It's weird they haven't announced anything about any upcoming Prince projects yet.

Are they going to release Phase III, the LIVE piano concert, re issues?

I'd anticipate a long silence before any announcements are made.

LOL this will take years to unravel. They now likely need apporval from ALL of the heirs. Will be a total shitshow.

This will take a while, indeed.

Not only a delay out of respect, but I'm sure they're wondering who is managing his estate now... as we all are!

NorthC said:

It's not even been a whole week since he died. New albums shouldn't be the first thing on our minds now. If WB did announce new records, the would be accused of being greedy vultures. And with reason.

This

Pardon my ignorance, but what is WB? If that means Warner Bros, they don't have any legal authority to release anything they don't own.

Why do they need to do anything? HIs catalog is sold out, his "best of" will be #1 on Billbord Next week.

Any new projects will be many months in being announced, maybe a year.

jasopig said:

Pardon my ignorance, but what is WB? If that means Warner Bros, they don't have any legal authority to release anything they don't own.

Prince and WB signed a contract in 2014 that gave them the distribution rights to everyting Prince released with them.

Prince finally owned his music, yes, but WB is still definitely involved in the Prince world . . .

NoVideo said:

Why do they need to do anything? HIs catalog is sold out, his "best of" will be #1 on Billbord Next week.

Any new projects will be many months in being announced, maybe a year.

His catalog being sold out is the reason why they should re-release some of his albums, the most essential ones at least.

[Edited 4/26/16 8:00am]

I'd expect an announcement later on this year depending on how negotiations with his estate progresses. But it's just too soon now.

TKO said:

NoVideo said:

Why do they need to do anything? HIs catalog is sold out, his "best of" will be #1 on Billbord Next week.

Any new projects will be many months in being announced, maybe a year.

His catalog being sold out is the reason why they should re-release some of his albums, the most essential ones at least.

[Edited 4/26/16 8:00am]

It takes months to put together deluxe reissues. They don't even know who has the authority to do so yet. All they need to replenish the stock is get the pressing plants working overtime on existing Prince product, which i'm sure they do by routine every time there is the death of a prominent star.

TKO said:

It's weird they haven't announced anything about any upcoming Prince projects yet.

Are they going to release Phase III, the LIVE piano concert, re issues?

You do realize that it's not like WB has the keys to the vault, and full rights to exploit it, and can just handpick whatever they want overnight, do you?

.

WB have absolutely ZERO rights on Phase III (if it even exists) or the piano concerts or anything Prince has recorded since 1996 for that matter.

.

They have exclusive distribution rights for everything released, and most likely unreleased as well, from 1978-1996 (+ AOA and Plec) but neither do they own the rights to, nor even physically have the tapes for all that stuff, and nothing can be achieved before making a deal with Prince's estate.

.

And coming to said estate it takes some time before a inheritance is effective, all legal papers done and shit. I mean haven't u lost someone yet? I have and they weren't millionaires but it, well... takes a while. I guess when they're millionaires it takes a longer while.

.

Admitting this is Tyka and that WB knows it (which they probably don't at this point, I'm not even sure if she knows herself), I don't think WB execs are gonna call someone who's just lost her brother 2 days ago and tell her "OK, can u please just hurry with the funeral and the notary, or just drop it altogether for that matter, just fly to LA tonight and we'll cut a 10 albums deal tomorrow morning between 9 and 10, no issue baby, there'll be hot coffee, and bring your boyfriend, too!"

.

I mean seriously

Do you mean 'Why is WB waiting?' or 'What is WB waiting for?'

The poor man has been dead for 5 DAYS.

And you really think record companies should be announcing new product?

Just.... what the hell?

this is on their website :

"On Thursday the world shifted just a little bit as news of the death of Prince, aged 57, was announced. As stunned fans came to terms with the shocking loss of one of the music world's greatest talents, tributes and shared memories began pouring in from all over the globe. The internet took on a decidedly purple hue and social feeds were flooded with mourning."

http://www.warnerbros.com/blogs/2016/04/22/farewell-prince

jasopig said:

Pardon my ignorance, but what is WB? If that means Warner Bros, they don't have any legal authority to release anything they don't own.

