If WB decide to release the remastered PR without Prince's involvement one good thing that might come of this is that Prince retires his setlist based on song from the PR album to avoid promoting a WB product

paulludvig said:

Noodled24 said:

Not really. If there is genuinely a market for it then Prince doesn't have to do anything. Was it the Hits/1/2/b-sides collection he asked fans not to buy? - That was hugely successful.

No, it wasn't successfull at all. They released 2 singles out of this collection (PEACH and PINK CASHMERE) and they all flopped terribly, even in the UK. When you know that Prince received 6 millions in order to shut up and let WB chose the tracklist, you can't consider that successfull I'm sorry.

Why did it flop ? Mainly because Prince wasn't fully involved. No music video. No promotion tour. No tv specials. Only constant bashing from Prince.

Of course, it also flopped because there was no BATMAN music (there was Partyman on a maxi of Pink Cashmere IIRC) but that doesn't explain the new singles' flop.

So thank you to have underline this perfect instance, showing that you can't promote a thing properly without the artist's involvement, even with all the good will in the world.

WB know that if they release PR without Prince, he will release something else in the same time to compete with, and he would constantly bash the reissue in the media. Without Prince's involvement, the record can't get GOLD, and they already sell it at 100 k copies a year without doing nothing. So, why would they bother ?

paulludvig said:

Rebeljuice said:

Care to share your sources that clearly state this?

As far as I am concerned there has been only one press release regarding the Prince/WB contract. It was not very detailed and nothing has officially been said since. The org has been rife with speculation for months and many, it seems, are confusing that speculation with fact.

Whilst I agree it is doubtful the movie is involved in the contract signed between WB Records and Prince, there is nothing that clearly states thats the case. Likewise the "fact" Prince already has his masters back. As far as I can tell, the only source for this has been taken from is iTunes. I havent heard from either party involved that this is actually the case.

Regardless of that, there has been nothing from either party that clearly states anything other than the original press release stating there will be a PR reissue which will include unheard songs. Just because it has yet to happen means nothing. We can all read into it what we like, but clearly nothing has been stated to the contrary so there is little point in speculating the whole myriad of possibilities.

A contract has been signed. This we know. The contract includes new music, a PR reissue with unheard songs. This we know. Everything else we do not know and every other possibility raised here on the org has come from someone's opinion and view point based on nothing but speculation.

The only thing that has been clearly stated is what was in the original press release. Nothing else comes accross as particularly clear or, indeed, true or not.

Based on that then, I say the PR reissue is still going to happen and it will include unheard songs. That is what was contractually agreed by both parties. And thats all we know. That is clear.

And of course unheard in this context means unheard by the general public, not unheard by collectors of bootlegs.

Probably... But you never know....

Has anyone seen a copy of the original press release? I've never been able to find it

RODSERLING said:

You really want to use the movie to promote the reissue ? Not only it would have been a bad idea, but it was clearly stated that the movie is not part of the contract. Only music. Like it was clearly stated that Prince owes his masters now.

You think using the movie Purple Rain is a bad idea in terms of promoting the soundtrack album "Purple Rain".

Where was it stated the movie is not part of the contract?

You think a documentary will have the same impact as of a worldwide tour ? You're not serious...The worldwide tour is the only way to make tons of money for everyone. Without a worldwide tour, there is no reason to promote an album.

It's a Soundtrack album to the movie. One TV screening of the movie can reach more people in 2 hours than Prince could reach in 2 months. Did Jackson tour any of his remasters? No. They had Spike Lee shoot a documentary.

Of course, some documentaries and tv events are a good way to promote, but they must be tied up with a worldwide tour.

You're confusing what you want with what "needs" to happen.

Prince tours reasonably frequently anyway, so he's always vicariously promoting his own back catalog.

Remember INVINCIBLE ? There was a special tv show-concert broadcast on november 2001 that made 27 millions watchers in the usa, but it didn't really help the album. And without a worldwide tour by MJ, Sony gave up the promotion. That's the way things go in the industry. The scheme is always the same.

Was that a remaster? or an album of new material?

[Edited 2/6/15 12:34pm]

Welcome to the dawn, you have just accessed the duplicate post experience...

