soladeo1 said:

Reading Mayte's book I am struck at how much money Prince was spending day to day. He had a large band on constant retainer, had a bunch of seamstresses on empty, shipped pianos to hotel rooms all over the world, completely redecorated/repainted his house every few years (and purchased new luxury cars to color coordinate with his house), etc. I know he was selling lots of albums and played lots of sold out concerts, but still...

yes ,but he was only paying Mayte $300.00 a week until he ha d to pay her more, and probably not much more for the musicians.As a mum to a dancer ,I understand the joy of being paid to do your art but an artist should be compensated properly

80tomato said:

yes ,but he was only paying Mayte $300.00 a week until he ha d to pay her more, and probably not much more for the musicians.As a mum to a dancer ,I understand the joy of being paid to do your art but an artist should be compensated properly

And to go back a few years before that, he was rolling in Purple Rain money, and still only paying Brownmark $3000 a week. Now, to a lof of folks, that's a big chunk of change, but to a band coming off something like that, and selling out everything from a Burger King to a 10,000 seater, $3000 is scraps. Brownmark talked about how he was offered more to tour with Stevie Nicks, but turned it down because Prince told him there was he (Brownmark) was going to make a lot more money because of the project, etc etc. He never did. Prince used him for that Parade tour, then Mark bolted.

TrivialPursuit said:

80tomato said:

yes ,but he was only paying Mayte $300.00 a week until he ha d to pay her more, and probably not much more for the musicians.As a mum to a dancer ,I understand the joy of being paid to do your art but an artist should be compensated properly

And to go back a few years before that, he was rolling in Purple Rain money, and still only paying Brownmark $3000 a week. Now, to a lof of folks, that's a big chunk of change, but to a band coming off something like that, and selling out everything from a Burger King to a 10,000 seater, $3000 is scraps. Brownmark talked about how he was offered more to tour with Stevie Nicks, but turned it down because Prince told him there was he (Brownmark) was going to make a lot more money because of the project, etc etc. He never did. Prince used him for that Parade tour, then Mark bolted.

I am going to have to go back and find it but I remember reading that each member of the Revolution received a 1 million dollar bonus at the end of the PR tour and was making 50k a year

I find it hard to believe any of them stayed around until 86 only getting 3k.

In latter years muscians said they were paid very well.

Remember people like Brownmark were not writing songs and the money is in the royatlies or at least back then not so much today.

It's pretty clear he was spending more than he was making. But he learned his lesson and apparently learned how to save money and live within his means very, very well.

RodeoSchro said:

It's pretty clear he was spending more than he was making. But he learned his lesson and apparently learned how to save money and live within his means very, very well.

If I recall, this period Prince was close to bankruptcy. I would imagine the Batman soundtrack helped out. D&P sold pretty well. Lovesexy tour cost Prince a loss from what I have heard. I think he learned from that, cos the Nude Tour was more stripped down and profitable.

Did the Glam Slam clubs drain him financially?

nelcp777 said:

RodeoSchro said:

It's pretty clear he was spending more than he was making. But he learned his lesson and apparently learned how to save money and live within his means very, very well.

If I recall, this period Prince was close to bankruptcy. I would imagine the Batman soundtrack helped out. D&P sold pretty well. Lovesexy tour cost Prince a loss from what I have heard. I think he learned from that, cos the Nude Tour was more stripped down and profitable.

Did the Glam Slam clubs drain him financially?

He surely lost money on the Glam Slam clubs but I don't know how much. I'm purely guessing though, that it was his lifestyle more than the clubs that burned through a lot of cash back then.

RodeoSchro said:

nelcp777 said:

If I recall, this period Prince was close to bankruptcy. I would imagine the Batman soundtrack helped out. D&P sold pretty well. Lovesexy tour cost Prince a loss from what I have heard. I think he learned from that, cos the Nude Tour was more stripped down and profitable.

Did the Glam Slam clubs drain him financially?

He surely lost money on the Glam Slam clubs but I don't know how much. I'm purely guessing though, that it was his lifestyle more than the clubs that burned through a lot of cash back then.

