RODSERLING said:

True. But the same is also true of anything released via physical media or streaming. Further, while there may be interest in a documentary giving insight and an idea of the man behind the music. The casual Netflix viewer isn't interested in watching 30 different concerts. That's a fan thing.
[Edited 9/3/24 6:32am]

SIrSighALot said:

there is a very vocal community of fans on twitter, Facebook and reddit. i know it sounds lame but we need to organise a "hashtag movement" to get attention from the estate. it probably won't work but i feel it's the only way to get the estates attention or at least for it to get the attention of the music press.

"OK. What's the hashtag?"

Enjoy the Silence.

That is all u r going 2 get.

Money is the ONLY motivation

The serves 2 get U wet

Ndorphinmachina said:

30 different concerts at the same time: no.
But once a month, a new concert would pop up, the previous one erased.
That will guarantee fans to buy every month a subscription for Netflix, instead of just wait a year or so to binge-watch it for only a month subscription.

Gooddoctor23 said:

Enjoy the Silence.

That is all u r going 2 get.

Money is the ONLY motivation

The serves 2 get U wet

yer a poet

&

noone know it

.

[Edited 9/3/24 16:10pm]

RODSERLING said:

(...) Streaming revenues are low even for Prince hits, so for unreleased tracks it's as dead as a doornail an option. You won't convince them with that.

Releasing things on digital: the day it will be released, it will be on YouTube or illegally downloaded. You can't hardly make a profit from that format.

If I were them, I would do a deal with Netflix to broadcast Prince concerts by the dozen. Everybody says" Bob Dylan, Zappa, they are releasing 10 CDs box set" Yes, but is it really financially profitable, or is it just done at the artist ( or heirs) expenses for posterity sake?

Even if streaming revenues are low, that doesn't have anything to do with making a profit.

Besides streaming there are several other ways how they make money.

When Prince was alive, his streaming revenues were even lower then today.

-

Digital releases for sure will be bootlegged and illegally downloaded. What's the difference with when Prine was alive and today? Nothing. So no valid poitn there.

By the way, go and look on YouTube of Vimeo, and look at the amount of viewers that watch these illegal videos. Those numbers are really low. Too low actually to my likes.

With an official boost like some advertisement, it can have more viewers. Not all that much more i think, but that's the way it is. And, it will serve as a push for more streaming of his music as well. Something like that.

-

You're idea of a netflix (or any othere service) is doable. Could be a good idea. But again, I'm not an expert, so i can't figure out what profit it will gain.

And yes, what they released for Zappa makes a profit for the Zappa estate so to say. But that isn't all that much in comparisson with what the Prince estate needs (to keep PP running alone for example)...

And by the way, right now, Prince LLC or The Estate, has a pretty good income (so far) from various sources altogether. If not MakeMillions would've left the building already.

Bob Dylan can release what he wants, he doesn't need the money. He does it simply because he is alive and in charge, and he actually does it for the sake of his art. Remember his old Radio broadcasting CDs packages? Didn't sell all that much, but he just did it.

Yes, when Prince was alive his streaming numbers were already low, his music was illegally downloaded too, but you seem to forget what was his main incomes : touring. He would make like 500k $ a concert.

That's why physical releases remain the most profitable way to release his music, besides of course Netflix.

Sure, and of course (plus we all know that), The Man made handsome profits from live performances and TV appearances. The sneaky bastard in him wasn't even averse to playing for oil sheiks when it suited him. We all know that.
-
I stand by my main idea;
a mix of everything!
SDE or just smaller/more compact SD-releases, with a parallel mix of online streaming, downloads, etc.
It is only this what the fans actually want.
Only, 'they' - LLC Prince/The Estate - need to find a solution to satisfy the mainstream audience as well wihtin all htese ideas.

-

Actually, this is all doable, at a profit, and feasible within a budget to be spent per project.

Only, that will be difficult if there is no will to work with smaller, more regular profits.

Vannormal said:

Sure, and of course (plus we all know that), The Man made handsome profits from live performances and TV appearances. The sneaky bastard in him wasn't even averse to playing for oil sheiks when it suited him. We all know that.
-
I stand by my main idea;
a mix of everything!
SDE or just smaller/more compact SD-releases, with a parallel mix of online streaming, downloads, etc.
It is only this what the fans actually want.
Only, 'they' - LLC Prince/The Estate - need to find a solution to satisfy the mainstream audience as well wihtin all htese ideas.