[Edited 2/6/15 12:32pm]

RODSERLING said:

No, it wasn't successfull at all. They released 2 singles out of this collection (PEACH and PINK CASHMERE) and they all flopped terribly, even in the UK. When you know that Prince received 6 millions in order to shut up and let WB chose the tracklist, you can't consider that successfull I'm sorry.

Well... you say that but, Peach hit the top 20 in the UK as a single. Controversy was also re-released and got to #5 in the singles chart. His popularity was at an all time peak outside of the USA. His first UK #1 was yet to come.

The Hits 1 went top 5 in the UK and was in the chart for Twenty-seven weeks.

The Hits 2 went top 5 in the UK and was in the chart for Twenty-eight weeks.

The Hits/B-sides also went top 5 and was in the chart for Fourteen weeks. (it cost £39.99/$60.00)

He had 3 top 5 albums in the chart at the same time with 2 of them staying in the chart for half a year... you think that's a flop?

Why did it flop ? Mainly because Prince wasn't fully involved. No music video. No promotion tour. No tv specials. Only constant bashing from Prince.

It didn't flop?

I'll add here that the hits/bsides was released just under a year since since the #1 album and Prince had continued to release singles from that album.

WB had released the Hits set it was a monster seller, all the while Prince was asking fans not to buy that and to listen to the new music - and he was still putting out #1 albums and top 10 single with near complete consistency. Yet the WB set the fans and the public loved. The images in that set are some of the most iconic of his career.

Of course, it also flopped because there was no BATMAN music (there was Partyman on a maxi of Pink Cashmere IIRC) but that doesn't explain the new singles' flop.

Peach hit the UK top 20. I don't know if Pink Cashmere was released in the UK, the video was just a mish-mash of clips?

So thank you to have underline this perfect instance, showing that you can't promote a thing properly without the artist's involvement, even with all the good will in the world.

WB know that if they release PR without Prince, he will release something else in the same time to compete with, and he would constantly bash the reissue in the media. Without Prince's involvement, the record can't get GOLD, and they already sell it at 100 k copies a year without doing nothing. So, why would they bother ?

WB don't need Prince to flog copies of Purple Rain. You've already said it sells 100k each year. A few TV screenings of the movie, the documentary, the concert, and TV ads for the remaster is all that's needed. It would be even better if Prince turned up on talk shows told some Purple Rain anecdotes and played a song from the album... Perhaps that's why they were willing to let him put out a new album (AOA) and even indulge him with the 3EG.

jaawwnn said:

Has anyone seen a copy of the original press release? I've never been able to find it

.

If you'd bothered to read the posts, you'd have noticed I linked to another thread which featured it.

Noodled24 said:

The Hits 1 went top 5 in the UK and was in the chart for Twenty-seven weeks.

The Hits 2 went top 5 in the UK and was in the chart for Twenty-eight weeks.

The Hits/B-sides also went top 5 and was in the chart for Fourteen weeks. (it cost £39.99/$60.00)

He had 3 top 5 albums in the chart at the same time with 2 of them staying in the chart for half a year... you think that's a flop?

.

TH/TBS did far less well than it should have. The next two compilations also underperformed severely, with Ultimate suffering because Prince basically sabotaged it and WBR being nuts enough to involve him and respect his wishes.

.

WB don't need Prince to flog copies of Purple Rain. You've already said it sells 100k each year. A few TV screenings of the movie, the documentary, the concert, and TV ads for the remaster is all that's needed. It would be even better if Prince turned up on talk shows told some Purple Rain anecdotes and played a song from the album...

.

Which was never gonna happen.

.

Perhaps that's why they were willing to let him put out a new album (AOA) and even indulge him with the 3EG.

.

AOA was WBR compromising with Prince: "we want to do remasters, you want to release a new album". 3EG getting released was WBR being fed up with Prince whining for weeks and giving in to his demands in exchange for about zero promotional effort for AOA on their side. (Do we know this for sure? No. But it's in line with previous deals and all evidence points this way. Perhaps one day someone from WBR will talk shop about this deal to a reporter and we'll find out the real backstage shenanigans. Wouldn't be surprised if they're even worse than what we expected, like in the case with Arista and Clive Davis being surprised Prince was exactly the kind of ass his collegues in the music biz had told him he was.)

BartVanHemelen said:

jaawwnn said:

Has anyone seen a copy of the original press release? I've never been able to find it

.

If you'd bothered to read the posts, you'd have noticed I linked to another thread which featured it.

Your link has expired.

