They said PR40 will last an entire year. They gave themselves a whole year to commemorate it. So until June 2025. Oy.

PJMcGee said:

They said PR40 will last an entire year. They gave themselves a whole year to commemorate it. So until June 2025. Oy.

Did they explicitly state that the commemoration would go through 2025? Because I wouldn't put it past them to say "a whole year" and just mean "the entire year of 2024" even though they didn't start doing jackshit until halfway through the year.

I think people are making very optimistic assumptions based on the typically vague wording of the estate. Charles never explicitly mentioned that a Purple Rain SDE was in the works, but everyone made that assumption and ran with it.

To be fair, Spicer mentioned at the beginning of last year that 2023 would be a "big year" but he didn't dare to say it again this year.

So i guess they got used to the idea that the Netflix mess has put an end to their "big dreams".

Now, they're just exposed to popular vindictiveness and that's all they deserve TBH.

RODSERLING said:

Is it about the Netflix deal ? Then how did they manage to release D&P last year?

Netflix probably decided to throw them a bone and play nice in the interest of ongoing negotiations.

bozojones said:

After January 25th 2025, you can all start bitching again!

bozojones said:

PJMcGee said:

They said PR40 will last an entire year. They gave themselves a whole year to commemorate it. So until June 2025. Oy.

Did they explicitly state that the commemoration would go through 2025? Because I wouldn't put it past them to say "a whole year" and just mean "the entire year of 2024" even though they didn't start doing jackshit until halfway through the year.

I think people are making very optimistic assumptions based on the typically vague wording of the estate. Charles never explicitly mentioned that a Purple Rain SDE was in the works, but everyone made that assumption and ran with it.

It took me a while to find the reference. That was from Paisley Park. So I guess just the museum.

https://x.com/PaisleyPark/status/1799869585237123283

RODSERLING said:

Since it s obvious that for some ( legal?) reasons they can't release something from Purple Rain this year. Is it about the Netflix deal ? Then how did they manage to release D&P last year?

THere's literally an open thread about this right now:


https://prince.org/msg/7/470977

RODSERLING said:

you know, even if they can't release anything new, can't they at least continue bringing
more out of print albums to streaming?

new power soul
exodus
madhouse 8

madhouse 16

the black album

and all the loose singles and non album tracks in 2 or 3 compilations, 1 spanning 78-95
the other one spanning 96-05 and maybe a third one for 06-16.

that way at least all his official stuff would be released before moving forward.

LILpoundCAKE said:

MIRvmn1 said:

RODSERLING said:

The question is : why can't they just release the Lovesymbol SDE that is already in the can?
Since it s obvious that for some ( legal?) reasons they can't release something from Purple Rain this year.

Is it about the Netflix deal ?
Then how did they manage to release D&P last year?

I think they will release the SDE in a few months cuz it's ready to go and all they have at the moment. I hope they're working on Parade SDE for 2025.

RODSERLING said:

LILpoundCAKE said:

you know, even if they can't release anything new, can't they at least continue bringing
more out of print albums to streaming?

new power soul
exodus
madhouse 8

madhouse 16

the black album

and all the loose singles and non album tracks in 2 or 3 compilations, 1 spanning 78-95
the other one spanning 96-05 and maybe a third one for 06-16.

that way at least all his official stuff would be released before moving forward.

And continuing the re-releasing campaign debuted by Sony with Musicology in 2019 ( iirc). At the time Sony wasn't able to release b-sides material along with the existing album. Again, why?

the albums they reissues also weren't remastered, right?

yet, the musicology b-sides were released by the estate recently.

i would like the reissues to continue

as long as they won't or can't concentrate on unreleased music, they could
use that time to fill in all the gaps in his discography on all formats.

Very clearly they expected they would be able to release a PR SDE and planned accordingly. Also very (less) clearly, something went wrong with rights and now that plan has to be walked back.

lustmealways said:

Hoping that Japan will have the same idea for "Purple Rain".

https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/bruce-springsteen-born-in-the-usa-japanese-4cd-deluxe/

I always appreciated Japanese releases ("W2A" combi CD/DVD, "Sign O' The Times" Blu-ray box set, "His Majesty's Pop life"....).

WhisperingDandelions said:

RODSERLING said:

Is it about the Netflix deal ? Then how did they manage to release D&P last year?

Netflix probably decided to throw them a bone and play nice in the interest of ongoing negotiations.

Obviously, this strategy failed.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

In America, Wham plus George Michael solo is not as popular as Prince. Maybe in Europe it's different.

Or maybe you could say they are comparable, but Wham far more popular? Nah.

PJMcGee said:

In America, Wham plus George Michael solo is not as popular as Prince. Maybe in Europe it's different.

Or maybe you could say they are comparable, but Wham far more popular? Nah.

Same in Europe, I honestly don't know anyone that still knows Wham! (but they do know George Michael somewhat) Prince on the other hand everybody knows (at least here in Holland)

JorisE73 said:

I'd rather see a documentary that laid out all of Prince's good traits and bad traits than one that deified him as some flawless icon. It sounds like the estate just wants a documentary that sweeps Prince's flaws under the rug instead of acknowledging that he was a complex person as all humans are.

I think Prince as an individual is more well known than the fact that Michael/Wham have several megahits that everyone knows.

if they miss the opportunity to celebrate his biggest album on it's 40th anniversary, then I think we have a major issue happening. If they don't release anything this year, it will be the 1st year since his passing where they didn't. Equally telling.

RODSERLING said:

JorisE73 said:

Same in Europe, I honestly don't know anyone that still knows Wham! (but they do know George Michael somewhat) Prince on the other hand everybody knows (at least here in Holland)

Maybe these numbers come from Europe only, but they are huge nonetheless : 1) Last Christmas is likely to become the most played track ever in the near future (1, 5 billion on Spotify only) 2) Wake Me Up is like 1 billion too 3) Careless Whisper, which is featured heavily on the documentary, has more than one billion streams too. Compare that with the best Prince streaming song, Purple Rain ( 475 millions) [Edited 7/3/24 7:45am]

Call me an old fart, but when thinking of a singer's popularity, streaming doesn't occur to me.

Hey Joris, on my one trip to Europe back in '95, I went to Amsterdam. A guy on the second floor had his windows wide open and was playing Kiss quite loud. It was a beautiful thing.

PJMcGee said:

RODSERLING said: