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Thread started 04/01/25 10:38pm

paisleyparkgir
l

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Rant : Why Welcome 2 America ?

Like why ? why ? out of all the 80's things they could have released, they had to show an unseen Welcome 2 America concert that no one cares about.

[Edited 4/1/25 22:38pm]

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Reply #1 posted 04/01/25 10:45pm

love5oneanothe
r

Indeed. Also, not quite unseen. I'm pretty sure this is the concert they used for the "Live on the Big Screen" concert they did several years ago.

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Reply #2 posted 04/02/25 12:13am

peedub

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Indeed. And why not also make it something extremely coveted and press it on to a disc or make it downloadable and sell it to the world instead of just the 40 people who are going to go to one place, one time to watch it.
[Edited 4/2/25 0:14am]
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Reply #3 posted 04/02/25 1:20am

bozojones

Because this and Goofy Movie is the best they could think of doing after sitting around for two years with their heads up their asses

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Reply #4 posted 04/02/25 2:36am

lurker316

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With Prince having a nearly 40 year career, why do you think they should keep releasing only stuff from the '80s?

I, for one, love the W2A concert and am thrilled they released it. I want more modern stuff, not less.




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Reply #5 posted 04/02/25 3:58am

databank

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paisleyparkgirl said:

Like why ? why ? out of all the 80's things they could have released, they had to show an unseen Welcome 2 America concert that no one cares about.

[Edited 4/1/25 22:38pm]

1/ What do you care? It's a local thing, no one will see this except for a handful of people.

2/ Enough of this 80s obsession already. Lurker316 is right, Prince had a 40 years long career, lots of great stuff was recorded after 1993...

.

Now, since money was spent "remixing and remastering the show in stunning 4K" anyway, can it PLEASE be sold for download on the official website? I'll buy it. Thank you.

(I still want my keyboard with the "come" key, though.)

A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #6 posted 04/02/25 6:47am

psyche2

I don’t think they put much thought into this choice. They probably found this video ready and in good enough quality for showing, and it’s a greatest hits show after all -nothing obscure or heavily-themed into a particular era.

On the other hand, given that only a handful of people are going to attend this and it’s not a mainstream release, they could have chosen something a bit more rare, like an aftershow or a show from the 90’s or the 00’s.

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Reply #7 posted 04/02/25 7:04am

WhisperingDand
elions

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databank said:

paisleyparkgirl said:

Like why ? why ? out of all the 80's things they could have released, they had to show an unseen Welcome 2 America concert that no one cares about.

[Edited 4/1/25 22:38pm]

1/ What do you care? It's a local thing, no one will see this except for a handful of people.

...Because she's a Prince fan? Because this is international news all over Prince web sources?


Actually that about encapsulates the absurdity, one of the biggest artists of all time gets treated like a local indie wrestling circuit. And we're the crazy ones for caring about "local thing" Prince Rogers Nelson, local Minneapolis artist like your local TV anchors or radio sportscasters.

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Reply #8 posted 04/02/25 7:09am

WhisperingDand
elions

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I feel all concert footage is worthwhile, however, didn't the last set feature a W2A concert? It's like, give us some other tours or an aftershow, there.

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Reply #9 posted 04/04/25 8:05pm

partyup77

I love W2A. Bring it on in that glorious 4K.

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Reply #10 posted 04/04/25 8:56pm

AvocadosMax

partyup77 said:

I love W2A. Bring it on in that glorious 4K.


Agreed
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Reply #11 posted 04/05/25 1:24pm

Se7en

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They're not going to share something for free that could be monetized in the future (either as a standalone release or as an add-in to incentivize SDE sales).

So, a somewhat generic W2A concert is not going to affect much in either of those regards.

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Reply #12 posted 04/05/25 2:01pm

WhiteSandsHide
away11

My theory is that it came at a time where America was going through a lot of changes.. Trump presidency, the pandemic, George Floyd.. etc.. So I think they chose to release W2A as commentary/statment on the current state of America. I remember feeling that way at the time at least. I haven’t revisited Welcome 2 America since 2021.
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Reply #13 posted 04/05/25 2:14pm

bashraka

paisleyparkgirl said:

Like why ? why ? out of all the 80's things they could have released, they had to show an unseen Welcome 2 America concert that no one cares about.

