Hi. im a longtime member here although i rarely write.

These past days were, needless to say, shocking.
One of the worst aspects of all of this is the uncertainty regarding Prince's legacy, and most importantly his unreleased recordings.

If indeed he didnt leave a will, and no specific orders were recorded, it seems the vault stuff may disappear in a legal fight limbo, and even though we have no idea what prince really wanted to happen, i am pretty sure he didn't want it to end as a bargaining tool for people after his estate eg Alfred et al.

I was wondering if fans, especially minneapolis fans (btw im not from the US), thought about ORGANIZING, into heading a group more or less reflecting the fans general wishes.

I know this sounds ridicilous at first, but hold on before rejecting this.

Please remember these 300$ millions etc came mostly from fans. Remeber prince used to adress fans all the time, and his fandom comes up in every second article about him - before and especially after his death. These days Many many people regard themselves as casual fans a reasonable fan-representating group may get a fair share of the media's attention.

I can't really see why Sheila E can claim a semi legal standing in the paisley legacy dispute, and fans can not. There are moral and historic arguments to lay, regarding the importance of this stuff, and somebody needs to lay them fairly.

EG for the sake of argument, if sheila, questlove jimmy jam or susan rogers, no matter who, will be officialy backed by tens of thousands of fans, the pressure they can put on tyka and co. will be much heavier, especially when backed by media. I'm not claiming fans have a *legal* standing although this is another point worth exploring - remember, the senate, the president and his home state, all claimed his heritage is so importatnt, cant it be argued in court the public should have a say? I really dunno.

But it's worth a go at the media at least, no? Or do we want to first hear moonbeam levels in a mac and cheese commercial.

So...Stand up Organize? can it be this hard in this day and age of Facebook and KickStarter? I don't really know, Just my 2 cents.

(PS im definitely not looking to be a part of such an organization though i will gladly support one. And this post is not promoting the immediate release of the vault to the public. Somebody needs to sort thru it. Not alfred!)

[Edited 5/1/16 1:18am]

[Edited 5/1/16 1:19am]

Don't be silly, it could never be argued in court that fans should have a say.

However, there's nothing to prevent Prince.org, Housequake and other key fan websites and pages to come together for a massive poll that would hopefully influence whoever will end up taking the decisions.

The poll could measure such things as :

- which tracks most need to be officially released;

- which tracks could be part of the official re-issue of some albums;

- how different medias could be delivered, particularly live shows (recordings and videos);

- any other info that would be useful for the deciders.

Aerogram said:

Don't be silly, it could never be argued in court that fans should have a say.

However, there's nothing to prevent Prince.org, Housequake and other key fan websites and pages to come together for a massive poll that would hopefully influence whoever will end up taking the decisions.

The poll could measure such things as :

- which tracks most need to be officially released;

- which tracks could be part of the official re-issue of some albums;

- how different medias could be delivered, particularly live shows (recordings and videos);

- any other info that would be useful for the deciders.

Online polls aside, if you want real pressure put on prince's family, you need a face for the media. it seems for now Sheila is the most likely candidate but it's clear at least lately she was not in the loop more than many fans here.
Also, we only know about what already leaked from the vault. i am sure vault has alot more we know absolutely nothing about.

And i never claimed fans have legal standing BUT when and if a court needs to decide what to do with these recordings - as there is no will - im pretty sure a good judge will want to hear an expert opinion regarding their importance to the public.

[Edited 5/1/16 2:33am]

i dont know about sheila, didnt she say that maybe everything in the vault should stay in the vault?

antonb said:

i dont know about sheila, didnt she say that maybe everything in the vault should stay in the vault?

She did.
I don't claim to know WHAT should be done with vault stuff, all im saying is that a fan collective can offer a valid opinion, surely better than tyka's and perhaps better than Sheila's.

nirforward said:

Aerogram said:

Don't be silly, it could never be argued in court that fans should have a say.

However, there's nothing to prevent Prince.org, Housequake and other key fan websites and pages to come together for a massive poll that would hopefully influence whoever will end up taking the decisions.

The poll could measure such things as :

- which tracks most need to be officially released;

- which tracks could be part of the official re-issue of some albums;

- how different medias could be delivered, particularly live shows (recordings and videos);

- any other info that would be useful for the deciders.

Online polls aside, if you want real pressure put on prince's family, you need a face for the media. it seems for now Sheila is the most likely candidate but it's clear at least lately she was not in the loop more than many fans here.
Also, we only know about what already leaked from the vault. i am sure vault has alot more we know absolutely nothing about.

And i never claimed fans have legal standing BUT when and if a court needs to decide what to do with these recordings - as there is no will - im pretty sure a good judge will want to hear an expert opinion regarding their importance to the public.

[Edited 5/1/16 2:33am]

You say "an expert", so already it can't be many of his fans.

The best court you could hope for in this situation is the court of public opinion -- a well organized poll would fit that.

no

I think fans care clear: we want the vault released and we don't want ANYONE ON EARTH to alter the music. Our best chance is to organize in some way and let the powers that be (Nelson Estate, WB) know we will not support anything less than that.

Prince said he wanted the vault released: 'It will be released in somebody's lifetime, but it won't be mine'.

I have contacted Questlove in this regard.He is a huge fan and i hope he gets involved.

I hope they take a page from Dylan's Bootleg Series: it's been going strong for 30 Years, and archives legendary live shows, out takes, demos, even alternate albums and eras. It's all organized, cleaned, looks and sounds great, and he supposedly has very little involvement.

.

As opposed to bullshit posthumous albums, like "Michael" and "Xscape", which have some good material, but dress it up in fake little 10 song packages, as if Michael ever intended one song to follow the other, or for this "album" to ever exist.