TrivialPursuit said:

ShellyMcG said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Following Prince's "Purple Rain" re-entering the Billboard Hot 100, Prince joins Michael Jackson and Cher as the only artists to chart in six different decades. 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s.

I know you didn't mean it to come across this way, but the wording of your post almost makes it seem like you're saying Prince charted in the 60s. You also list 7 separate decades. Like I said, I know what you mean, but just thought I'd flag it with you to prevent certain smartarses on here from using it against you.

Yeah, it was a copy and paste from somewhere, but you're right.

Would I like the estate to step up and start a better/more rapid release schedule of robust box sets, live performances, and vault albums/songs? Yes. Failing to capitalize on the Stranger Things hype is silly. That said....
-
Prince was NOTORIOUSLY known for such things. After the Superbowl (immediately and conisistently known as the greatest halftime show ever) Prince has billions of eyes on him. what did Prince do? Did he tour or release and album? As a fan I remember thinking he didn't do much to leverage that hype.

-

Bottom line: Yes, the Estate has been hit or miss since in the decade since Prince's death. I mean, by my count (and I could be off) we've had this:

Standalone albums (all unreleased):

1. Piano and a Microphone 1983 - 1 disc
2. Originals - 1 disc
3. Welcome 2 America - 1 disc

Purple Rain Deluxe (2017) - 4 discs total:

• 1 disc of vault tracks
• (other discs are remaster + singles/edits)

1999 Super Deluxe (2019) - 6 discs total:

• 2 discs of vault tracks (Discs 3 & 4)
• 1 disc live (Detroit show - previously unreleased)
• 1 DVD live (Houston show - previously unreleased)
• = 4 discs of unreleased material

Sign o' the Times Super Deluxe (2020) - 9 discs total:

• 3 discs of vault tracks (Discs 4, 5 & 6)
• 2 discs live audio (Utrecht - previously unreleased)
• 1 DVD (Paisley Park NYE show - previously unreleased)
• = 6 discs of unreleased material

Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe (2023) - 8 discs total:

• 3 discs of vault tracks (Discs 3, 4 & 5)
• 2 discs live audio (Glam Slam - previously unreleased)
• 1 Blu-ray with live video (previously unreleased)
• = 6 discs of unreleased material

TOTAL: 3 + 1 + 4 + 6 + 6 = 20 discs of previously unreleased material.

In one decade we've had 20 discs?!? Can that be right? Seems like a lot of material for all of the complaining. I mean, that is still less than Prince's output (including side projects) when he was alive, but it's not far off. Is it?

skywalker said:

My goodness Prince fans are so negative Younger people listening to his music on Spotify IS a Huge win. Casual fans do not care about box sets. Those are for the fandom. Also it takes time to curate these box sets and concert releseses.

[Edited 1/16/26 21:44pm]

Strawberrylova123 said:

ShellyMcG said:

I find it hilarious that on this thread I have been accused by some of being too positive about Prince being in Stranger Things and I've been accused by others of being too negative about it. It almost feels like if you're not all in on one side or the other then you make enemies of everyone

Welcome to 2026.

Strawberrylova123 said:

My goodness Prince fans are so negative Younger people listening to his music on Spotify IS a Huge win. Casual fans do not care about box sets. Those are for the fandom. Also it takes time to curate these box sets and concert releseses.

[Edited 1/16/26 21:44pm]

Exactly !

ShellyMcG said:

Strawberrylova123 said:

My goodness Prince fans are so negative Younger people listening to his music on Spotify IS a Huge win. Casual fans do not care about box sets. Those are for the fandom. Also it takes time to curate these box sets and concert releseses.

[Edited 1/16/26 21:44pm]

Yeah. It IS a big win. I've made several posts on this very thread highlighting that. The Prince Estate being completely useless is a separate matter.

I know it takes time to put these kind of sets together but the Stranger Things stuff didn't just come out of nowhere. The Estate made that deal a very long time ago. They knew it was coming. They knew it would generate more interest in all things Prince. And yet they had nothing prepared to take advantage of that. Because they're incompetent.