-

Actually, this is all doable, at a profit, and feasible within a budget to be spent per project.

Only, that will be difficult if there is no will to work with smaller, more regular profits.

I'm old school and I'm all for physical releases, I really need to be able to hold a product in my hands, but I reckon perhaps a more condensed SD is the way to go -together with a shit-load of additional stuff as downloads (this could be the perfect outlet for the endless edited versions from the 7"s or the extended 12"s, etc... And then some more vault material to go with).

RODSERLING said:

Maybe, but realistically how many people are going to watch the 2nd or 3rd concert uploaded? We can all see the numbers on YouTube, and that's free. I can't see Netflix paying much for those numbers.

Exactly.

I bet it's even just a very small portions of fans who really want to see every fuckig live show of every tour, and indeed, no one is going to pay for that.

On top of that, Prince often had it all filmed for own use, not for an eventual relase or broadcast. So my guess is that the director's quality of these shows are possible meh.

Netflix concerts would be an event, one every month. If you think there s no unreleased professional show shot at all, then what do you want exactly from the estate?


If you all think Netflix spent a crazy 64 millions $ on a 8- hour documentary, that wouldn't interest much people than his concerts, then why couldn't they spend like a few hundred thousand dollars on each of these show?

That topic makes no sense at all if you think there's no professional show left. You can close it already, thanks.

Vannormal said:

One every month, is for you every fucking live show of every tour?

Like it would be on Netflix for centuries?
I understand the estate don't care about such trolls : you can't be taken seriously enough for them to trust you.

Most fans didn't buy the last SDE anyway, don't expect anything else while when they are selling something, fans don't buy it.

RODSERLING said:

It's really sad that a lot of fans didn't buy the D&P SDE. It's important to support these releases or else we might not get more SDEs, or at least not that often.

MIRvmn1 said:

RODSERLING said:

One every month, is for you every fucking live show of every tour? Like it would be on Netflix for centuries? I understand the estate don't care about such trolls : you can't be taken seriously enough for them to trust you. Most fans didn't buy the last SDE anyway, don't expect anything else while when they are selling something, fans don't buy it.

It's really sad that a lot of fans didn't buy the D&P SDE. It's important to support these releases or else we might not get more SDEs, or at least not that often.

The thing is, not everyone was interested in the D&P era. Fans shouldn't be obligated to buy something they have zero interest in just for the unguaranteed chance that maybe the estate will someday release music they actually want. And SDEs aren't exactly cheap as it is.

Maybe if the estate 1) communicated with fans to determine what they want, and 2) put out smaller and more affordable packages instead of exclusively tacking vault tracks to $100+ sets, they'd up their sales.

bozojones said:

Interested or not in the "era", the 30 + tracks weren't part of D&P, since they were unreleased, and so by definition not part of the D&P album.
You could do a 13 new album track that would have nothing to do musically with the D&P album.

Those fans are just morons that's all. The same morons who didn't buy W2A because they didn't like that era neither.
The same morons who wouldn't buy a PR SDE anyway, because "that's not their favourite era" or " they are fed up with Purple Rain".

You could have a Parade SDE with 30 new tracks that would have nothing to do with what you like in Parade. That's the main interest in having new tracks, for fuck' sake, to have something new and different.

Trolls here complained about D&P from the day they heard about it, that is to say like 3 years before released, without even knowing the tracklist.

I agree with bozojones.The estate should actually communicate with the fans,so they will have some idea of what the fans really want.Most of us are willing and eager to open up our wallets and spend money,but how about asking us what we would like to see!

I purchased the D&P SDE but I admit,that’s not one of my favorite eras.
[Edited 9/4/24 16:15pm]

RODSERLING said:

So, people who don't buy something they don't want are morons? Get a grip...

D & P SDE was the first release since 1987 that I didn't buy on day of release. I don't like the album, I didn't like the tracks they released to promote the SDE and I've since pirated it and haven't listened to a single track. I just don't care.

