Stymie said:

Prince isn't always pleased about what he hears from today's crop of entertainers — "The quality of the music, everyone would agree is not the gold standard," he muses about today's mainstream pop universe.

He sells out on his latest album and sounds exactly like them and still has the nerve to talk about them. I've seen it all now.

vainandy said:

Joshua Welton, a young producer who is married to drummer Hanna Ford Welton of 3RDEYEGIRL (Donna Grantis and Ida Nielsen round out the trio), is one of the fresh new talents Prince marvels at; he refers to him as a "Steve Jobs" and marvels not only at his musical might, but his spiritual strength.

His faith in Welton is so strong that he shares productions with him on the album, and says for the first time, there are tracks where Prince doesn't even play an instrument, leaving it to Welton.

That article definitely explains a lot. And I called this waay back when that awful new Extraloveable track came out. I like the idea of Prince working with a producer, but there is no point in working with JOE AVERAGE, just because he is religious. You need someone on a higher level than that, religious beliefs aside. Josh is Levi and Tony M rolled into one. Besides Prince is so conservative these days there is no point in him making a pop album anymore.

Oh yeah and in classic Prince fashion, he has set JOSH up to take the fall when this album fucking tanks! 'Afterall, Prince places his faith in Josh. Prince doesn't even play on the tracks', lol. I see ya Prince!

[Edited 9/29/14 6:18am]

funksterr said:

That article definitely explains a lot. And I called this waay back when that awful new Extraloveable track came out. I like the idea of Prince working with a producer, but there is no point in working with JOE AVERAGE, just because he is religious. You need someone on a higher level than that, religious beliefs aside. Josh is Levi and Tony M rolled into one. Besides Prince is so conservative these days there is no point in him making a pop album anymore.

Oh yeah and in classic Prince fashion, he has set JOSH up to take the fall when this album fucking tanks! 'Afterall, Prince places his faith in Josh. Prince doesn't even play on the tracks', lol. I see ya Prince!

[Edited 9/29/14 6:18am]

and he doesn't even know how old his trusted producer is...

I get that he doesn't "want to look back" when making new music, but at the same time he's gotta understand this is a two-way relationship with his fans. Many of us have been with him since before PR, faithfully buying everything he puts out. So I don't think it's asking too much for him to give us what we'd like re: PR+. I mean, would it seriously kill him to allow WB to put together some *unheard* tracks from that era?

EnDoRpHn said:

Y'all seriously need to move on with your lives. Occupy Paisley Park? You need therapy.

No, we need the good tracks and Prince isn't giving them to us.

OCCUPY!!

funksterr said:

Joshua Welton, a young producer who is married to drummer Hanna Ford Welton of 3RDEYEGIRL (Donna Grantis and Ida Nielsen round out the trio), is one of the fresh new talents Prince marvels at; he refers to him as a "Steve Jobs" and marvels not only at his musical might, but his spiritual strength.

His faith in Welton is so strong that he shares productions with him on the album, and says for the first time, there are tracks where Prince doesn't even play an instrument, leaving it to Welton.

That article definitely explains a lot. And I called this waay back when that awful new Extraloveable track came out. I like the idea of Prince working with a producer, but there is no point in working with JOE AVERAGE, just because he is religious. You need someone on a higher level than that, religious beliefs aside. Josh is Levi and Tony M rolled into one. Besides Prince is so conservative these days there is no point in him making a pop album anymore.

Oh yeah and in classic Prince fashion, he has set JOSH up to take the fall when this album fucking tanks! 'Afterall, Prince places his faith in Josh. Prince doesn't even play on the tracks', lol. I see ya Prince!

[Edited 9/29/14 6:18am]

shit a friggin' brick mate! - so Prince can't even compliment someone now without there being some evil motive?. I fuckin' despair, I really do. Would love to throw every MF swear word at you right now but would get banned.

BartVanHemelen said:

Gotta love the numerous lies.

.

But after savvy legal maneuvering, he owns the rights to all of his vast collections of hits, including archival music that Prince fans have been longing to hear for decades. Prince also gained control of the publishing rights to his compositions and has performance rights — which means he completely controls his own musical destiny.