They partly own the vault music he recorded on their dime.

And thank god for that. It may mean that Prince cannot legally have it destroyed.

Pentacle said:

jasopig said:

Pardon my ignorance, but what is WB? If that means Warner Bros, they don't have any legal authority to release anything they don't own.

They partly own the vault music he recorded on their dime.

And thank god for that. It may mean that Prince cannot legally have it destroyed.

They don't own anything anymore, they just have exclusive distribution rights for an unknown period. The difference is subtle but real. I think there may be a number of reason why Prince couldn't have the vault destroyed (IDK in the US but I'm pretty sure in France my dad couldn't just have his houses burnt to ashes after he dies, AFAIK people have no legal rights over their possessions after they die, they can only decide who gets them and possibly blackmail their heirs by saying you'll get this if you do that, which is pretty unthinkable in that case because if anyone would choose to destroy the vault to get P's money they would be hated by the whole world for the rest of their days and probably murdered soon after anyway), but WB isn't one of those: distribution rights exclusivity does not imply that they could ever have forced Prince to give them anything from the vault to distribute (as proven by how Prince apparently made sure the remasters plans were stalled, then given-up altogether, since the deal was made 2 years ago).

There is a great misunderstanding from the part of many fans regarding the legal technicalities of P's vault and its ownership (not every detail is known to us but some general notions about how this all works can be of help).

What happened to the 30th anniversary Purple Rain, wasn't that part of the WB deal??

I doubt anyone wants to keep the Vault closed. I think we'll all be bittersweetly bobbing to an official single called "Moonbeam Levels" by December.

GirlBrother said:

I have just noticed something really strange... I was watching a CNN interview with Larry King and Prince from 1999, which CNN uploaded to YouTube a few days ago. So, there's clips of 1999 (the song), and some other older stuff, interspersed with the interview. When these old video clips are played, the legend "Warner Bros. Records" appears in the top-left of the screen At the 14 minute mark, Larry cuts to a commercial break, but a clip from Prince's "new" video (at that time) leads into the break. Well, it's The Greatest Romance Ever Sold... ...And the legend "Warner Bros. Records" appears in the top-left of the screen. Somehow, I don't believe this is an error. It's a new upload, on the official YouTube channel of a major news broadcast company. What kind of deal did Prince actually make with Warner Bros.?

good catch

I'm getting my physical copy of 'Hit N Run Phase Two' this Friday so I'm satisfied for the next few months until they all come to a decision on what to do to respect his music, his legacy, and his fans. The albums that are topping the charts now were sitting on shelves in Walmart and Target for months and now they are being snatched up like hotcakes so WB hasn't really released anything new from Prince. The only thing WB has done since his ascension was re-release 'Purple Rain' into AMC theaters which I think is great because I wasn't old enough to actually get to see it in theaters when it debuted. Now, a whole new generation can see the film and experience how amazing he truly was. It could be greed on WB's part but I'm not mad at them for this decision. Sometimes you have to look at the greater good and bypass the lesser bad. In the end, if people chose to be greedy and throw away their integrity, then that's their souls they choose to put a price tag on which is really unfortunate for them.

I have to agree with you. Prince's Sister is gonna need a team and some kind of protection from the various vultures ready to swoop down on Paisley Park

emesem said:

LOL this will take years to unravel. They now likely need apporval from ALL of the heirs. Will be a total shitshow.

NorthC said:

It's not even been a whole week since he died. New albums shouldn't be the first thing on our minds now. If WB did announce new records, the would be accused of being greedy vultures. And with reason.

this

Se7en said:

jasopig said:

Pardon my ignorance, but what is WB? If that means Warner Bros, they don't have any legal authority to release anything they don't own.

Prince and WB signed a contract in 2014 that gave them the distribution rights to everyting Prince released with them.

Prince finally owned his music, yes, but WB is still definitely involved in the Prince world . . .