[Edited 4/1/25 22:38pm]

Maybe they will release all the things you want in the future. What's the hurry? Prince had a 40 year career. If you don't dig it, keep it moving because somebody else will dig it

3121 #1 THIS YEAR
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Reply #14 posted 04/05/25 3:16pm

bozojones

Se7en said:

They're not going to share something for free that could be monetized in the future (either as a standalone release or as an add-in to incentivize SDE sales).

So, a somewhat generic W2A concert is not going to affect much in either of those regards.


How is it "sharing for free" when they're charging money for tickets to see this concert? And how would showing a more sought-after concert at Paisley prevent them from making money on a future physical release?

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Reply #15 posted 04/14/25 3:25am

Ndorphinmachin
a

Se7en said:

They're not going to share something for free that could be monetized in the future (either as a standalone release or as an add-in to incentivize SDE sales).

So, a somewhat generic W2A concert is not going to affect much in either of those regards.



Can it be monetized?

Yes, in theory... In reality? They're struggling to shift copies of the D&P SDE. They've got another 10-20 years until the fans who were around at the time are too old to care, and the new generation have only ever watched stuff for free on YouTube. They're not buying physical media. They've burned their bridge with Netflix and likely any other streaming platforms who might have been interested.

They should have bombarded fans with free stuff to try and win back some good will. There are so many moments from his concerts that could be clipped and if not go viral, at least garner interest on YouTube.

There's more than enough material in the vault that they could genuinely release an album every month for a year (basically hijacking the music press/media) who'd be pretty much obliged to write about about them each month, and still, barely make a dent in what they have. They just need the balls to do something bold.

Their current strategy of hoarding stuff isn't working. I'm not sure if it's genuine incompetence, or they're just enjoying pretending to be famous. Either way, it's a huge disservice to Prince.

Prince could be a dick at times, but I don't think he would've ever set the prices of his celebrations as high as the estate are choosing to, and that was when he was playing every night. He'd have never priced out average fans from SDEs. He put stuff online all the time, did cover mounts and priced his concerts at a fraction of what they were worth.
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Reply #16 posted 04/14/25 2:19pm

JorisE73

Ndorphinmachina said:

Se7en said:

They're not going to share something for free that could be monetized in the future (either as a standalone release or as an add-in to incentivize SDE sales).

So, a somewhat generic W2A concert is not going to affect much in either of those regards.

Can it be monetized? Yes, in theory... In reality? They're struggling to shift copies of the D&P SDE. They've got another 10-20 years until the fans who were around at the time are too old to care, and the new generation have only ever watched stuff for free on YouTube. They're not buying physical media. They've burned their bridge with Netflix and likely any other streaming platforms who might have been interested. They should have bombarded fans with free stuff to try and win back some good will. There are so many moments from his concerts that could be clipped and if not go viral, at least garner interest on YouTube. There's more than enough material in the vault that they could genuinely release an album every month for a year (basically hijacking the music press/media) who'd be pretty much obliged to write about about them each month, and still, barely make a dent in what they have. They just need the balls to do something bold. Their current strategy of hoarding stuff isn't working. I'm not sure if it's genuine incompetence, or they're just enjoying pretending to be famous. Either way, it's a huge disservice to Prince. Prince could be a dick at times, but I don't think he would've ever set the prices of his celebrations as high as the estate are choosing to, and that was when he was playing every night. He'd have never priced out average fans from SDEs. He put stuff online all the time, did cover mounts and priced his concerts at a fraction of what they were worth.


Prince charged $10 a disc for Emancipation and then $20 a disc for the 5 disc version of Crystal Ball, the NewPowerPak cost $77 i think originaly so around $25 a disc. D&P SDE was 8 discs (7 CDs adn 1 BluRay) for $160 so $20 a disc. not much diference.

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Reply #17 posted 04/14/25 6:00pm

Ndorphinmachin
a

JorisE73 said:



Ndorphinmachina said:


Se7en said:

They're not going to share something for free that could be monetized in the future (either as a standalone release or as an add-in to incentivize SDE sales).

