would warners be able to sell catalog as they r able to NOW?????

TrivialPursuit said:

I know it's been discussed ad nauseum. However, there's a lot that I don't understand about his latest agreement with WB and how his death has affected that.

blacknote said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I know it's been discussed ad nauseum. However, there's a lot that I don't understand about his latest agreement with WB and how his death has affected that.

Use the Search. That's actually been discussed at length. Search "Warner Bros" or "NPG Records", or "remaster". There's a lot of discussion about remasters. I mean, the "what if" is really irrelevant at this point. He did get his masters back. He owns his work. He licensed the rights back to WB for the remaster vinyl issues (and they are remasters, not just reissues, and that's been proven).

It's also not the first time some of the catalogue has been reissued on vinyl with a remaster, a few were reissued less than a decade ago with a remaster.

These current reissues are also apparently coming from digital sources, if that is important to you. It's definitely not surprising.

I have to admit i'm still not fully sure on the details of the arrangement with WB, I was very surprised these reissues were allowed.

[Edited 6/22/16 12:42pm]

jaawwnn said:

It's also not the first time some of the catalogue has been reissued on vinyl with a remaster, a few were reissued less than a decade ago with a remaster.

These current reissues are also apparently coming from digital sources, if that is important to you. It's definitely not surprising.

I have to admit i'm still not fully sure on the details of the arrangement with WB, I was very surprised these reissues were allowed.

They are "allowed", because Prince licensed his music back to Warner Bros. He didn't sell it, he licensed the rights to distribute it. It's the same sorta deal he had with Arista, Columbia, BMG, etc. for stuff like Rave Un2, 3121, Musicology, Planet Earth.

Prince said in 2014 that the remasters were done, but WB wasn't willing to pay him for the rights to distribute them. That's why the deal fell through around the AOA/PE time. Prince wanted $X, and WB wanted to only pay $W. Somewhere, there was a compromise.

This is more of the 2nd round of remasters. The stuff from 2011 (Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, Purple Rain) was done by Bernie Grundman himself, from the master tapes, and I'm not sure of the details of that deal. Those were done separately from this newer WB deal.

The newer stuff, For You, Prince, ATWIAD and beyond is part of his deal in 2014. He gets his masters back, WB puts out AOA & PE, and also pays Prince for the rights to distribute those 2014 remasters. The 2014 stuff has an extra note on them: "NPG Records, licensed exclusively to Warner Bros". There's also a remastering credit inserted in the original liner notes. Many state they're reissues alone, but that's a lie. They are remasters. All of them. (Hell, even the NPG Maxi single is getting redone later this year.)

I have For You, Prince, and Dirty Mind. The first two sound great; I've not gotten to listen to DM yet. But those who have listened to it rave about it. DM is a Bernie remaster, so I have full confidence in those alone.

But seriously, look on here. I actually started a thread about Prince remaster, and it grew from there. http://prince.org/msg/7/427411 I think you will find it useful.

TrivialPursuit said:

jaawwnn said:

It's also not the first time some of the catalogue has been reissued on vinyl with a remaster, a few were reissued less than a decade ago with a remaster.

These current reissues are also apparently coming from digital sources, if that is important to you. It's definitely not surprising.

I have to admit i'm still not fully sure on the details of the arrangement with WB, I was very surprised these reissues were allowed.

They are "allowed", because Prince licensed his music back to Warner Bros. He didn't sell it, he licensed the rights to distribute it. It's the same sorta deal he had with Arista, Columbia, BMG, etc. for stuff like Rave Un2, 3121, Musicology, Planet Earth.

Prince said in 2014 that the remasters were done, but WB wasn't willing to pay him for the rights to distribute them. That's why the deal fell through around the AOA/PE time. Prince wanted $X, and WB wanted to only pay $W. Somewhere, there was a compromise.

This is more of the 2nd round of remasters. The stuff from 2011 (Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, Purple Rain) was done by Bernie Grundman himself, from the master tapes, and I'm not sure of the details of that deal. Those were done separately from this newer WB deal.