BartVanHemelen said:

Noodled24 said:

The Hits 1 went top 5 in the UK and was in the chart for Twenty-seven weeks.

The Hits 2 went top 5 in the UK and was in the chart for Twenty-eight weeks.

The Hits/B-sides also went top 5 and was in the chart for Fourteen weeks. (it cost £39.99/$60.00)

He had 3 top 5 albums in the chart at the same time with 2 of them staying in the chart for half a year... you think that's a flop?

.

TH/TBS did far less well than it should have. The next two compilations also underperformed severely, with Ultimate suffering because Prince basically sabotaged it and WBR being nuts enough to involve him and respect his wishes.

Did it? Prince was promoting the album at the time but by doing that he was also promoting the hits by proxy. Tours weren't all new material.

One album charting 3 places in the top 5 in the UK sales chart is pretty impressive. Especially just under a year since a new album was released. I expect WB were fairly pleased much to the chagrin of Prince (Who'd specifically asked his fans to ignore it). Granted if he'd done something for it he might have got one of them to #1 but he was still pushing the album.

Perhaps that's why they were willing to let him put out a new album (AOA) and even indulge him with the 3EG.

.

AOA was WBR compromising with Prince: "we want to do remasters, you want to release a new album". 3EG getting released was WBR being fed up with Prince whining for weeks and giving in to his demands in exchange for about zero promotional effort for AOA on their side. (Do we know this for sure? No. But it's in line with previous deals and all evidence points this way. Perhaps one day someone from WBR will talk shop about this deal to a reporter and we'll find out the real backstage shenanigans. Wouldn't be surprised if they're even worse than what we expected, like in the case with Arista and Clive Davis being surprised Prince was exactly the kind of ass his collegues in the music biz had told him he was.)

I don't disagree with any of that. They'd just inked a new deal with him, in an attempt to keep him sweet they let him put out a new album before they put out a remaster. They even indulged the 3EG release which they obviously didn't want to do. It suggests a great deal of good will on the part of WB. Which is nothing short of incredible.

[Edited 2/7/15 13:02pm]

BartVanHemelen said:

Noodled24 said:

The Hits 1 went top 5 in the UK and was in the chart for Twenty-seven weeks.

The Hits 2 went top 5 in the UK and was in the chart for Twenty-eight weeks.

The Hits/B-sides also went top 5 and was in the chart for Fourteen weeks. (it cost £39.99/$60.00)

He had 3 top 5 albums in the chart at the same time with 2 of them staying in the chart for half a year... you think that's a flop?

.

TH/TBS did far less well than it should have. The next two compilations also underperformed severely, with Ultimate suffering because Prince basically sabotaged it and WBR being nuts enough to involve him and respect his wishes.

.

.

Which was never gonna happen.

.

Perhaps that's why they were willing to let him put out a new album (AOA) and even indulge him with the 3EG.

.

AOA was WBR compromising with Prince: "we want to do remasters, you want to release a new album". 3EG getting released was WBR being fed up with Prince whining for weeks and giving in to his demands in exchange for about zero promotional effort for AOA on their side. (Do we know this for sure? No. But it's in line with previous deals and all evidence points this way. Perhaps one day someone from WBR will talk shop about this deal to a reporter and we'll find out the real backstage shenanigans. Wouldn't be surprised if they're even worse than what we expected, like in the case with Arista and Clive Davis being surprised Prince was exactly the kind of ass his collegues in the music biz had told him he was.)

You like to speculate. Last time, you were saying you're almost sure, now you present it as fact by linking your musings on AOA/PLEL to what happened with Clive Davis, which is documented whereas you have nothing solid to back up your hunch that WB indulged Prince with the release of two records and some shit went down. Something happened, 100 % chance of Prince being a divo, but why act as if you knew for sure what happened? You don't.

Noodled24 said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

AOA was WBR compromising with Prince: "we want to do remasters, you want to release a new album". 3EG getting released was WBR being fed up with Prince whining for weeks and giving in to his demands in exchange for about zero promotional effort for AOA on their side. (Do we know this for sure? No. But it's in line with previous deals and all evidence points this way. Perhaps one day someone from WBR will talk shop about this deal to a reporter and we'll find out the real backstage shenanigans. Wouldn't be surprised if they're even worse than what we expected, like in the case with Arista and Clive Davis being surprised Prince was exactly the kind of ass his collegues in the music biz had told him he was.)