On a somewhat related note, I find it hilarious that on this thread I have been accused by some of being too positive about Prince being in Stranger Things and I've been accused by others of being too negative about it. It almost feels like if you're not all in on one side or the other then you make enemies of everyone

ShellyMcG said:

Strawberrylova123 said:

My goodness Prince fans are so negative Younger people listening to his music on Spotify IS a Huge win. Casual fans do not care about box sets. Those are for the fandom. Also it takes time to curate these box sets and concert releseses.

[Edited 1/16/26 21:44pm]

Yeah. It IS a big win. I've made several posts on this very thread highlighting that. The Prince Estate being completely useless is a separate matter.

I know it takes time to put these kind of sets together but the Stranger Things stuff didn't just come out of nowhere. The Estate made that deal a very long time ago. They knew it was coming. They knew it would generate more interest in all things Prince. And yet they had nothing prepared to take advantage of that. Because they're incompetent.

On a somewhat related note, I find it hilarious that on this thread I have been accused by some of being too positive about Prince being in Stranger Things and I've been accused by others of being too negative about it. It almost feels like if you're not all in on one side or the other then you make enemies of everyone

Strawberrylova123 said:

My goodness Prince fans are so negative Younger people listening to his music on Spotify IS a Huge win. Casual fans do not care about box sets. Those are for the fandom. Also it takes time to curate these box sets and concert releseses.

[Edited 1/16/26 21:44pm]

The past estate gave us multiple sets and standalone albums over the span of 4 or 5 years, starting just a year after Prince had passed away. This current estate has been in charge for three years now and the only substantial thing they've put out is an SDE that was already compiled by their predecessors.

Exactly how many years are we supposed to wait until it's "okay" to criticize them, in your eyes?

Strawberrylova123 said:

BonnieC said:

Strawberrylova123 said:

My goodness Prince fans are so negative Younger people listening to his music on Spotify IS a Huge win. Casual fans do not care about box sets. Those are for the fandom. Also it takes time to curate these box sets and concert releseses.

[Edited 1/16/26 21:44pm]

Yay, dust particles of dollars for every thousand listens! Huge win indeed. With fams like these, who needs philistines? [Edited 1/17/26 3:55am]

Oh shhhhhhsh. Negative Nancy.

paisleyparkgirl said:

paisleyparkgirl said:

Strawberrylova123 said:

ShellyMcG said:

Yeah. It IS a big win. I've made several posts on this very thread highlighting that. The Prince Estate being completely useless is a separate matter.

I know it takes time to put these kind of sets together but the Stranger Things stuff didn't just come out of nowhere. The Estate made that deal a very long time ago. They knew it was coming. They knew it would generate more interest in all things Prince. And yet they had nothing prepared to take advantage of that. Because they're incompetent.

On a somewhat related note, I find it hilarious that on this thread I have been accused by some of being too positive about Prince being in Stranger Things and I've been accused by others of being too negative about it. It almost feels like if you're not all in on one side or the other then you make enemies of everyone

People love negativity. That’s why I haven’t engaged in prince related forums in years for that reason. Prince deserves better fans.

BonnieC said:

paisleyparkgirl said:

Oh shhhhhhsh. Negative Nancy.

Did I address you? Go back sucking your neoliberal tits’ whole milk. You couldn’t care less for art or artists. The kind of lobotomized who applaud because Prince is featured in a loooong commercial disguised as a series. A century of entertainment and consumption have rotten your brains so much you can’t even realise the extent of your contradictions when you pretend caring for Prince’s work. Pathetic yes-men who applaud the greatest shipwreck ever witnessed in handling a major artist’s legacy. Go on, lemme see you jump for joy at the latest Youtube outputs by the « estate ». Oh, goody, more Purple Rain bullshit! Luckily for mankind, some of us aren’t so easily amused.