So, a somewhat generic W2A concert is not going to affect much in either of those regards.



Can it be monetized? Yes, in theory... In reality? They're struggling to shift copies of the D&P SDE. They've got another 10-20 years until the fans who were around at the time are too old to care, and the new generation have only ever watched stuff for free on YouTube. They're not buying physical media. They've burned their bridge with Netflix and likely any other streaming platforms who might have been interested. They should have bombarded fans with free stuff to try and win back some good will. There are so many moments from his concerts that could be clipped and if not go viral, at least garner interest on YouTube. There's more than enough material in the vault that they could genuinely release an album every month for a year (basically hijacking the music press/media) who'd be pretty much obliged to write about about them each month, and still, barely make a dent in what they have. They just need the balls to do something bold. Their current strategy of hoarding stuff isn't working. I'm not sure if it's genuine incompetence, or they're just enjoying pretending to be famous. Either way, it's a huge disservice to Prince. Prince could be a dick at times, but I don't think he would've ever set the prices of his celebrations as high as the estate are choosing to, and that was when he was playing every night. He'd have never priced out average fans from SDEs. He put stuff online all the time, did cover mounts and priced his concerts at a fraction of what they were worth.


Prince charged $10 a disc for Emancipation and then $20 a disc for the 5 disc version of Crystal Ball, the NewPowerPak cost $77 i think originaly so around $25 a disc. D&P SDE was 8 discs (7 CDs adn 1 BluRay) for $160 so $20 a disc. not much diference.



I picked up Emancipation not long after the Brit awards performance for about a tenner. I don't ever remember seeing it at more than £19.99.

Crystal ball was $50 on his website? Where are you getting the $100 price from?

Genuinely can't remember how much the Newpower pack cost. But again, 10-15 quid each in HMV and, the two non Prince albums had to be specially ordered.
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Reply #18 posted 04/15/25 7:08am

JorisE73

Ndorphinmachina said:

JorisE73 said:


Prince charged $10 a disc for Emancipation and then $20 a disc for the 5 disc version of Crystal Ball, the NewPowerPak cost $77 i think originaly so around $25 a disc. D&P SDE was 8 discs (7 CDs adn 1 BluRay) for $160 so $20 a disc. not much diference.

I picked up Emancipation not long after the Brit awards performance for about a tenner. I don't ever remember seeing it at more than £19.99. Crystal ball was $50 on his website? Where are you getting the $100 price from? Genuinely can't remember how much the Newpower pack cost. But again, 10-15 quid each in HMV and, the two non Prince albums had to be specially ordered.



I preordered Crystal Ball (5CD set there was a 100.000 preorder limit) and it was $100 not $50 (plus $35 insane shipping)
The 4 CD set in a normal CD box that was sold in stores was $40-$50, that and thefact that it was first in retail stores in a normal CD box with booklet was the biggest complaint we had back then.
We did however get some extras after we complained inthe form of a T-shirt (I got the Face Down shirt but others got different shirts) Emancipation book and The War tape.
When my order finally arrived it came in a cracked plastic 'puck' with 2 CD's jammed into one slot that scratched the CDs so I got a replacement one that took another 3 months to finally arrive.
The only way to get the GCS2000 album was to ordering the NewPowerPak online or via 1-800 New Funk because it wasn't released in retailstores, so that was another much to expensive set

[Edited 4/15/25 7:34am]

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Reply #19 posted 04/15/25 10:25am

psyche2

JorisE73 said:

Ndorphinmachina said:

JorisE73 said: I picked up Emancipation not long after the Brit awards performance for about a tenner. I don't ever remember seeing it at more than £19.99. Crystal ball was $50 on his website? Where are you getting the $100 price from? Genuinely can't remember how much the Newpower pack cost. But again, 10-15 quid each in HMV and, the two non Prince albums had to be specially ordered.