Distribution rights wouldn't give them the right to throw a new project together. Re-releases may require an approval . . furthermore it's probably a license valid for a specific term

mightycow said:

databank said:

Pentacle said:

They partly own the vault music he recorded on their dime.

And thank god for that. It may mean that Prince cannot legally have it destroyed.

They don't own anything anymore, they just have exclusive distribution rights for an unknown period. The difference is subtle but real. I think there may be a number of reason why Prince couldn't have the vault destroyed (IDK in the US but I'm pretty sure in France my dad couldn't just have his houses burnt to ashes after he dies, AFAIK people have no legal rights over their possessions after they die, they can only decide who gets them and possibly blackmail their heirs by saying you'll get this if you do that, which is pretty unthinkable in that case because if anyone would choose to destroy the vault to get P's money they would be hated by the whole world for the rest of their days and probably murdered soon after anyway), but WB isn't one of those: distribution rights exclusivity does not imply that they could ever have forced Prince to give them anything from the vault to distribute (as proven by how Prince apparently made sure the remasters plans were stalled, then given-up altogether, since the deal was made 2 years ago).

There is a great misunderstanding from the part of many fans regarding the legal technicalities of P's vault and its ownership (not every detail is known to us but some general notions about how this all works can be of help).

Are you sure?

Prince was not allowed to release the tracks on 1998's Crystal Ball.

When he released If I Could Get Your Attention on Tidal it was a rerecording,

saying to me nothing has changed in that aspect.

eyewishuheaven said:

I'd anticipate a long silence before any announcements are made.

Yes would be bad taste if they announced a release right now. They would get killed in the press and "social media". They are pros at this and will wait until the right time.

Pentacle said:

databank said:

They don't own anything anymore, they just have exclusive distribution rights for an unknown period. The difference is subtle but real. I think there may be a number of reason why Prince couldn't have the vault destroyed (IDK in the US but I'm pretty sure in France my dad couldn't just have his houses burnt to ashes after he dies, AFAIK people have no legal rights over their possessions after they die, they can only decide who gets them and possibly blackmail their heirs by saying you'll get this if you do that, which is pretty unthinkable in that case because if anyone would choose to destroy the vault to get P's money they would be hated by the whole world for the rest of their days and probably murdered soon after anyway), but WB isn't one of those: distribution rights exclusivity does not imply that they could ever have forced Prince to give them anything from the vault to distribute (as proven by how Prince apparently made sure the remasters plans were stalled, then given-up altogether, since the deal was made 2 years ago).

There is a great misunderstanding from the part of many fans regarding the legal technicalities of P's vault and its ownership (not every detail is known to us but some general notions about how this all works can be of help).

Are you sure?

Prince was not allowed to release the tracks on 1998's Crystal Ball.

When he released If I Could Get Your Attention on Tidal it was a rerecording,

saying to me nothing has changed in that aspect.

You are confusing different, unrelated things.

In fact we don't know for sure about any of this but yes, everything indicates that WB had the rights for anything recorded during P's contract with them, which is the standard procedure for artists' contracts, that Prince defied them several time, was warned, and gave-up on releasing anything from the vault after 2001.

IICGYA is another matter entirely since it has to do with whomever owns the masters for Taja Sevelle's first album: either Prince as well as most of the Paisley Park non-Prince releases, or WB since the album was a PP/Reprise joint venture (in which case the 2014 masters reversal does not apply). The masters from almost every PP releases reverted back to Prince when the label was shut down in 1994.

For anything unreleased, since the 2014 masters rights reversal, the best WB can have is "only" distribution exclusivity rights, as with the released material.

And anyway they don't have the tapes and cannot force P's estate to give them any more than they could force Prince to deliver them in his lifetime. Any new release has to be a mutual agreement.

^ I'll add that releasing the original Taja instrumental with Prince on vocals in 2015 would have been entirely ridiculous. Obviously the only reason the song was released last year is because it was revisited with the new band and a contemporary sound, not the other way around.