So glad you make it clear about the negative Nancy comment. Yes, the world needs more negative energy and political baiting.

[Edited 1/18/26 1:21am]

Dayumnn what happened here

I think we all can agree that the Estate did a fantastic job for having their Cash Cows in Stranger Things.

But if you’ve got a Cash Cow moment like that, you should have the merch, the campaigns, the whole PR rollout ready to fire.

Monetize the wave properly and funnel that into funding the SDEs.

Instead, they let the hype evaporate.

At the end of the day, the Estate is a business.

Likes and streams don’t keep the lights on — real revenue does.

[Edited 1/18/26 7:12am]

Trufunksoulja said:

Dayumnn what happened here

I think we all can agree that the Estate did a fantastic job for having their Cash Cows in Stranger Things.

But if you’ve got a Cash Cow moment like that, you should have the merch, the campaigns, the whole PR rollout ready to fire.

Monetize the wave properly and funnel that into funding the SDEs.

Instead, they let the hype evaporate.

At the end of the day, the Estate is a business.

Likes and streams don’t keep the lights on — real revenue does.

[Edited 1/18/26 7:12am]

Well said. That temporary boost in numbers doesn't mean much at all if the estate isn't gonna put in the work to build upon it. But hey, they got to pat themselves on the back and enjoy the ass-kissing from their usual online cheerleaders.

BonnieC said:

paisleyparkgirl said:

Oh shhhhhhsh. Negative Nancy.

[Flame snip - luv4u]

[Snip - luv4u]

ShellyMcG said:

skywalker said:

Would I like the estate to step up and start a better/more rapid release schedule of robust box sets, live performances, and vault albums/songs? Yes. Failing to capitalize on the Stranger Things hype is silly. That said....
-
Prince was NOTORIOUSLY known for such things. After the Superbowl (immediately and conisistently known as the greatest halftime show ever) Prince has billions of eyes on him. what did Prince do? Did he tour or release and album? As a fan I remember thinking he didn't do much to leverage that hype.

-

Bottom line: Yes, the Estate has been hit or miss since in the decade since Prince's death. I mean, by my count (and I could be off) we've had this:

Standalone albums (all unreleased):

1. Piano and a Microphone 1983 - 1 disc
2. Originals - 1 disc
3. Welcome 2 America - 1 disc

Purple Rain Deluxe (2017) - 4 discs total:

• 1 disc of vault tracks
• (other discs are remaster + singles/edits)

1999 Super Deluxe (2019) - 6 discs total:

• 2 discs of vault tracks (Discs 3 & 4)
• 1 disc live (Detroit show - previously unreleased)
• 1 DVD live (Houston show - previously unreleased)
• = 4 discs of unreleased material

Sign o' the Times Super Deluxe (2020) - 9 discs total:

• 3 discs of vault tracks (Discs 4, 5 & 6)
• 2 discs live audio (Utrecht - previously unreleased)
• 1 DVD (Paisley Park NYE show - previously unreleased)
• = 6 discs of unreleased material

Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe (2023) - 8 discs total:

• 3 discs of vault tracks (Discs 3, 4 & 5)
• 2 discs live audio (Glam Slam - previously unreleased)
• 1 Blu-ray with live video (previously unreleased)
• = 6 discs of unreleased material

TOTAL: 3 + 1 + 4 + 6 + 6 = 20 discs of previously unreleased material.

In one decade we've had 20 discs?!? Can that be right? Seems like a lot of material for all of the complaining. I mean, that is still less than Prince's output (including side projects) when he was alive, but it's not far off. Is it?