I preordered Crystal Ball (5CD set there was a 100.000 preorder limit) and it was $100 not $50 (plus $35 insane shipping)
The 4 CD set in a normal CD box that was sold in stores was $40-$50, that and thefact that it was first in retail stores in a normal CD box with booklet was the biggest complaint we had back then.
We did however get some extras after we complained inthe form of a T-shirt (I got the Face Down shirt but others got different shirts) Emancipation book and The War tape.
When my order finally arrived it came in a cracked plastic 'puck' with 2 CD's jammed into one slot that scratched the CDs so I got a replacement one that took another 3 months to finally arrive.
The only way to get the GCS2000 album was to ordering the NewPowerPak online or via 1-800 New Funk because it wasn't released in retailstores, so that was another much to expensive set

[Edited 4/15/25 7:34am]

If I remember correctly, I think I purchased the GCS2000 album in a local store in Europe around early 1999. There were lots of delays with this one and it arrived much later than Chaka Khan's Come 2 My House. But at least I managed to avoid the NewPowerPak thingy and the terrible customer service plus shipping.

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Reply #20 posted 04/15/25 12:23pm

JorisE73

psyche2 said:

JorisE73 said:



I preordered Crystal Ball (5CD set there was a 100.000 preorder limit) and it was $100 not $50 (plus $35 insane shipping)
The 4 CD set in a normal CD box that was sold in stores was $40-$50, that and thefact that it was first in retail stores in a normal CD box with booklet was the biggest complaint we had back then.
We did however get some extras after we complained inthe form of a T-shirt (I got the Face Down shirt but others got different shirts) Emancipation book and The War tape.
When my order finally arrived it came in a cracked plastic 'puck' with 2 CD's jammed into one slot that scratched the CDs so I got a replacement one that took another 3 months to finally arrive.
The only way to get the GCS2000 album was to ordering the NewPowerPak online or via 1-800 New Funk because it wasn't released in retailstores, so that was another much to expensive set

[Edited 4/15/25 7:34am]

If I remember correctly, I think I purchased the GCS2000 album in a local store in Europe around early 1999. There were lots of delays with this one and it arrived much later than Chaka Khan's Come 2 My House. But at least I managed to avoid the NewPowerPak thingy and the terrible customer service plus shipping.


that must have been second hand then, because GCS2000 was only released indie via Prince's site or 1-800 New Funk in the NewpOwerPak and advertised like that without a seperate CD release elsewhere.
the only seperate release I saw and bought was the tape verison that was sold at one of the celebrations (either the first or second)

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Reply #21 posted 04/15/25 6:48pm

Ndorphinmachin
a

JorisE73 said:



Ndorphinmachina said:


JorisE73 said:



Prince charged $10 a disc for Emancipation and then $20 a disc for the 5 disc version of Crystal Ball, the NewPowerPak cost $77 i think originaly so around $25 a disc. D&P SDE was 8 discs (7 CDs adn 1 BluRay) for $160 so $20 a disc. not much diference.



I picked up Emancipation not long after the Brit awards performance for about a tenner. I don't ever remember seeing it at more than £19.99. Crystal ball was $50 on his website? Where are you getting the $100 price from? Genuinely can't remember how much the Newpower pack cost. But again, 10-15 quid each in HMV and, the two non Prince albums had to be specially ordered.



I preordered Crystal Ball (5CD set there was a 100.000 preorder limit) and it was $100 not $50 (plus $35 insane shipping)
The 4 CD set in a normal CD box that was sold in stores was $40-$50, that and thefact that it was first in retail stores in a normal CD box with booklet was the biggest complaint we had back then.
We did however get some extras after we complained inthe form of a T-shirt (I got the Face Down shirt but others got different shirts) Emancipation book and The War tape.
When my order finally arrived it came in a cracked plastic 'puck' with 2 CD's jammed into one slot that scratched the CDs so I got a replacement one that took another 3 months to finally arrive.
The only way to get the GCS2000 album was to ordering the NewPowerPak online or via 1-800 New Funk because it wasn't released in retailstores, so that was another much to expensive set

[Edited 4/15/25 7:34am]



https://prince.org/msg/7/351703 This thread says CB was $50 from Prince.

I didn't buy the pack, NPS was a tenner in HMV, Come 2 my house had to be ordered, I thought GCS2000 was ordered there too, but it was a while ago. If there was no retail version then I must have bought it online somewhere.
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