I don't disagree with any of that. They'd just inked a new deal with him, in an attempt to keep him sweet they let him put out a new album before they put out a remaster. They even indulged the 3EG release which they obviously didn't want to do. It suggests a great deal of good will on the part of WB. Which is nothing short of incredible.

[Edited 2/7/15 11:54am]

The wb releasing PlectrumElectrum should have made a very happy man. Eye mean he was promoting that project 4 seems like years and years. Even going as far as signing with Kobalt. When it was announced that the wb was releasing both. I knew the Purple Rain remaster would b delayed..

[Edited 2/7/15 15:20pm]

SchlomoThaHomo said:

It does feel a bit silly now to have even been excited about this entire AOA/PLEC/PR30 era, considering how quickly he seems to have lost interest in all of it. This has to be a record for him. Even 20Ten, which didn't see a release in his home country, had some exstensive touring behind it.

He did one SNL appearance which has now been milked twice for promo videos. We all know Prince has a much stronger work ethic than that. WTF happened?!

Prince loses interest in a new album as soon as it's officially released

..

[Edited 2/7/15 15:16pm]

Prince played possum long enough to regain ownership of his master recordings that he recorded for Warner Bros. He bided his time for decades to get what he considers to be his "children" and now is waiting for WB to make their move. Not surprised at all.

BartVanHemelen said:

.

AOA was WBR compromising with Prince: "we want to do remasters, you want to release a new album". 3EG getting released was WBR being fed up with Prince whining for weeks and giving in to his demands in exchange for about zero promotional effort for AOA on their side. (Do we know this for sure? No. But it's in line with previous deals and all evidence points this way. Perhaps one day someone from WBR will talk shop about this deal to a reporter and we'll find out the real backstage shenanigans. Wouldn't be surprised if they're even worse than what we expected, like in the case with Arista and Clive Davis being surprised Prince was exactly the kind of ass his collegues in the music biz had told him he was.)

This doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't WBR want to promote the record? Promotion isn't something record companies do to be nice to the artist - or something they are likely to withhold if the artist doesn't play ball. Record companies promote their product to make more money. It's a business.

Prince outsmarted himself, yet again, in his WB distribution-only deal. That essentially means, he has to pay costs of promotion from his own little diva pocket. I don't think he truly has enough available funds to do it. Hence the tour. He's been in non-stop audition mode with 3EG and the Purple Rain heavy setlists, and lighting and shit for at least a year now. He's ready to go, not even talking about residencies anymore, he's going to travel around the world, right? His stage banter is like he's saying to some corporate bigwigs somewhere, 'See, I'm playing ball. I'm doing what you never thought I would do. I'm playing the game. I'm humbling myself. Cut me that check'. I think he bet on AOA to blow up to the point he could pay his PR costs out of the profits. When that backfired, tour deal. That didn't happen because PR didn't come out, PE tanked, AOA was soft, and Prince was morally opposed to Rev and Time reunions, so there wasn't anything to drive the gate. All my personal speculation, of course...

Noodled24 said:

RODSERLING said:

Prince already has his masters back.

WB doesn't care anymore about a 30 th anniversary re-release. 2014 is over. Prince released 2 albums that both flopped spectacularly, and he didn't do anything to save them on the charts. So WB understood that even if they re released PR 30th, there won't be any involvement of Prince in promotionning the deluxe set. So why bother ? No matter what is left undone by this deal (worldwide tour, etc.) it's holding back Prince carreer for sure (he didn't do anything since the 2 albums were announced last august)

How do you know he has his masters back?

Of course WB care about milking more money from Purple Rain. They're in the music business. It's what they do. Regardless of if Prince is involved or not. It's his biggest selling record. You think WB are just gonna say "OK Prince we're done with Purple Rain now - you can have it back"?

The masters are listed now at NPGMUSIC Publishing or something like that. There was a topic about that here months ago.

Without WB doing nothing, PR sold last year between 75/100 k ex. in the USA. There is a market for sure, but before printing expensive deluxe sets, collector editions ,etc. they must be assured that Prince is involved in promoting it.

From what the insiders said, a worldwide tour was scheduled in order to promote PR. It should have been tv specials events etc. They wanted it to be huge. Prince canceled all those things

Why don't you think they didn't released the PR DELUXE ? THey already have all the materials they need to. They signed a contract, as you know it. They could promote it themselves without Prince. But they know it won't work if Prince is not fully behind the release. Look above what has been said about the 2004 dvd.

