I do

It's on Tidal, isn't it?

The question has probably been answered here; Maybe there's language in the contract during the initial limited run that stated it can't be anywhere else once its out of print. Not sure how Tidal is an exception (if it's even still there).

Le Grind is a funk workout. Love that track!

RODSERLING said:

The greatest mistery of all. WB? Sony? Nobody?

Not so much of a mystery, really.

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First, WB and Sony do not "own" the masters to any Prince recordings (save a few side projects in the case of WB). I'm sure you know this, but I find the use of the verb "owning" misleading for all those who do not, and I'd rather we stop using it on the board.

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Both labels have exclusive distribution licences.

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Therefore, the Estate owns TBA alongide the rest of the masters.

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It does not appear to be part of the list of releases under licence to Sony that was given in the press release, either since 2017 or from next year onwards (not all titles were given for the albums moving to Sony next year, but it says 12 non-soundtrack albums and names 9 (Prince, Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, Around The World In A Day, Sign 'O' The Times, Lovesexy, Diamonds and Pearls and O+(> ), leaving us to assume the last 3 are For You, Come and The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale.

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If it's under licence to WB at the moment, this should end next December alongside the rest of the non-OST's.

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My best guess is that the deal made with Prince in 1994 was for a one time only release, after which WB lost the right to rerelease it without Prince's (or the Estate's) consent. The masters must have gone back to Prince in 2014 if not earlier. Whether WB lost the exclusive right to distribute it before 2014 (as with TGE or C&D) or they'll lose them next year is unknown (the indicia on the Tidal page featuring it could have told us that at the time, but it's gone now).

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Bottom line: it's up to the Estate to licence it to Sony (or anyone else they want) starting next year if they so wish. We can only hope they won't decide to sit on it for "moral" reasons (respecting Prince's wishes, he thought the album was wrong, bla bla bla...).

I do have a few copies here.

maybe prince signed a deal with tidal as he loved jay-z so much.

jay-z was obv not a big bad businessman like the suits at warners (unless you ask damon dash, beanie sigel, etc)