I have read many comments on this site about so-called "digital re-masters"of Prince's older recordings. such as a remastered PR and SOTT. Lovesexy seems to be popular too, as 1999. they could all do some polishing up in terms of sound quality...

But what about it? When are they being released? Are they? If so, who will release them? WB or Prince/NPG?

If not, WHY not? And why was the 'Very best of prince'NOT digitally remastered?

this would b a gr8 idea if P did this. he own the New ReMasters & i'd love 2 hear what the New Vision would b 4 some of his Music. some of it may get cut out or downsized. the Xplicit Lyric being 1... but this is still a gr8 idea...

i'm not crazy about remasters. they always make the rough edges sound smooth. albums like 1999, controversy, dirty mind, parade...even purple rain...would be degraded if they were cleaned up in the re-mastering. it's kind of like re-maastering a jazz album...it never sounds as good as the original. Now, re-issues with extra songs and dvd features is another story!

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

:NOD:

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

good point but @ the same time ReMaster could... have a different approach like the LIVE recordings where never the same as the album track. it was "Loose" & more input was added becuz of crowd participation. if P ReReleased all his Albums i'd buy em. 4 xample when P was selling his albums @ The NPGMC i bought "For You" on tape becuz i couldn't find it anywhere else but if he ReMatered: For You & Prince i'd b happy with thoz 2...

LittlePill said:

The original versions would be there for the freaks that want em! I personally think all of his classic albums Dirty Mind to Lovesexy need the remastering+bonus track treatment!

WatchThemFall said:

remastering, no. bonus tracks, sure.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

That little shakey hand thing is great!

WatchThemFall said:

yep! they're too damn quiet.

Prince's catalogue deserves the same great treatment Stevie and MJ's had.Even some of Madonna's 80's stuff got the treatment.

Prince would certainly have major input into how they'd sound re-mastered anyway, It's his art after all.

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

I admit i do agree with you... I prefer the "original" release it sounds more authentic and are a real piece of history. I'm used to like those albums with those rough edges and wouldn't really appreciate to have "cleaner" version...

Why do some of u say 2 remastering? + What just out of interest, what do u think remastering exactly entails?

PS: Klaatu - I disagree, check out the new (latest) version of Miles Davis re-mastered 'A Kind of Blue' - it's awesome, the sound has finally been brought up 2 scratch, they've even coloured it a little 2 match the original warmth of the vinyl + added extra trax n jams. Not 2 mention the fact that every CD release of that album until now has had issues with timing and speed (due 2 the process of transference from analogue 2 digital back n the day) which has (admitedly after a number of goes!) finally been rectified.

I can understand some peeps reticence at the Purple back-cat finally being 'tampered' with - but He aint gonna let them get screwed up if He has anything 2 do with it - they're His babies!

Come on...get lost in the mellow, mellow!

If you wanna see what can be done with remastering
check out the Stevie Wonder remasters..
Truly awesome, the sound quality is superb, it's
like getting a brand new vinyl on the day it was
released and playing it on the best deck you can buy.

BorisFishpaw said:

i hear ya!

remaster the shit outta 1999 and SOTT. ..please

Some think that "re-mastering"these recordings would take away the "originality" of the older recordings. it seems people fear that they wouldn't sound the same anymore. With others I think I have to disagree. The sound simply has a chance to get better, in terms of more volume and clarity, making it possible to indeed sound more authentical like the tapes sound on which the performances were first recorded.

And there is a chance to give the instruments and background vox and sounds their rightfull place in the recording better than on original versions. Older recordings, as for example Lovesexy or SOTT, would first be enhanced in terms of volume, but also in terms of letting all sounds instruments (and there are lots of those) get their place better than they have been giving on vinyl and CD's that were never copied from "digital re-masters".

Re-masters such as the Kind of Blue recordings from Miles are truly great to listen to. So I would have to agree that re-masters are a good idea. To make a compromise, I would also add outtakes, b-sides and extented versions to a re-mastered Prince album. I would also urge Prince NOT to try and change explicit lyrics and other stuff he may not agree with anymore. But that is in fact a different matter than "re-mastering"the sound recordings.

But all that doesn't answer the questions I posed to you. Doesn't anybody remember how bad 'the Very best of Prince' sounded? Also, 'the Hits' have the same problem, because the older songs have a low volume and a less 'fuller' sound, but the new songs just sound way too LOUD in comparison to older songs... and more 'sophistacated' in terms of clarity of the sound and such...

