Heard today from a well placed music industry source (not anyone to do with Warners, by the way) that Prince's "new" deal with Warners was very favourable. Warners wanted to release a deluxe version of Purple Rain first then, off the back of its success, new music by Prince would be released, with his raised profile giving the new stuff more of a chance of selling well. However, Prince insisted that new releases would come first, this accounting for the cooling of relations between both parties, as well as the pretty much non-existent promotion of both new albums.

Just thought people might like to know this

Prince was a total creative genius, but I sometimes find myself shaking my head at his short-sighted business sense

The deal was that Prince got his masters back (which could have happened before that). A remastering process would be undertaken for eventual re-distribution of his catalog on vinyl. Prince would also allow WB to distribute (not own) Art Official Age and PlectrumElectrum, which they did (aka new music). The deal soured, in Prince's own words, because since Prince owned the music, anyone who distributes it would have to license it from Prince and NPG Records. Warner Bros wasn't willing to pay what Prince thought was a fair cost to do so, so the deal kind of stalled. Prince wanted more money.

The whole thing is rather ironic considering how he fought to get his music back, and often talked of not owning "Purple Rain", etc., then when he finally does own it, there's a new rift because despite WB making a buttload of cash off his catalog in the past, and now they're not willing to pay that back to Prince to exclusively license those same albums for distribution. Prince said, via Twitter, that the remasters were done, but the hold up was the amount WB was offering to him to put them out.

I can't blame him for this. But, they are now coming out. I have For You and Prince. Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, and Purple Rain were remastered for Rhino records by Bernie Grundman himself, from the master tapes, in 2011. Someone here on the Org emailed Bernie to find out if they just repressings on 180gram or actual remasters. Bernie confirmed the latter. Albums from 1985-1990, and some beyond, are already on pre-order on Amazon.

NPG Records owns all the music, so a deluxe of anything would be up to whoever runs the estate down the line. I don't look for those anytime soon. I actually look for new music first, then a deluxe set of this or that. But these remasters are already here, or on the horizon, so I'm concentrating on that for now. Prince sounds really nice. I've heard greater things about Dirty Mind demo-sounding songs having a more discrete sound (especially on the drums). It's next on my list of To Buy. Between these records, and pay off a new iPhone SE, my wallet is hating me in 2016. Christmas might be thin this year, but at least I can call someone to say hi, and stay home and listen to my new records.

I'd wager Prince was holding out for a huge non-recoupable advance. Given the state of the music industry I'm sure Warner was not interested in shelling out millions for a remaster/reissue.

Sadly Prince's misfortune helped Warners tremendously. They sold millions of the 80s releases (without having to advance anything, remaster or market) and now will probably get a good deal from the family for the remastering/reissue rights. Considering how many people have either bought or rebought Purple Rain in the last two months, I dont think its reasonable to assume that the remaster will be a huge seller.

My understanding is that his money demands were indeed too much. And initial discussions were about there being a re-release with previously unreleased tracks - it was never initially intended to be a straightforward remaster of the album with no extra material.

My pre-order of the Black Album on vinly was cancelled by Amazon last week. Some lame excuse about lack of availability. I guess it is not going to be reissued on vinyl?

TrivialPursuit said:

The deal was that Prince got his masters back (which could have happened before that). A remastering process would be undertaken for eventual re-distribution of his catalog on vinyl. Prince would also allow WB to distribute (not own) Art Official Age and PlectrumElectrum, which they did (aka new music). The deal soured, in Prince's own words, because since Prince owned the music, anyone who distributes it would have to license it from Prince and NPG Records. Warner Bros wasn't willing to pay what Prince thought was a fair cost to do so, so the deal kind of stalled. Prince wanted more money.

The whole thing is rather ironic considering how he fought to get his music back, and often talked of not owning "Purple Rain", etc., then when he finally does own it, there's a new rift because despite WB making a buttload of cash off his catalog in the past, and now they're not willing to pay that back to Prince to exclusively license those same albums for distribution. Prince said, via Twitter, that the remasters were done, but the hold up was the amount WB was offering to him to put them out.

I can't blame him for this. But, they are now coming out. I have For You and Prince. Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, and Purple Rain were remastered for Rhino records by Bernie Grundman himself, from the master tapes, in 2011. Someone here on the Org emailed Bernie to find out if they just repressings on 180gram or actual remasters. Bernie confirmed the latter. Albums from 1985-1990, and some beyond, are already on pre-order on Amazon.

NPG Records owns all the music, so a deluxe of anything would be up to whoever runs the estate down the line. I don't look for those anytime soon. I actually look for new music first, then a deluxe set of this or that. But these remasters are already here, or on the horizon, so I'm concentrating on that for now. Prince sounds really nice. I've heard greater things about Dirty Mind demo-sounding songs having a more discrete sound (especially on the drums). It's next on my list of To Buy. Between these records, and pay off a new iPhone SE, my wallet is hating me in 2016. Christmas might be thin this year, but at least I can call someone to say hi, and stay home and listen to my new records.

Thanks, this is very helpful information. Do you know if the 1985-1990 albums you mentioned are going to be remastered as well?

jjam said:

Heard today from a well placed music industry source (not anyone to do with Warners, by the way) that Prince's "new" deal with Warners was very favourable. Warners wanted to release a deluxe version of Purple Rain first then, off the back of its success, new music by Prince would be released, with his raised profile giving the new stuff more of a chance of selling well. However, Prince insisted that new releases would come first, this accounting for the cooling of relations between both parties, as well as the pretty much non-existent promotion of both new albums.