.

Prince has always had control of his publishing. Warner Chappell Music simply administered it for him until the late 1990s (when their deal ended), since then he had Universal manage it.

.

In the past, Warner Bros. held the rights to Prince's music, even long after he left, as part of the contract he signed as a new artist.

.

Oh yes, the big record company abusing the poor little artist.

Let's ignore that Prince had several options, and that he's renewed that contract several times as an adult.

Let's also ignore that when he signed the $100 million deal he did so against the recommendations of his advisers and entourage.

Let's also ignore that REM had already gained control of their back catalogue at that same time, and that their new contract also had them gain control of their future master recordings.

.

The simple fact that once again Prince is spreading lies says plenty.

.

Also: crap work by that reporter. How about INVESTIGATING things instead of just parrotting what someone tells you?

--

http://www.ibtimes.com/warner-bros-expected-layoff-nearly-1000-people-cut-costs-report-1691002

Warner Bros. Expected To Layoff Nearly 1,000 People To Cut Costs: Report

Warner Bros. Entertainment is set to cut nearly 1,000 jobs worldwide in an effort to cut costs, Variety magazine reported Wednesday, citing senior company officials. The staff reduction will amount to nearly 10 percent of the California-based company’s 9,000-strong global workforce.

The job cuts are expected to take place in October or early November, Variety reported, adding that the studio’s CEO Kevin Tsujihara reportedly sent out an email in September, warning employees of impending layoffs. It was unclear which departments would be affected but company officials reportedly said that the job cuts would occur across various levels of the studio hierarchy. However, the television and film production units are expected to be hurt the least because the company plans to increase its output in these segments.

“Since I became CEO, I’ve been working with the Studio’s senior management team to create a plan to position Warner Bros. for future growth,” Tsujihara told his employees in the email, according to Variety, adding: “This will require us to reduce costs and reallocate resources to our high-growth businesses.”

Dee Dee Myers, Warner Bros.’ new executive vice president of corporate communications, told Variety: “There is no head count target or percentage reduction target,” adding: “This is a budget issue, not a head count issue.”

The last time the studio reduced its headcount was reportedly in 2009 when 800 people lost their jobs. Time Warner, the studio’s parent company, also faces other challenges as investors have asked the company to reduce costs, after Rupert Murdoch’s Twentieth Century Fox decided to pull back its $80 billion bid in August.

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes brushed off rumors that the company was planning to hive off HBO as a separate company, Variety reported, citing sources. The company is also reviewing Turner Broadcasting, which owns CNN and TBS, and had reportedly offered buyouts to nearly 600 employees last month.

Warner Bros. has had a good run of late, scoring hits on the big screen as well as in television, with series like the “Big Bang Theory,” “Mike & Molly” and “Two and a Half Men.” The studio is also set to launch a Harry Potter spin-off series named “Fantastic Beasts” while its recent box-office hits include “The Lego Movie” and a remake of “Godzilla,” and the company also has other movies lined up, including “Batman v Superman,” “Horrible Bosses 2″ and the third and final “Hobbit.”

BartVanHemelen said:

Gotta love the numerous lies.

.

But after savvy legal maneuvering, he owns the rights to all of his vast collections of hits, including archival music that Prince fans have been longing to hear for decades. Prince also gained control of the publishing rights to his compositions and has performance rights — which means he completely controls his own musical destiny.

.

Prince has always had control of his publishing. Warner Chappell Music simply administered it for him until the late 1990s (when their deal ended), since then he had Universal manage it.

.

In the past, Warner Bros. held the rights to Prince's music, even long after he left, as part of the contract he signed as a new artist.

.

Oh yes, the big record company abusing the poor little artist.

Let's ignore that Prince had several options, and that he's renewed that contract several times as an adult.

Let's also ignore that when he signed the $100 million deal he did so against the recommendations of his advisers and entourage.

Let's also ignore that REM had already gained control of their back catalogue at that same time, and that their new contract also had them gain control of their future master recordings.

.

The simple fact that once again Prince is spreading lies says plenty.

.

Also: crap work by that reporter. How about INVESTIGATING things instead of just parrotting what someone tells you?