When prince was releasing stuff, I bought it. To support him. I went to shows, I subscribed to clubs, I bought merch and every album. When the estate was actively serving the fan community, I supported them buying reissues and SDEs. But those days are gone. I'm not gonna buy shit I don't want, and at this point I couldn't care less what they release in the future. I've got enough to last me a lifetime and there's plenty of other stuff to do. If they put something out that I'm interested in, I'll buy it. Otherwise, they can kick rocks.

lustmealways said:

I enjoy them because I’m old-school and like collecting music stuff. But I get it…

I think it would be neat if they released a digital box set and added new “volumes” occasionally. Like a running album. They could still release other concepts or re-releases separately, but given the volume, a running album could be neat to release stuff that doesn’t fit elsewhere or is otherwise not worth taking up space on a physical release.

They could also ease up on suing or vigilantly going after people who share low-quality audio-only bootlegs from a show they taped, but that’s a side-note.

P's music deserves SDEs with liner notes, vault pictures etc.

To release downloads diminishes the value for me and moreso what if my memory card/SDD/HDD/whatever is lost or damaged.

We all know that the files will not be forever online.

And DRM is a disaster.

The Estate should release SDEs but without those dumb single edits: honestly who is listening to these?

Make room for more vault music.

SDEs should also include:

- rehearsal

- soundcheck

- full show

- after show

Or they should get a (paid) streaming service on the official website if the above is not possible due to whatever reason.

These are amazing options:

JorisE73 said : “Add an access code to each SDE for an online library of work-in-progress releases, recording sessions, rehearsals, soundchecks, concerts linked to the SDE period (unique access code that can be stacked with other SDE access codes on your account for the library) and, of course, the digital files of the SDE in question." I think this is a viable idea, at least, if it can pay off.

-

SIrSighALot said this, and i can relate to that too : "they should focus on releasing released material on streaming if they can't release unreleased music at the moment. (...) What's stopping them from putting all maxi singles on streaming?"

But in the end I couldn't care less about the current Estate: someone said it before, they will not listen to the core fan. They have their own agenda. they need to pay out their own salaries with: overpriced Cellies, licensing and milking PR untill kingdome come.

[Edited 9/5/24 1:27am]

[Edited 9/5/24 1:30am]

[Edited 9/5/24 1:37am]

Personally I just think they need to release more but keep the prices reasonable. I'd love to buy the vinyl boxsets but they are just too expensive....I like the format of SOTT and Diamonds and Pearls CD boxsets...I wish 1999 Superdeluxe was the same... with that said though the cost of the D+P CD Set was up there and probably a bit much tbh... if they want to save $$ maybe cut the edit cds out and dont double up the live audio cds with the same show on bluray/dvd...

I think a superdeluxe each year is do-able but even one every couple of years would be ok....so long as it's reasonably regular AND they release other smaller things in between ie RSD releases and blurays/DVDs...especially concerts/aftershows/and more(ie the 3121 Movie and The Second Coming should be easy enough...they have it all in the vault)

As much as I'm tired of Puple Rain I think it's criminal that they haven't cashed in this year on it being the 40th anniversary...it was an easy cash cow if they timed something/anything for release to coincide with the Netflix doco...they missed out big time this year...but so long as they organise things so when the Netflix doco does come out they should easily be able to cash in and make the most of it....maybe next year?

In the interim the Estate needs to listen to feedback from the fanbase...they'll never make $ from us if they don't sell us what we want
[Edited 9/5/24 1:41am]

RODSERLING said:

You're willfully misunderstanding what was said. We all know there are professionally shot concerts that were never released. This was true before video screens appeared at concerts and moreso afterwards.

What people are saying is that there isn't a huge market made up of the people who want to see them. Outside of certain concerts that might attract non-fans. Such as the Piano & Mic tour - billed as his final concert I'm sure would get attention. 21 nights in London would probably attract attention in the UK... The 34th date from a mid 90s tour, not so much. It needs to be curated.



1) No idea where you've got that figure from? A quick Google search says Netflix spends about a billion dollars a year on "unscripted/documentary" content. In 2023 they released 38 documentaries so you can use those numbers to guesstimate what a documentary costs. Then take into account the added cost of licensing the music/performance footage, the fact it's 8 hours long, requires speaking to tens if not hundreds of people from all over the world spanning an artists 40 year career and the director is an established name. So whatever average you come to it's likely to be on the higher end. 60 million seems high IMO. But around 30/35 would be my guess.

