singer

if not :

i tell you what... take a look in the mirror & ask yourself : WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

errant said:

BartVanHemelen said:

rebelenterprise said:

jdcxc said:

BartVanHemelen said:

laurarichardson said:

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Yes, it would be absurd to follow the advice of your manager and your friends who all are telling you to NOT sign a contract that is bad for you. Yes, P made the final decision and then months later regretted doing so and then started bitching how the record label was mean to him. Yeah, he really was an adult about that. Took full responsibility. Oh wait, no, he didn't.

.

I know it is hard to admit it but Prince has more work ethic and persistence than most of the asshats in the music industry and he is going to laugh his ass to the bank now and you just need to get the fuck over it.

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He'll make a fraction of what he could have made if he hadn't been a stubborn child 20+ years ago. Just look at his idiotic bitching about the likes of iTunes not wanting to pay him millions of dollars for a new album and thus he didn't release anything. Let's try maths, shall we: 50% of something is still more than 100% of nothing.

.

Anyone who looks at P's post-WB career (especially the last couple of years) and claims that it went as well as it could have been, is an idiot. The simple fact that Prince continues to do greatest hits tours says all you need to know. The simple fact that there's a long trail of unpaid bills and unpaid taxes says all you need to know.

You think of Prince as your own musical butler who should have known his place and kept serving you just the way you like it, instead of acting like a "stubborn child" who doesn't like to "work hard".

Prince doesn't owe you or any of us anything. His mistakes are his and so are the consequences. He continued to record and perform all these years without your advice or his original label -- sounds like he could put a roof over his head and employ several people just fine. Of course you did not like his output or much of anything he did, but then again no one forced you to continue to listen and keep tabs.

Now that the impossible has happened and that Prince signed a CONtract with Warners, why don't you give it a rest? Prince and his label are happy again, you can retire your decade long lecturing routine for a few months.

laurarichardson said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Gotta love this:

.

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Because Prince has been so great at keeping his non-WB output in print. Hell, the dude can't even be arsed to release things worldwide. Wanna know how much 100% of nothing is? Still nothing.

Are you smoking crack? Outside of the master tapes he got back by 2013 the rest of catalogue would have been WB responsibilty.It is now a really shit company that was not doing anything with the catalogue to bring in money.

Timing is everything

Aerogram said:

once again making the world look at the industry..as well as his music

BartVanHemelen said: