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Thread started 11/22/18 3:14pm

feeluupp

How Much Did Prince Make During The Purple Rain Era?

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.

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Reply #1 posted 11/22/18 8:21pm

DonRants

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.

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Reply #2 posted 11/22/18 9:26pm

luv2tha99s

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Hmmm, He had stated that he was never told how much PR grossed, so who knows. I assume he got paid a fat fee for starring in the flick and providing the music. The real money is in whatever points he had on the back-end, if any. I think all the dough he made on the tour was his alone. Thats usually where the artists make all their money.
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Reply #3 posted 11/23/18 3:04am

BartVanHemelen

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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.

© Bart Van Hemelen
This posting is provided AS IS with no warranties, and confers no rights.
It is not authorized by Prince or the NPG Music Club. You assume all risk for
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Reply #4 posted 11/23/18 4:01am

leecaldon

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.

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Reply #5 posted 11/23/18 6:42am

feeluupp

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...

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Reply #6 posted 11/23/18 7:13am

darkroman

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.

sad

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Reply #7 posted 11/27/18 3:36pm

PeteSilas

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.

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Reply #8 posted 11/28/18 6:26am

MotownSubdivis
ion

Did not ever think Prince would have been close to broke in the 1980s.
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Reply #9 posted 11/28/18 6:56am

soladeo1

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

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Reply #10 posted 11/28/18 7:23am

RodeoSchro

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.

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Reply #11 posted 11/28/18 9:17am

PliablyPurple

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

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Reply #12 posted 11/28/18 10:10am

SchlomoThaHomo

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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.

"That's when stars collide. When there's space for what u want, and ur heart is open wide."
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Reply #13 posted 11/28/18 12:18pm

luvsexy4all

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

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Reply #14 posted 11/29/18 3:42pm

42Kristen

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

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Reply #15 posted 11/29/18 4:04pm

PeteSilas

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.

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Reply #16 posted 11/29/18 4:05pm

luvsexy4all

how much is the estate STILL making off it?

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Reply #17 posted 11/30/18 3:50am

JorisE73

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.

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Reply #18 posted 11/30/18 4:17am

feeluupp

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...

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Reply #19 posted 11/30/18 4:38am

JorisE73

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.

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Reply #20 posted 12/01/18 4:47am

leecaldon

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?

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Reply #21 posted 12/01/18 5:11am

Guitarhero

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

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Reply #22 posted 12/05/18 1:29am

BartVanHemelen

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Guitarhero said:

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

.

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

© Bart Van Hemelen
This posting is provided AS IS with no warranties, and confers no rights.
It is not authorized by Prince or the NPG Music Club. You assume all risk for
your use. All rights reserved.
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Reply #23 posted 12/05/18 7:06am

leecaldon

BartVanHemelen said:

Guitarhero said:

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

.

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 wink

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Reply #24 posted 12/05/18 7:13am

nextedition

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BartVanHemelen said:



Guitarhero said:


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



.


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


Yes, if you can not find a good defence, start picking on their grammar.
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Reply #25 posted 12/05/18 10:49am

Guitarhero

BartVanHemelen said:

Guitarhero said:

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

.

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

falloff loser

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Reply #26 posted 12/05/18 4:48pm

rdhull

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WB built PP out of it for him or no?

"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #27 posted 12/05/18 5:53pm

ChocolateBox31
21

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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.

"That mountain top situation is not really what it's all cracked up 2 B when eye was doing the Purple Rain tour eye had a lot of people who eye knew eye'll never c again @ the concerts.just screamin n places they thought they was suppose 2 scream."prince
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Reply #28 posted 12/05/18 11:52pm

JorisE73

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.

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Reply #29 posted 12/06/18 12:16am

SoulAlive

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.

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