So you're saying Prince had 100 percent control of his music or his publishing in the 90's? Please clarify because Publishing rights and ownership of actual sound recordings are two separate entities. If he owned his music, how could warners put out greatest hits albums without his approval? Under your theory that prince owned his music, Prince would have had to issue the sound recordings to Warners to release those records.

If we are talking about publishing, Prince did not own his own 100% of his publishing. He may have owned 60% but not all of it, especially while under a recording contracts because publishing is where the money is really made. No one is putting an album on anyone without have a piece of the publishing for that record or for a period of time. I'm trying to figure out what you're trying to say Prince lied about and have it make sense because if Prince owned ALL his sound recordings AND his publishing by 2000. Then Warners released the very best of prince while having no copyright of the music and no piece of the publishing? WTF?

Having a company MANAGE your publishing rights, e.g. I pay you a salary to monitor and collect money for songs played in any forum, has absolutely zilch to do with ownership of your publishing. I can leave BMI and go to any other company but that doesn't change a damn thing written in a contract.

And yes big labels have a history of abusing little artists. Debateable as it pertains to Prince but factual.

The fact that Prince renegotiated his contracts several times is known and was addressed even on oprah in 1996 or 97 and in several articles during that 'slave' era. That doesn't mean you can't have a problem with the contract when you discover a term in that deal you don't like. It happens everyday in every business in the world. Are you going to pretend that every BUSINESS ENTITY keeps their word because they signed a contract? Had Prince met the absurd terms of his contract, warners would have bought his ass out so fast just to stop the bleeding. The fact is Warners signed Prince to that deal because they knew the terms could never be met to pay him hundreds of millions.

The fact is Warners gave prince his masters only to negotiate a term to use those recordings and profit off of them, which matter to them NOW because the copyrights were about to revert back to Prince anyway. This fact means that Prince could not possibly have owned his music nor 100% of the publishing rights to the music created under his warners contract. Warners waited Prince out until it came time for Purple Rain to revert and came to the table. It has zilch to do with REM or anyone else who has their masters. As it pertains to Prince, he got his masters when it made business sense for Warners to give them to him as a negotiating tool.

sorry but the Josh trax are the best trax on the record .. easily .. funknroll u know waybackhome time .. i guess p didnt play much on plectrum either .. gawd the singing on a couple trax is amazing tho .. breakdown and way back home .. but most of the singing and lyrics are awful .. if prince isnt even playing on either record he really has no talent left .. or maybe he never had any real talent and it took uncredited collaborations to get his golden era .. josh and andy allo improved prince sound .. p by himself is the same old bore .. the 3eg girls are all awful tho and the pe record is going absolutely nowhere .. i mean this shit will not move units at all .. aoa has a chance i suppose .. p lack of enthusiasm for pr remaster is just p being the dumb shit who put out 20 crap records in a row .. he must not have written much of pr to try to distance himself so much .. he must really hate that he let a band into his sphere and they made such good music together and now he can write a song on his own to save his life .. pr should be a double disk set plus a deluxe box set .. like any other classic album package that has come out .. p must really have his head twisted by that jw cult with his lyrics and all that shame his cult puts on him for being sexual .. cults kill music!!

Polo1026 said:

BartVanHemelen said:

If he owned his music, how could warners put out greatest hits albums without his approval? Under your theory that prince owned his music, Prince would have had to issue the sound recordings to Warners to release those records.

ULTIMATE was, sadly, submitted to approval by Prince.

SuperFurryAnimal said:

TrevorAyer said:

sorry but the Josh trax are the best trax on the record .. easily .. funknroll u know waybackhome time .. i guess p didnt play much on plectrum either .. gawd the singing on a couple trax is amazing tho .. breakdown and way back home .. but most of the singing and lyrics are awful .. if prince isnt even playing on either record he really has no talent left .. or maybe he never had any real talent and it took uncredited collaborations to get his golden era .. josh and andy allo improved prince sound .. p by himself is the same old bore .. the 3eg girls are all awful tho and the pe record is going absolutely nowhere .. i mean this shit will not move units at all .. aoa has a chance i suppose .. p lack of enthusiasm for pr remaster is just p being the dumb shit who put out 20 crap records in a row .. he must not have written much of pr to try to distance himself so much .. he must really hate that he let a band into his sphere and they made such good music together and now he can write a song on his own to save his life .. pr should be a double disk set plus a deluxe box set .. like any other classic album package that has come out .. p must really have his head twisted by that jw cult with his lyrics and all that shame his cult puts on him for being sexual .. cults kill music!!