The newer stuff, For You, Prince, ATWIAD and beyond is part of his deal in 2014. He gets his masters back, WB puts out AOA & PE, and also pays Prince for the rights to distribute those 2014 remasters. The 2014 stuff has an extra note on them: "NPG Records, licensed exclusively to Warner Bros". There's also a remastering credit inserted in the original liner notes. Many state they're reissues alone, but that's a lie. They are remasters. All of them. (Hell, even the NPG Maxi single is getting redone later this year.)

I have For You, Prince, and Dirty Mind. The first two sound great; I've not gotten to listen to DM yet. But those who have listened to it rave about it. DM is a Bernie remaster, so I have full confidence in those alone.

But seriously, look on here. I actually started a thread about Prince remaster, and it grew from there. http://prince.org/msg/7/427411 I think you will find it useful.

Thanks Triv! Finally a response that doesn't make u feel like a dick! Thanks again!

TrivialPursuit said:

I think if he hadn't grown that afro back, he would still be alive!

TrivialPursuit said:

jaawwnn said:

It's also not the first time some of the catalogue has been reissued on vinyl with a remaster, a few were reissued less than a decade ago with a remaster.

These current reissues are also apparently coming from digital sources, if that is important to you. It's definitely not surprising.

I have to admit i'm still not fully sure on the details of the arrangement with WB, I was very surprised these reissues were allowed.

They are "allowed", because Prince licensed his music back to Warner Bros. He didn't sell it, he licensed the rights to distribute it. It's the same sorta deal he had with Arista, Columbia, BMG, etc. for stuff like Rave Un2, 3121, Musicology, Planet Earth.

Yeah, this is where I get confused, none of these are in print. If they had the rights to distribute them they would have kept them in print, or at the very least have announced they are getting re-released after he died. I mean, it's probably a simple matter of they had the rights or they have the rights for a once off printing, but I guess I find it frustrating that I don't know.

Prince said in 2014 that the remasters were done, but WB wasn't willing to pay him for the rights to distribute them. That's why the deal fell through around the AOA/PE time. Prince wanted $X, and WB wanted to only pay $W. Somewhere, there was a compromise.

I wonder is there much difference between the Prince remasters and the current (and previous) remasters for vinyl. Even leaving aside snippy comments about him having a bad ear for these things, I believe (correct me if i'm wrong) that to print on vinyl you have to remaster to a degree anwyay, since there's a physical process involved, but Bernie Grundman or whoever using the digital files that Warner have on file to create a new master is not the same as people going back to the original recording tapes like on the Beatles (and other big bands) remaster series.

This is more of the 2nd round of remasters. The stuff from 2011 (Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, Purple Rain) was done by Bernie Grundman himself, from the master tapes, and I'm not sure of the details of that deal. Those were done separately from this newer WB deal.

The newer stuff, For You, Prince, ATWIAD and beyond is part of his deal in 2014. He gets his masters back, WB puts out AOA & PE, and also pays Prince for the rights to distribute those 2014 remasters. The 2014 stuff has an extra note on them: "NPG Records, licensed exclusively to Warner Bros". There's also a remastering credit inserted in the original liner notes. Many state they're reissues alone, but that's a lie. They are remasters. All of them. (Hell, even the NPG Maxi single is getting redone later this year.)

I have For You, Prince, and Dirty Mind. The first two sound great; I've not gotten to listen to DM yet. But those who have listened to it rave about it. DM is a Bernie remaster, so I have full confidence in those alone.

But seriously, look on here. I actually started a thread about Prince remaster, and it grew from there. http://prince.org/msg/7/427411 I think you will find it useful.

Yes I appreciate the effort on your part, seriously, and i'm not denying these are remasters at all.

All I want is a decently mastered Sign O the Times CD

point is...do they have more legal right to do what they want NOW that he is dead???

luvsexy4all said:

point is...do they have more legal right to do what they want NOW that he is dead???

What they're doing now is what they're allowed to do - distribute the remasters on vinyl. It's not known if that includes CD releases or not. I would think it was a limited deal at first, to test the waters. Ultimately, the estate owns those songs and albums, and after this year with the remasters, could choose to do something totally different. Time will tell.