With Prince's involvment and on capitalizing of a comeback for the 30th anniversary (and further reeditions on the run), they could have make huge money. We are talking about millions of copies sold in the US alone.

So, maybe Prince on the papers has his masters back but... WB is still holding the money. There is something fishy about this contract.

[Edited 2/5/15 8:38am]

Noodled24 said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

If you'd bothered to read the posts, you'd have noticed I linked to another thread which featured it.

Your link has expired.

.

Oh goddammit has the "bad org link" bug returned? I thought that was fixed? http://prince.org/msg/7/4...&pg=10

Aerogram said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

AOA was WBR compromising with Prince: "we want to do remasters, you want to release a new album". 3EG getting released was WBR being fed up with Prince whining for weeks and giving in to his demands in exchange for about zero promotional effort for AOA on their side. (Do we know this for sure? No. But it's in line with previous deals and all evidence points this way. Perhaps one day someone from WBR will talk shop about this deal to a reporter and we'll find out the real backstage shenanigans. Wouldn't be surprised if they're even worse than what we expected, like in the case with Arista and Clive Davis being surprised Prince was exactly the kind of ass his collegues in the music biz had told him he was.)

You like to speculate. Last time, you were saying you're almost sure, now you present it as fact by linking your musings on AOA/PLEL to what happened with Clive Davis, which is documented whereas you have nothing solid to back up your hunch that WB indulged Prince with the release of two records and some shit went down. Something happened, 100 % chance of Prince being a divo, but why act as if you knew for sure what happened? You don't.

.

I heard the same crap back in 1999, and as it turned out shit was WORSE than I'd speculated.

.

Prince is just being Prince. He's shat on numerous deals in the past, and I'm sure the same thing has happened now.

paulludvig said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

AOA was WBR compromising with Prince: "we want to do remasters, you want to release a new album". 3EG getting released was WBR being fed up with Prince whining for weeks and giving in to his demands in exchange for about zero promotional effort for AOA on their side. (Do we know this for sure? No. But it's in line with previous deals and all evidence points this way. Perhaps one day someone from WBR will talk shop about this deal to a reporter and we'll find out the real backstage shenanigans. Wouldn't be surprised if they're even worse than what we expected, like in the case with Arista and Clive Davis being surprised Prince was exactly the kind of ass his collegues in the music biz had told him he was.)

This doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't WBR want to promote the record? Promotion isn't something record companies do to be nice to the artist - or something they are likely to withhold if the artist doesn't play ball. Record companies promote their product to make more money. It's a business.

.

AOA and 3EG weren't gonna make WBR any money. Those records are side effects of the real deal: the remasters & deluxe editions. I bet they weren't looking forward to promoting that "new album" by Prince that was part of the deal, and then Prince was forcing 3EG on them also and they took that opportunity to tell Prince: "it's either 3EG or a promo budget".

NME01 said:

I don't think anyone knows the terms of this NPGMUSIC deal, so to presume that Prince has his masters (including the full control, rights and timescale) is wrong. We know what is current right now by looking at what iTunes (and other stores) tell us. The fact that it stipulates that they are exclusively licensed to WB already screams that this is a vanity deal as a sweetener for Prince.

.

I bet there's a watertight contract that has terms WRT the transfer of those rights. I bet it contains exclusivity plus plenty of other conditions. I don't see any reason why WBR would do a deal that isn't benificiary to them.

NME01 said:

No offence, but there's a lot of misinformation constantly being spread here. Two things that are fact: 1. WB will not table or have any involvement in pitching or negotiating a world tour for Purple Rain. WB is a record company and they do not put on live tours

.

Record companies often finance them; in reality those are loans against future revenue.

.

2. This Press Release isn't worth the paper it's written on, so stop caring what was/wasn't said in it.

.

Of course, though they do indicate some things. WBR woudln't go promote a 30th anniversary of PR and promising unheard music just for shits and giggles.

.

One of the key issues you have to remember is Prince doesn't have team around him with the authority to negotiate anything significant. He's essentially managing himself which is never a good idea when big deals are on the table.

.