Has anyone claimed that Josh WROTE the tracks? And we don't really know which tracks he's talking about. I don't think Time is one of them.

BartVanHemelen said:

RODSERLING said:

funkyhead said:

funksterr said:

That article definitely explains a lot. And I called this waay back when that awful new Extraloveable track came out. I like the idea of Prince working with a producer, but there is no point in working with JOE AVERAGE, just because he is religious. You need someone on a higher level than that, religious beliefs aside. Josh is Levi and Tony M rolled into one. Besides Prince is so conservative these days there is no point in him making a pop album anymore.

Oh yeah and in classic Prince fashion, he has set JOSH up to take the fall when this album fucking tanks! 'Afterall, Prince places his faith in Josh. Prince doesn't even play on the tracks', lol. I see ya Prince!

[Edited 9/29/14 6:18am]

shit a friggin' brick mate! - so Prince can't even compliment someone now without there being some evil motive?. I fuckin' despair, I really do. Would love to throw every MF swear word at you right now but would get banned.

Don't be naive. This is Hollywood. Artist's give interviews with an agenda. It's telling, imo, that Prince decides to reveal that he played a minimal role in AOA. Because he has played a minimal role on tracks from time to time, during his career, but not owned up to it, until now. I don't think he is a big believer in the new sound. It's OK. Morris Day didn't have full faith and cofidence in 'Condensate' either and it's a fantastic album. It can be hard to ask someone, playing the frontman role, of a project to try a radical change to what they do. Prince, to his credit, chose his man and let him do his job. However, Prince is seperating himself from the project a bit by saying well 'Josh plays all the instruments' and 'we are a collective, best idea wins'. In a sales climate where JLo, Mariah Carey, and Maroon 5 have all seen there new albums tank, I think Prince, being the veteran, and ultimate survivor, bought himself a lifeline the day before his album drops, by putting it all on the kids should he suffer a similar cold shudder from the marketplace. Go 'head Prince!

XSX said:

And on page 3:

He's working on a re-release of the epic "Purple Rain" album for its 30th anniversary, but when asked if he's excited about it, he flatly says no.

"Same album, just state-of-the-art sound," he says. "It's nice that it sounds better for the fans but I live in the now. I don't have to go backwards to celebrate."

He had no hesitation about working with Warner Bros again (after entering what his lawyer called an "amazing deal"): "I don't deal in history nor should they," he says. "It's not the entity that's the problem."

Sometimes when I read some of the comments made by Prince..I just shake my head. Anyway, I'll gladly take (and celebrate) the remasters of his classic albums over his new music, anyday, everyday! I'm still excited about the remaster of Purple Rain. I'm sure it will have extended versions and b-sides made during this period. Now will it have unreleased music...your guess is as good as mine. (Getting back to Prince) I wonder is he happy? I mean, he's won. He's loved by millions. He has millions of dollars, and he owns all of his music. I just don't get why he still seems so angry, and negative in his interviews? It's kind of sad.

[Edited 9/29/14 8:38am]

"If you don't try, how will you get another 'Insatiable?'"

Shows how his head is sometimes not quite right about what fans want more of. That's a nice song and all, but really??

vainandy said:

Stymie said:

Prince isn't always pleased about what he hears from today's crop of entertainers — "The quality of the music, everyone would agree is not the gold standard," he muses about today's mainstream pop universe.

He sells out on his latest album and sounds exactly like them and still has the nerve to talk about them. I've seen it all now.

I know right? LOL. Like all of his albums since 1993 have been "The Gold Standard". (Hello 20Ten)

Scarfo said:

XSX said:

And on page 3:

He's working on a re-release of the epic "Purple Rain" album for its 30th anniversary, but when asked if he's excited about it, he flatly says no.