A bit disingenuous to include live shows and the piano & microphone thing though. Those were all songs we've heard before. I'm much more interested in hearing unreleased studio recordings than acoustic versions or live versions of songs I've had for years. To each their own and all that. But one thing about your post that I really must disagree with is how you point out that Prince was known for failing to capitalize on his own success at times and that somehow makes it ok that the Estate are also guilty of that same failure. Prince was great at many things. Business was not one of those things. But that's ok, we can accept that because he was a great musician and at least we knew that we'd always get another album from him eventually. So it didn't really matter so much that he didn't have anything ready to go after the Superbowl performance. But the current Estate, we don't know anything. Because they haven't given us anything. We have no reason to be optimistic for the future of Prince releases. They are incapable of even communicating with the fans to let us know what we can expect because they don't even seem to know themselves. And the fact that they've let a golden opportunity to release something new pass them by speaks volumes about them. They are clueless. They are incompetent. They've done one good thing (licensing two songs to Stranger Things) and they were incapable of actually following up on that.

I appreciate your perspective, but I have to respectfully disagree on a few points.

-

My list is based on official releases - material that was not previously available through legitimate channels. Whether hardcore collectors had bootlegs doesn't change the fact that these are officially unreleased recordings. When the Estate puts out vault tracks, it's the first time they're properly mastered, legally available, and accessible to the general public in high quality. That's meaningful for the vast majority of fans, even if some collectors already had rough copies.

Piano & Microphone 1983 and the live shows absolutely count as previously unreleased material - they weren't officially available before, regardless of the song selection.

-

I wasn't excusing the Estate by comparing them to Prince - I was pointing out that (for me) erratic release schedules are kind of baked into the Prince experience. He himself would:

• Shelve completed albums on a whim
• Go stretches without releases, then drop multiple projects
• Make business decisions that frustrated fans
• Literally do nothing to capitalize on the biggest halftime show ever

Is the Estate's communication frustrating? Absolutely. But expecting a predictable corporate rollout from Prince's estate might be asking for something that was never realistic given who he was and the complications of his estate.

-

Bottom line: Since 2016, we've gotten 20 discs of officially unreleased material across 7 releases. That's substantial archival work, even if the pacing and communication could be better.

skywalker said:

ShellyMcG said:

We can agree to disagree on whether or not live shows can be counted as unreleased material. I'd argue that they were released when he performed those shows but whatever. But even at that, I've very little interest in hearing even unreleased live versions of songs when I've already heard live versions of those exact same songs on actual, officially released DVDs. Whether he's performing the hits on the multitude of already released concert DVDs or he's performing them on unreleased tapes in the vault, it's still the same songs performed for the most part the same way. I'm not interested in buying the same stuff twice. But like I said , we can agree to disagree on that. I'm a relatively new fan so I wasn't really around for much of Prince's life. But I know how he operated with regards to releases. I'm sure it was very frustrating to live through that in real time. But you always knew you were going to get something in the end. The current Estate have released nothing apart from the D&P set, which was organized before they got their foot in the door. And there's no sign of anything else coming on the horizon either. It's one thing for Prince to make stupid business decisions. You can forgive him for that. He was human. His talents were in creating the music. It was always someone else's job to sell it. Back when he was alive, Warner Bros, Sony, whoever else he'd sign deals with could only release the stuff he'd give them when he gave it to them. The current Estate are sitting on potentially thousands of unreleased recordings and there's nothing stopping them from releasing them. They are choosing not to. "The Vault is Free" they said. What have they done since then? Nothing. They play songs for the select few willing to spend thousands of dollars to go to Paisley Park. But not even those fans are allowed to actually purchase those songs. It's a joke. And there's no excuse for it.

I get what you are saying. I really do. All I am saying is this: As a long time fan I always want unreleased stuff all the time. Live performances, vault stuff, whatever. As long as it wasn't released before, I welcome it. Yep, Around the World in a Day deserved a cleaned up remastered re-release. Yep, I bemoan the fact that no vault track were included. Yep, I want the estate to step up and turn on the purple machine all the way to 11. If we don't get something new this year, I will be upset too.

skywalker said:

skywalker said:

Bottom line: Since 2016, we've gotten 20 discs of officially unreleased material across 7 releases. That's substantial archival work, even if the pacing and communication could be better.