I agree with you there. It seems like in recent years his lifestyle became more humble.

laurarichardson said:

TrivialPursuit said:

And to go back a few years before that, he was rolling in Purple Rain money, and still only paying Brownmark $3000 a week. Now, to a lof of folks, that's a big chunk of change, but to a band coming off something like that, and selling out everything from a Burger King to a 10,000 seater, $3000 is scraps. Brownmark talked about how he was offered more to tour with Stevie Nicks, but turned it down because Prince told him there was he (Brownmark) was going to make a lot more money because of the project, etc etc. He never did. Prince used him for that Parade tour, then Mark bolted.

I am going to have to go back and find it but I remember reading that each member of the Revolution received a 1 million dollar bonus at the end of the PR tour and was making 50k a year

I find it hard to believe any of them stayed around until 86 only getting 3k.

In latter years muscians said they were paid very well.

Remember people like Brownmark were not writing songs and the money is in the royatlies or at least back then not so much today.

3k/week is far more than 50k/year if you are on retainer (as opposed to be paid only for the term of the tour).

nelcp777 said:

RodeoSchro said:

He surely lost money on the Glam Slam clubs but I don't know how much. I'm purely guessing though, that it was his lifestyle more than the clubs that burned through a lot of cash back then.

I agree with you there. It seems like in recent years his lifestyle became more humble.

He still lived like a king but this time, he did it within his means. I believe he made enough money from the Musicology tour to allow him to live out the rest of his life in decent splendor.

Then, he calculated how much more he had to make in order to REALLY live it up, and that amount is what determined how many concerts he played each year.

The man was in a perfect financial position.

LittleProfessor said:

RodeoSchro said:

i remember it was being reported in 88 that Prince was broke. Arsenio Hall, before he had his own show, was filling in for joan rivers and said "prince is broke y'all!" Prince wasn't selling too well and always put his money into his art. fortunately, unlike a lot of the one hit wonders like Hammer, Prince had real talent to backup everything else and so could always work his way out of a hole. I still remember, think it was susan rogers in an article in the mid 90's saying "poor prince, rem and the rest kept their money and can send their kids to college, Prince put it all back into his art" Prince, fortunately always had a work ethic and he also started to think more businesslike. The Emancipation album wasn't a huge success but he got to keep a huge chunk of whatever sold because there was no middleman. Financial problems are hardly uncommon for anyone, rich or poor, Elvis Presley had less than a mill in the bank when he died and MJ was said to be in debt when he died. It's real easy living beyond your means.

soladeo1 said:

Reading Mayte's book I am struck at how much money Prince was spending day to day. He had a large band on constant retainer, had a bunch of seamstresses on empty, shipped pianos to hotel rooms all over the world, completely redecorated/repainted his house every few years (and purchased new luxury cars to color coordinate with his house), etc. I know he was selling lots of albums and played lots of sold out concerts, but still...

I noticed that also. From what she says in the book, it sounds like had a pretty big payroll, even in the mid 90s, with security people, assistants, and limo drivers. Somehow, he made it work, but he also had some debts (e.g. to his divorce lawyer) that the estate is still sorting out now.

TXfan said:

I read the revolution only got a $15k bonus each after the Purple Rain tour. According to the book " Let's go Crazy"

Yeah...no, they didn't.

soladeo1 said:

Reading Mayte's book I am struck at how much money Prince was spending day to day. He had a large band on constant retainer, had a bunch of seamstresses on empty, shipped pianos to hotel rooms all over the world, completely redecorated/repainted his house every few years (and purchased new luxury cars to color coordinate with his house), etc. I know he was selling lots of albums and played lots of sold out concerts, but still...

Well we all know what was in that black bag he carried. Cash. Must be nice.

alan leeds said prince was "very generous" with the revolution but money is a helluva drug. Springsteen was approached by a member of the E Street Band whom he didn't name who asked for more money. Bruce sounded a bit taken aback and told the guy that if he could find anyone in the world in his position who got payed more he'd match it. People are fucking greedy.

"Fiscal burn rate..."