Even when he had a team he often didn't listen to them. Hence the 1992 contract which his entire entourage opposed. Let's also not forget that a couple of years ago Prince "forgot" to pay the bills from his lawyers.

Noodled24 said:

RODSERLING said:

No, it wasn't successfull at all. They released 2 singles out of this collection (PEACH and PINK CASHMERE) and they all flopped terribly, even in the UK. When you know that Prince received 6 millions in order to shut up and let WB chose the tracklist, you can't consider that successfull I'm sorry.

Well... you say that but, Peach hit the top 20 in the UK as a single. Controversy was also re-released and got to #5 in the singles chart. His popularity was at an all time peak outside of the USA. His first UK #1 was yet to come.

The Hits 1 went top 5 in the UK and was in the chart for Twenty-seven weeks.

The Hits 2 went top 5 in the UK and was in the chart for Twenty-eight weeks.

The Hits/B-sides also went top 5 and was in the chart for Fourteen weeks. (it cost £39.99/$60.00)

He had 3 top 5 albums in the chart at the same time with 2 of them staying in the chart for half a year... you think that's a flop?

Peach hit the UK top 20. I don't know if Pink Cashmere was released in the UK, the video was just a mish-mash of clips?

So thank you to have underline this perfect instance, showing that you can't promote a thing properly without the artist's involvement, even with all the good will in the world.

WB know that if they release PR without Prince, he will release something else in the same time to compete with, and he would constantly bash the reissue in the media. Without Prince's involvement, the record can't get GOLD, and they already sell it at 100 k copies a year without doing nothing. So, why would they bother ?

WB don't need Prince to flog copies of Purple Rain. You've already said it sells 100k each year. A few TV screenings of the movie, the documentary, the concert, and TV ads for the remaster is all that's needed. It would be even better if Prince turned up on talk shows told some Purple Rain anecdotes and played a song from the album... Perhaps that's why they were willing to let him put out a new album (AOA) and even indulge him with the 3EG.

Well... you say that but, Peach hit the top 20 in the UK as a single

Oh yeah, for one week. What a success.

Controversy was also re-released and got to #5 in the singles chart

That's true, I should have mentionned it. But IIRC, we are talking about an EP that was sold the price of a single.

He had 3 top 5 albums in the chart at the same time with 2 of them staying in the chart for half a year... you think that's a flop?

So, in twenty years, this collection spent only 67 weeks on the uk charts. You do realize than best ofs are usually long time sellers ? It went out of print or what ? In the USA it spent only one week in the catalog chart...And not one week for each disc...But one week for all (surely the GH 2).

In the UK, it took 2 years to get a silver certification (60 k copies) . It took another 18 years (!) to get the gold certif, 100 k ! 18 years to sell 40 k copies. That's the reality. And Uk certifications are really up to date.

THE HITS 1 and 2 were both cert PLAT in june 95, so it maybe sold 420 k ex as of today. This means The 3 greatest hits didn't even reach the million mark. And Prince was one of the most successful star of all time.

I don't know if Pink Cashmere was released in the UK, the video was just a mish-mash of clips?

That's the trouble. Both singles (and even POPE) could have been better success if Prince was involved.

A few TV screenings of the movie, the documentary, the concert, and TV ads for the remaster is all that's needed.

The movie is frequently played since 30 years on tv...Why another broadcast would change something ? The movie and music video are not part of the contract. WBR#WB picture. I was really disappointed, especially for the music video for others album. It would be cool to have them on bluray. PURPLE RAIN is already available on blu ray, since 2009. And frankly, the movie doesn't age well...It can't attract a new audience. A worldwide tour is the best thing to promote an album, because not only it makes huge money, but medias are talking about the album. Even if you got your music video played all day on MTV, yours songs on the radio, that's not enough to sell an album.

You've already said it sells 100k each year

Yeah, 100k at 5 or 7 dollars. The reissue would cost 15/20$, maybe 30/40 $ for a deluxe limited edition. It can't sell that well without promotion. That's the trouble. That's why WB needs Prince.

Be logical : if they didn't need Prince, they would have already released it in 2014, for the 30 th anniversary, like it was stated. The've got all the materials they need. Period.

[Edited 2/9/15 1:43am]

[Edited 2/9/15 1:54am]

Black lives matter. As do contracts. Bring on the courtcase. Please.

RODSERLING said:

Well... you say that but, Peach hit the top 20 in the UK as a single

Oh yeah, for one week. What a success.