"Same album, just state-of-the-art sound," he says. "It's nice that it sounds better for the fans but I live in the now. I don't have to go backwards to celebrate."

He had no hesitation about working with Warner Bros again (after entering what his lawyer called an "amazing deal"): "I don't deal in history nor should they," he says. "It's not the entity that's the problem."

Sometimes when I read some of the comments made by Prince..I just shake my head. Anyway, I'll gladly take (and celebrate) the remasters of his classic albums over his new music, anyday, everyday! I'm still excited about the remaster of Purple Rain. I'm sure it will have extended versions and b-sides made during this period. Now will it have unreleased music...your guess is as good as mine. (Getting back to Prince) I wonder is he happy? I mean, he's won. He's loved by millions. He has millions of dollars, and he owns all of his music. I just don't get why he still seems so angry, and negative in his interviews? It's kind of sad.

[Edited 9/29/14 8:38am]

I believe it's because he knows that he's infinitely more talented and creative than the majority of artists topping the charts but it's only his classic hits that get radio play. He's stated in numerous concerts for the audience to call their radio stations.

-

What Prince cannot change is that the world is full of people that will bop their heads and buy whatever is current regardless of talent. I have a brother that falls into that catagory.

I can see Prince shaking his head as wannabes like justin timberlake and useless kayne west score hits and success. But that's life.

-

I wish Prince could ignore that fact of life and just make the music he wants without regard for its chart or mainstream success but the competitive streak in him can't let it go.

-

Even though Prince sells out concerts, it's his classic hits that the casual fans want to hear and that only reinforces his dilemma.

Ehhh...Prince has a habit of spouting off about things and things turning out completely different. Remember not long ago Prince was posturing that he would "bypass" iTunes and release PlectrumElectrum lossless on a USB, and we see what happened there. I suspect in the end we will get a remastered PR with extras and outtakes, it just might take longer than we might like for it to happen. Speaking of iTunes, Prince slagging the U2/Apple deal is just him jumping on a populist bandwagon. It wasn't that long ago this was Prince's preferred business model (a multi-million dollar upfront payment from a big corporation and giving the album away for free).

Also, sorry for the copy and paste, but this keeps coming up:

redflag said:

I'll say this again...Warner Bros. Entertainment (the movie studio, DC Comics, etc.) the company doing the layoffs no longer own Warner Music. When the music biz imploded most of the megacorps sold off their music divisions (Universal to Vivendi for example). Only Sony kept their music operations. Warner Music is now owned by Access Industries and their only link to WBE is a royalty-free license for the WB name and logo.

http://www.accessindustri...h_wmg.html

MendesCity said:

"If you don't try, how will you get another 'Insatiable?'"

Shows how his head is sometimes not quite right about what fans want more of. That's a nice song and all, but really??

I must say, it's always been one of my favorite Prince ballads.

why can u people find negativity everytime he says something.....he sounds very giving

paulludvig said:

TrevorAyer said:

sorry but the Josh trax are the best trax on the record .. easily .. funknroll u know waybackhome time .. i guess p didnt play much on plectrum either .. gawd the singing on a couple trax is amazing tho .. breakdown and way back home .. but most of the singing and lyrics are awful .. if prince isnt even playing on either record he really has no talent left .. or maybe he never had any real talent and it took uncredited collaborations to get his golden era .. josh and andy allo improved prince sound .. p by himself is the same old bore .. the 3eg girls are all awful tho and the pe record is going absolutely nowhere .. i mean this shit will not move units at all .. aoa has a chance i suppose .. p lack of enthusiasm for pr remaster is just p being the dumb shit who put out 20 crap records in a row .. he must not have written much of pr to try to distance himself so much .. he must really hate that he let a band into his sphere and they made such good music together and now he can write a song on his own to save his life .. pr should be a double disk set plus a deluxe box set .. like any other classic album package that has come out .. p must really have his head twisted by that jw cult with his lyrics and all that shame his cult puts on him for being sexual .. cults kill music!!