Just thought people might like to know this

For that to be true and accurate. WB would have had to enter into a deal with Prince without having nailed any specifics. Having said that, WB really didn't seem keen to release PE. Equally Prince showed little interest in releasing remasters.

There is also the assumption that a deluxe PR remaster will sell millions. Which I don't think is true.

Prince was a total creative genius, but I sometimes find myself shaking my head at his short-sighted business sense

Short sighted from a fans perspective. Prince always looked out for himself. Given he was near bankrupt on more than one occassion yet died with a fortune amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. He may have tripped and stumbled at times, but he ultimately fell into a massive pile of cash.

[Edited 6/14/16 12:48pm]

What about Fallinlove2nite not being available when the New Girl episode was aired?

Noodled24 said:

jjam said:

Heard today from a well placed music industry source (not anyone to do with Warners, by the way) that Prince's "new" deal with Warners was very favourable. Warners wanted to release a deluxe version of Purple Rain first then, off the back of its success, new music by Prince would be released, with his raised profile giving the new stuff more of a chance of selling well. However, Prince insisted that new releases would come first, this accounting for the cooling of relations between both parties, as well as the pretty much non-existent promotion of both new albums.

Just thought people might like to know this

For that to be true and accurate. WB would have had to enter into a deal with Prince without having nailed any specifics. I don't buy it.

Just passing on what somebody who had dealings with Prince told me.

When this deal was first signed,I had a feeling that things wouldn't work out.

jjam said:

Noodled24 said:

For that to be true and accurate. WB would have had to enter into a deal with Prince without having nailed any specifics. I don't buy it.

Just passing on what somebody who had dealings with Prince told me.

I edited my post.

It seemed like a messy situation whatever happened. It always seemed clear to me though, Prince wasn't interested in "cashing-in" on PR a second time. If he just wanted money he could have done this multiple times. He was always commited to putting out new music.

Didn't Prince say he'd delivered a remastered "Purple Rain" to Warners and the ball was in Warners's court?

I think the only person who assumed that a deluxe edition of Purple Rain would sell millions was probably Prince No remaster/reissue sells millions. But it would have certainly regenerated interest in Prince.

RodeoSchro said:

Didn't Prince say he'd delivered a remastered "Purple Rain" to Warners and the ball was in Warners's court?

His exact tweet about the PR Remaster was... "When the pie is cut fairly."

jjam said:

Heard today from a well placed music industry source (not anyone to do with Warners, by the way) that Prince's "new" deal with Warners was very favourable. Warners wanted to release a deluxe version of Purple Rain first then, off the back of its success, new music by Prince would be released, with his raised profile giving the new stuff more of a chance of selling well. However, Prince insisted that new releases would come first, this accounting for the cooling of relations between both parties, as well as the pretty much non-existent promotion of both new albums.

Just thought people might like to know this

Prince was a total creative genius, but I sometimes find myself shaking my head at his short-sighted business sense

Well it was his "short-sighted business sense" that made him THE Artist. Not the King or Prince of Pop. And we're all better off for it.

I think Prince made some bizarre business decisions - I've mentioned the Fallinlove2nite debacle. But there's no point applying logic to what he did - he just did what he wanted to do.

RodeoSchro said:

Didn't Prince say he'd delivered a remastered "Purple Rain" to Warners and the ball was in Warners's court?

I guess he did... I wouldn't say that was a tweet designed to create hype though.

Someone said several of the early remasters have already been issued with more coming. It's all been done very quietly.

RaspBerryGirlFriend said:

Thanks, this is very helpful information. Do you know if the 1985-1990 albums you mentioned are going to be remastered as well?

Yes, they're all from NPG Records, and are remastered, waiting release. Discogs also lists For You and Prince as remastered, as well as those releases.

ATWIAD: July 5

Parade: July 19

SOTT: August 23

Lovesexy: October 18

Batman: October 18

Graffiti Bridge: November 22

NewPowerGeneration maxi: December 13

COME: December 13

Just search Prince vinyl on Amazon, then choose Prime and/or Vinyl in the filters to the left. They're easy to find.

[Edited 6/14/16 13:39pm]

yukoncornelius said:

My pre-order of the Black Album on vinly was cancelled by Amazon last week. Some lame excuse about lack of availability. I guess it is not going to be reissued on vinyl?

I have no knowledge about this particular album but I do know that Amazon had some technical problems last week and lots of preorders of books that are being released were canceled by mistake. Maybe this happened in music too. Just keep checking.

jjam said:

Heard today from a well placed music industry source (not anyone to do with Warners, by the way) that Prince's "new" deal with Warners was very favourable. Warners wanted to release a deluxe version of Purple Rain first then, off the back of its success, new music by Prince would be released, with his raised profile giving the new stuff more of a chance of selling well. However, Prince insisted that new releases would come first, this accounting for the cooling of relations between both parties, as well as the pretty much non-existent promotion of both new albums.

Just thought people might like to know this

Prince was a total creative genius, but I sometimes find myself shaking my head at his short-sighted business sense

Everybody knew this weeks before the double release of AOA / PLEC.

TrivialPursuit said:

But these remasters are already here, or on the horizon, so I'm concentrating on that for now. Prince sounds really nice. I've heard greater things about Dirty Mind demo-sounding songs having a more discrete sound (especially on the drums). It's next on my list of To Buy. Between these records, and pay off a new iPhone SE, my wallet is hating me in 2016. Christmas might be thin this year, but at least I can call someone to say hi, and stay home and listen to my new records.

lol already here ? Vinyl still remains a small market, and even since P's death, they are not selling very well, even big classics such as 1999 and PURPLE RAIN didn't make the top 10 vinyl sales, nor in the US, neither in the UK.