Controversy was also re-released and got to #5 in the singles chart

That's true, I should have mentionned it. But IIRC, we are talking about an EP that was sold the price of a single.

I couldnt say off the top of my head. But it doesn't really matter. He was selling, WB were making money from him.

He had 3 top 5 albums in the chart at the same time with 2 of them staying in the chart for half a year... you think that's a flop?

So, in twenty years, this collection spent only 67 weeks on the uk charts. You do realize than best ofs are usually long time sellers ? It went out of print or what ? In the USA it spent only one week in the catalog chart...And not one week for each disc...But one week for all (surely the GH 2).

In the UK, it took 2 years to get a silver certification (60 k copies) . It took another 18 years (!) to get the gold certif, 100 k ! 18 years to sell 40 k copies. That's the reality. And Uk certifications are really up to date.

THE HITS 1 and 2 were both cert PLAT in june 95, so it maybe sold 420 k ex as of today. This means The 3 greatest hits didn't even reach the million mark. And Prince was one of the most successful star of all time.

If you want to round it all up and call it 67 weeks cool. But it was 3 separate SKUs. Less than a year since the - which Prince was still invested in. He's never been a huge seller. By Prince standards this sold very well.

You're saying 60k like it's nothing, but you're forgetting it's at £40 a pop which in the 90s would have been close to $80 60k x $80 with little overhead on their part. We're not talking about Prince's achievements. We're talking about the ability of WB to make money off Prince without Prince's involvement. As for the Hits1/2 - You're making up figures. You can't apply the same formula to every album. Even so 100k at £15.99. These sets also retained their value for a while. (The Vinyl is now going for £129.99 some places - unrelated). The numbers are smaller than the states but Pound Sterling is worth more than a dollar.

Prince has never been a huge seller. Purple Rain was an anomaly, as was Batman. Again... if Prince had been involved it could have sold more but WB did pretty well off this album. It sold despite Prince himself dissing it.

It's win/win for the record company because Prince tours reasonably frequently and plays a lot of the hits live.

I don't know if Pink Cashmere was released in the UK, the video was just a mish-mash of clips?

That's the trouble. Both singles (and even POPE) could have been better success if Prince was involved.

"Pope" was never going to be a hit.

A few TV screenings of the movie, the documentary, the concert, and TV ads for the remaster is all that's needed.

The movie is frequently played since 30 years on tv...Why another broadcast would change something ? The movie and music video are not part of the contract. WBR#WB picture. I was really disappointed, especially for the music video for others album. It would be cool to have them on bluray. PURPLE RAIN is already available on blu ray, since 2009. And frankly, the movie doesn't age well...It can't attract a new audience. A worldwide tour is the best thing to promote an album, because not only it makes huge money, but medias are talking about the album. Even if you got your music video played all day on MTV, yours songs on the radio, that's not enough to sell an album.

It isn't on TV all the time there is a thread on the Org every time every time it's played on TV... it's not shown that often. I doubt it's ever been pushed to Netflix and the like. You keep saying the Movie isn't part of it but it's where the music for the album comes from. WB put the documentary together - Bart talked about it earlier in the thread. Which AFAIK has never been shown on TV.

You've already said it sells 100k each year

Yeah, 100k at 5 or 7 dollars. The reissue would cost 15/20$, maybe 30/40 $ for a deluxe limited edition. It can't sell that well without promotion. That's the trouble. That's why WB needs Prince.

Be logical : if they didn't need Prince, they would have already released it in 2014, for the 30 th anniversary, like it was stated. The've got all the materials they need. Period.

Elvis Presley, 2Pac, Michael Jackson... While of course it's preferable to have the artist on the road milking every penny. They don't actually need the artist to sell their songs. Even less when Prince tours all the time. WB could easily piggyback a remaster off any tour if they had to.

It likely wasn't released in 2014 because 2 other Prince albums were released. WB in a desperate bid to keep some kind of working relationship with the artist bowed to his wishes and put out PlectrumElectrum. Though not without consequence apparently.

Pushing a PR remaster back 6 months/12 months - 3 years. It doesn't matter. It's not going to have any effect on sales. People aren't going to reject it based on a release date not being precise.

But again - all I'm saying is that WBR no doubt have both "Prince-in" and "Prince-out" scenarios covered. They've been in the same situation before.