Has anyone claimed that Josh WROTE the tracks? And we don't really know which tracks he's talking about. I don't think Time is one of them.

prince says josh completely wrote the music on some of the tracks .. i am guessing the more electronic songs are josh and the ones with more instruments are prince .. basically breakfast is prince u know is josh

Boy, Bart is right, Prince just lies. He hated Warners at one time. He plays Purple Rain to death in concert but wants to look forward, is he fucking kidding?

I'd look forward too when my new music is so shitty.

2freaky4church1 said:

Boy, Bart is right, Prince just lies. He hated Warners at one time. He plays Purple Rain to death in concert but wants to look forward, is he fucking kidding?

I'd look forward too when my new music is so shitty.

i think might be an autopilot media drone at this point .. dismissing his past and pr is good promotion for his new stuff .. he thinks if he says that people will take an interest .. i dont think he thinks about it .. i think he just says it . he probably shouldn't do interviews but he wouldn't need to if the music was better

funksterr said:

funkyhead said:

shit a friggin' brick mate! - so Prince can't even compliment someone now without there being some evil motive?. I fuckin' despair, I really do. Would love to throw every MF swear word at you right now but would get banned.

Don't be naive. This is Hollywood. Artist's give interviews with an agenda. It's telling, imo, that Prince decides to reveal that he played a minimal role in AOA. Because he has played a minimal role on tracks from time to time, during his career, but not owned up to it, until now. I don't think he is a big believer in the new sound. It's OK. Morris Day didn't have full faith and cofidence in 'Condensate' either and it's a fantastic album. It can be hard to ask someone, playing the frontman role, of a project to try a radical change to what they do. Prince, to his credit, chose his man and let him do his job. However, Prince is seperating himself from the project a bit by saying well 'Josh plays all the instruments' and 'we are a collective, best idea wins'. In a sales climate where JLo, Mariah Carey, and Maroon 5 have all seen there new albums tank, I think Prince, being the veteran, and ultimate survivor, bought himself a lifeline the day before his album drops, by putting it all on the kids should he suffer a similar cold shudder from the marketplace. Go 'head Prince!

I rarely see someone read so much into a scattering of comments as you did, I thought I was reading Bart for a second. Prince gives a kid props and you interpret that giving himself some lifeline should his album not reach multi platinum. Thats the stupidest thing I've read in a long time considering he almost half of what the man released in the 90's didn't sell well and little of what was released on the 00's sold well either. Why the hell would he suddenly assume an albums that's not really been promoted all that heavily and with zero air play would somehow be a big seller? Bullshite.. your comments seem to be directed to a strawman.

And with respect to your second and third sentences, artists give interviews with an agenda when they're working with their PR teams and are being managed. Prince if you havent noticed, says whats on his mind very often without overarching rhyme or reason and he doesn't have anyone looking over his shoulder telling what he should and shouldnt say. So to say he went in to any interview with some agenda and actually follows through with any agenda is reaching... heavily. If he did his interviews would have much different results than they consistently do.

funksterr said:

funkyhead said:

shit a friggin' brick mate! - so Prince can't even compliment someone now without there being some evil motive?. I fuckin' despair, I really do. Would love to throw every MF swear word at you right now but would get banned.

Don't be naive. This is Hollywood. Artist's give interviews with an agenda. It's telling, imo, that Prince decides to reveal that he played a minimal role in AOA. Because he has played a minimal role on tracks from time to time, during his career, but not owned up to it, until now. I don't think he is a big believer in the new sound. It's OK. Morris Day didn't have full faith and cofidence in 'Condensate' either and it's a fantastic album. It can be hard to ask someone, playing the frontman role, of a project to try a radical change to what they do. Prince, to his credit, chose his man and let him do his job. However, Prince is seperating himself from the project a bit by saying well 'Josh plays all the instruments' and 'we are a collective, best idea wins'. In a sales climate where JLo, Mariah Carey, and Maroon 5 have all seen there new albums tank, I think Prince, being the veteran, and ultimate survivor, bought himself a lifeline the day before his album drops, by putting it all on the kids should he suffer a similar cold shudder from the marketplace. Go 'head Prince!

He didn't say that he played a minimal role on the entire album. And what tracks from the pasr are you talking about?