2) If you're not a Prince fan (like most Netflix subscribers), a documentary is INFINITELY more interesting than watching someone perform songs you've never heard for 3 hours. It offers insight, depth and multiple perspectives creating a picture of the man behind the music.



Again, literally nobody in this thread has said this. We all know there is. Are there more than a few thousand people who want to see it is the question being asked. Will the estate make more money via a one off payment from Netflix, to licence the content, than they'd make from a lifetime of Blu-ray sales or YouTube as revenue?
[Edited 9/5/24 7:19am]

nayroo2002 said:

#FreeThePurpleMusic or #GetTheThievesOutTheTemple

RODSERLING said:

bozojones said:

The thing is, not everyone was interested in the D&P era. Fans shouldn't be obligated to buy something they have zero interest in just for the unguaranteed chance that maybe the estate will someday release music they actually want. And SDEs aren't exactly cheap as it is.

Maybe if the estate 1) communicated with fans to determine what they want, and 2) put out smaller and more affordable packages instead of exclusively tacking vault tracks to $100+ sets, they'd up their sales.

Interested or not in the "era", the 30 + tracks weren't part of D&P, since they were unreleased, and so by definition not part of the D&P album. You could do a 13 new album track that would have nothing to do musically with the D&P album. Those fans are just morons that's all. The same morons who didn't buy W2A because they didn't like that era neither. The same morons who wouldn't buy a PR SDE anyway, because "that's not their favourite era" or " they are fed up with Purple Rain". You could have a Parade SDE with 30 new tracks that would have nothing to do with what you like in Parade. That's the main interest in having new tracks, for fuck' sake, to have something new and different. Trolls here complained about D&P from the day they heard about it, that is to say like 3 years before released, without even knowing the tracklist.

Choosing not to spend large amounts of money on products they have zero interest in makes someone a moron? Huh. Maybe I should start throwing money at the estate for Celebration tickets too, just to show my financial support while I patiently wait for them to do something worthwhile!

Maybe the "trolls" complained because Diamonds & Pearls was far down the list of albums/eras they were interested in, and putting it above the myriad of far more interesting Prince albums was a baffling choice.

SIrSighALot said:

nayroo2002 said:

"OK. What's the hashtag?"

#FreeThePurpleMusic or #GetTheThievesOutTheTemple

#WHAT is the hashtag!

The hashtag is #WHAT ?

It's the hashtag.

The hashtag is "IT"???

No!

The hashtag is #WHAT!!!

nayroo2002 said:

bazinga! i fell into that
[Edited 9/5/24 9:44am]
[Edited 9/5/24 9:53am]

To submit what the fans want to the estate is beyond ridiculous.
You all want something different from one another. They couldn't do anything with that kind of list

I m maybe the only one here to want just Prince music or video, instead of " one particular era of Prince"

Prince was always Prince, no matter if it were in 1980, 1990, 2000 or 2010. Always above most everyone in the music industry. Always doing something interesting.

Those who opted not to buy D&P SDE are the ones responsible for the lack of releases nowadays. To see them complaining now is beyond trolling.

What " Spirit" has to do with the album sound D&P? Alice sounds more like what became Come than what was D&P.
If you don't like D&P, fine, then buy it to allow the next SDE to happen, and that's all.
Then bye bye LoveSymbol SDE, bye Purple Rain...That wasn't Newpowersoul (1998) they released for fuck' sake, how can you be so bashful about it.
[Edited 9/5/24 10:14am]

I also opted not to buy candles and jewelry and bathrobes and T-shirts and throw pillows and blankies and a bunch of other crap I don't want, but they still offer more...yer outta yer mind, my guy. The estate are either incompetent or disinterested or unable. These are the reasons fans are dissatisfied with the amount/quality of material being released. The estate are not withholding future releases because d&p underperformed. Possessing a commodity for which there is a clearly communicated demand, it would behoove the estate to be a bit more accommodating if they wish to capitalize on it. The built-in, hardcore fanbase should be their focus and with simple and clever marketing they can draw in the noobs if they want. Prince is dead. His body of work is finite. The greatest potential to capitalize on it is now, with the people who knew and loved him best.
[Edited 9/5/24 11:29am]

peedub said:

So, why did the current estate release D&P SDE ?