Certainly WB is willing to do this... but so far that has never happened...
Does anyone in here know WHY that is and why for example TVBOP was NOT re-mastered? I would like to hear your views on the possible reasons why, ... if you have them.

huggy said:

These are the kind of ?uestions that fans should have been asking at the ONA soundchecks.

another
pipe
dream

A remastered Parade would be HEAVEN!!

huggy said:

It's quite straightforward really, WB only own the right
to continue manufacturing Prince's catalogue as it is.
They cannot re-master it, add extra tracks, change the
artwork or otherwise alter the product without permission
from Prince (and since Prince and WB didn't part on
amicable terms, this is unlikely).

Prince also cannot release his own remasters of any of
his WB recordings as they are still licenced by Warners.
WB don't 'own' the songs themselves, they own the
right to distribute the original recordings of them.
So, in theory, Prince could re-record his entire back-
catalogue himself from scratch and release that instead.
Which is exactly what he did with '1999: The New Master'.

The 'less than enthusiastic' response that '1999: The
New Master' recieved from fans is quite possibly the
reason that he hasn't released any more 'New Masters',
even though it has been confirmed the Prince had indeed
re-recorded his entire back-catalogue of songs from
scatch over 2 years ago.

For a proper remastering job to be done on Prince's
existing albums would require Prince and WB to come
to some sort of new agreement, and until then we'll
just have to wait. Since next year is the 20th
anniversary of Prince's biggest hit 'Purple Rain',
it would be the perfect opportunity to launch a
series of remastered CDs. We can but hope.

a 5:1 Mix of LoveSexy would just send me...

Bonus trax? somehow, I doubt it - can't explain why - justa feelin I guess - will be the DVD 'superbit' of CD - no frills, no loss of space - just the best quality.

Although, the previous post regarding re-touching things struck a chord with me. He's mentioned re-recording His back cat LoveseXy would surely be a challenge 2 re-creat from start 2 finish, and still have the same vibe surely?

Ive said it b4, and Ill say it again: if it aint broke - dont fix it!

Can I get an 'Amen' up in here?

seanski said:

Thanks seanski. Perhabs next time someone will.

is this normal?:

My sign o the times cd doesn't sound as loud as let's say my 1999 cd ... With SOTT i always have to crank up the volume a lot more to feel the bass...

Maybe a stupid remark, but i find it odd

Thank you for your thoughtfull reply BorisFishpaw. It makes sense and I basically agree with what you said, alltho' not entirely.

BorisFishpaw said:

This is basically correct, tho' it should say that WB owns the copyright to the Prince catalogue to the extent that Prince transferred this right to them, by contract. The technology of "digitally re-mastering" recordings did NOT exist when he signed his first contracts. The right to do that can therefore not have been transferred, because it din't exist when he signed those deals. therefore the right to digitally re-master his catalogue is not covered by the contracts and therefore WB doesn't own that specific right. Prince now does own this specific right, but not the rights that were expressly transferred to WB.


Perhabs they can re-master using older technologies than "digitally re-mastering".


Possibly. But that also depends on what the contracts state.


Also depends on the contract. and don't forget that his former bandmembers may still have a say in that as well.


I agree that that is probably the reason why digital re-masters haven't been released.


Almost the full copyright in these recordings is owned , not licensed, by WB, with the exception of the right to digitally re-master, to release on MP3 (also a new technology not known at the time of signing his contracts), and possibly some of the other rights.
Remember year 1 of the NPGMC?
He released digitally re-mastered MP3's of his older recordings. Surely he didn't get permission, but he didn't need to, because he owns the rights to use new technolgies on these recordings and release them as such. digitally re-mastered CD's are however not possible, since WB owns the right to release the recordings on CD.


The songs (i.e the composition and the lyrics -> publishing rights) are owned by Prince.


Correct. That explains why TVBOP was NOT digitally re-mastered, but was released without Prince's permission.


But that is not the same as digital remasters. But you are right that if he does that, he 'circumvents' his contracts. The problem tho' is that a 'New master' must differ significantly from the original recording.


As long as Prince is at war with them, it won't happen. he could release them all on MP3 tho'... however that wouldn't be very much appreciated by fans either, nor by WB.



Wait untill 2013 and beyond. Then Prince will get all the rights he transferred originally back to him, year by year.
[This message was edited Sun Apr 13 10:14:09 PDT 2003 by huggy]

Eraserhead said:

yes, that is normal. the technology of recording and mastering improves by time. That, combined to the terms of the contracts prince signed with them, creates the problem for WB when they want to release a 'best of'... the sound (quality) really differs dramatically per album