Was watching the retro MTV DECADE documentary from the 80's and it stated that PRINCE made 36 million dollars from 88-89, not sure if this counted before or after the BATMAN album and movie... Anyway I was wondering what did PRINCE make during the PURPLE RAIN era from 84-85? Counting the sales of the album and singles, sales from The Time and Appolonia 6 and Shiela E albums, the movie, the tour, the merhcandise, the video rental sales... Probably his most profitable year in the 80s without question.

Yes..another point too is he had much lower overhead during Purple Rain. By the 88-89 period he had Paisley Park which was massive overhead. It was the windfall from Purple Rain that gave him the cash to build Paisley Park.

feeluupp said:

Was watching the retro MTV DECADE documentary from the 80's and it stated that PRINCE made 36 million dollars from 88-89,

.

Utter nonsense. The Lovesxy tour almost bankrupted him, his accountants forced him to do the Japanese Lovesexy gigs to pay for his debts.

BartVanHemelen said:

feeluupp said:

Was watching the retro MTV DECADE documentary from the 80's and it stated that PRINCE made 36 million dollars from 88-89,

.

Utter nonsense. The Lovesxy tour almost bankrupted him, his accountants forced him to do the Japanese Lovesexy gigs to pay for his debts.

Maybe that's how much he generated? Sounds about right for ticket and album sales.

BartVanHemelen said:

feeluupp said:

Was watching the retro MTV DECADE documentary from the 80's and it stated that PRINCE made 36 million dollars from 88-89,

.

Utter nonsense. The Lovesxy tour almost bankrupted him, his accountants forced him to do the Japanese Lovesexy gigs to pay for his debts.

Well don't forget what he made from the BATMAN release...

Don't forgot that in the 1980s the higher earners were paying from 50% to 70% tax on income in the higher tax brackets.

He couldn't have been managing money well in the 80s particularly as Paisley Park was at risk of closing.

who knows but there was a people magazine cover where they had crazy amounts from all the days top stars, I forget what it was for prince but you know, it probably wasn't accurate anyways. then, there was the possibility of his people ripping him off as Jill Jones insinuated. Then you have paisley park and Prince's ambivalent relationship to money and fame. He the pr audience off as soon as he gained them, kept maybe 1/3rd of his new fans and that fell off gradually to the point where rumours of him being broke were in the papers (remember those?) by 87-88. Craig Rice gives us some indication of how naive Prince was when it came to money in those years, he said he put prince on an allowance of 5000 a week and gave prince a checkbook. Prince came asking for more money and when he was told he exceeded his allowance he said "but I still have checks" not too worldly.

Anecdotally it's said that each member of The Revolution got a $1M check at the end of the PR tour.

Don't confuse the money Prince generated through music sales, movie ticket sales and touring with the money Prince was paid by Warner Brothers for making music, movies and touring.

What you seem to be asking is "How much did Prince net from everything he did in the Purple Rain era?" That amount was probably not nearly as much as one might think.

I believe Prince stated some time in the "Slave" era that he was paid about $1 million total from all the sales from the "Purple Rain" album. He went on to say he cashed a bigger check for the "Emancipation" set than he had received for "Purple Rain". "I'm number one at the bank!" is a phrase we all remember from the "Slave" era. It was probably accurate, too.

My guess is that Warners paid Prince enough to do whatever he wanted, and Prince did whatever he wanted, and then at the end of the 80's he had done a lot of stuff but didn't have much money in the bank.

Enough to quit washing dishes, though, I think he had to reapply after Around the World in a Day dropped.

Prince said himself he made about 4 million for just the record sales, during a group chat at Paisley in 2001. I'm not sure what he was making per show during the tour, or what his cut was from the film.

cue Mayte's GIF ....."I dont have that purple rain money"

Let's just say that the Purple Rain era had helped Prince build his estate. Boost his career even more.

42Kristen said:

Let's just say that the Purple Rain era had helped Prince build his estate. Boost his career even more.

no question, he lived off the clout of that for a long, long time, my buddy mercilessly called him an "oldies act" when he saw the musicology tour. I just put that down to him getting old and cynical but he had a point, people came to hear the oldies.

how much is the estate STILL making off it?

BartVanHemelen said:

feeluupp said:

Was watching the retro MTV DECADE documentary from the 80's and it stated that PRINCE made 36 million dollars from 88-89,

.

Utter nonsense. The Lovesxy tour almost bankrupted him, his accountants forced him to do the Japanese Lovesexy gigs to pay for his debts.

And after that he had to do a greatest hits tour (The Nude Tour) to pay the bills that were stacking up.

JorisE73 said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Utter nonsense. The Lovesxy tour almost bankrupted him, his accountants forced him to do the Japanese Lovesexy gigs to pay for his debts.

And after that he had to do a greatest hits tour (The Nude Tour) to pay the bills that were stacking up.

Lets not forget he had a commercial hit with BATMAN selling over 5 million world wide...

feeluupp said:

JorisE73 said:

And after that he had to do a greatest hits tour (The Nude Tour) to pay the bills that were stacking up.

Lets not forget he had a commercial hit with BATMAN selling over 5 million world wide...

I don't think he made a mint with that album. WB reaped all the profits.

JorisE73 said:

feeluupp said:

Lets not forget he had a commercial hit with BATMAN selling over 5 million world wide...

I don't think he made a mint with that album. WB reaped all the profits.

How could that be?

So many experts here, must of been in the WB offices and talking to Prince personally

Guitarhero said:

So many experts here, must of been in the WB offices and talking to Prince personally

.

Big words from somebody who can't spell "must have been".

BartVanHemelen said:

Guitarhero said:

So many experts here, must of been in the WB offices and talking to Prince personally

.

Big words from somebody who can't spell "must have been".

It's grammatically incorrect, but the spelling is just fine. I'm sure Guitarhero can also spell 'have'.

If you're going to nitpick about stuff, better do it properly

BartVanHemelen said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Guitarhero said:

So many experts here, must of been in the WB offices and talking to Prince personally

.

Big words from somebody who can't spell "must have been".

WB built PP out of it for him or no?

Prince also said he made more from his profits from the Musicology 2004ever tour than he did in his WHOLE career or ANY tour including Purple Rain.

leecaldon said:

JorisE73 said:

I don't think he made a mint with that album. WB reaped all the profits.

How could that be?

I think becuase it was a Soundtrack to a movie. I think they still have the rights to this and Purple Rain, Parade and Graffiti Bridge for that reason.

JorisE73 said:

feeluupp said:

Lets not forget he had a commercial hit with BATMAN selling over 5 million world wide...

I don't think he made a mint with that album. WB reaped all the profits.

Nah,I'm sure that Prince made alot of money with that album (royalties).That album and the success of Sinead O' Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U" helped him tremendously.