Don't look at the amount of releases over that period of time. It's way better than nothing, but nothing compared to what could have been released, given the size of the Vault. Look at the frequency of the releases. That's where things get very frustrating. Everything you listed was released over a period of 7 years, not 10 years. We basically didn't get anything in 2024 and 2025.

And there's no reason for the Estate to follow Prince's erratic behavior when it comes to releases. I've seen this argument multiple times, but it just doesn't make any sense.

[Edited 1/21/26 12:17pm]

lurker316 said:

ShellyMcG said:

skywalker said:

I get what you are saying. I really do. All I am saying is this: As a long time fan I always want unreleased stuff all the time. Live performances, vault stuff, whatever. As long as it wasn't released before, I welcome it. Yep, Around the World in a Day deserved a cleaned up remastered re-release. Yep, I bemoan the fact that no vault track were included. Yep, I want the estate to step up and turn on the purple machine all the way to 11. If we don't get something new this year, I will be upset too.

I don't believe we're going to get anything this year either. Not after seeing that tweet from Londell moaning about "older fans" who want vault material to be released. At most, we'll probably get a puff piece documentary that will probably just go over a lot of the same stuff we already know from all the other unofficial documentaries that's been made. I really have zero expectations from this estate so at least I can say I won't be disappointed.

Oh, there's no chance in hell they'll have their documentary finished this year. I have my doubts it will ever get finished at all

I finished viewing Season 5 this past weekend and I thought the use of Prince music at the end was cool! They should have also used "1999" at the Hawkins HS gradutation instead of that headbanger song, haha!

I'm sure the exposure afforded by the series finale will boost Prince's profile among its viewers and may also attract licensing for future advertising. I would expect to hear more licensing of Prince music in different films and advertising as Estate managers progress with their media dealings.

>

IMO, at this point in the evolution of the current Estate, media exposure of music via film and advertising cannot be seen as a negative. Prince can no longer conduct publicity presentations.

ShellyMcG said:

skywalker said:

I appreciate your perspective, but I have to respectfully disagree on a few points.

-

My list is based on official releases - material that was not previously available through legitimate channels. Whether hardcore collectors had bootlegs doesn't change the fact that these are officially unreleased recordings. When the Estate puts out vault tracks, it's the first time they're properly mastered, legally available, and accessible to the general public in high quality. That's meaningful for the vast majority of fans, even if some collectors already had rough copies.

Piano & Microphone 1983 and the live shows absolutely count as previously unreleased material - they weren't officially available before, regardless of the song selection.

-

I wasn't excusing the Estate by comparing them to Prince - I was pointing out that (for me) erratic release schedules are kind of baked into the Prince experience. He himself would:

• Shelve completed albums on a whim
• Go stretches without releases, then drop multiple projects
• Make business decisions that frustrated fans
• Literally do nothing to capitalize on the biggest halftime show ever

Is the Estate's communication frustrating? Absolutely. But expecting a predictable corporate rollout from Prince's estate might be asking for something that was never realistic given who he was and the complications of his estate.

-

Bottom line: Since 2016, we've gotten 20 discs of officially unreleased material across 7 releases. That's substantial archival work, even if the pacing and communication could be better.

We can agree to disagree on whether or not live shows can be counted as unreleased material. I'd argue that they were released when he performed those shows but whatever. But even at that, I've very little interest in hearing even unreleased live versions of songs when I've already heard live versions of those exact same songs on actual, officially released DVDs. Whether he's performing the hits on the multitude of already released concert DVDs or he's performing them on unreleased tapes in the vault, it's still the same songs performed for the most part the same way. I'm not interested in buying the same stuff twice. But like I said , we can agree to disagree on that. I'm a relatively new fan so I wasn't really around for much of Prince's life. But I know how he operated with regards to releases. I'm sure it was very frustrating to live through that in real time. But you always knew you were going to get something in the end. The current Estate have released nothing apart from the D&P set, which was organized before they got their foot in the door. And there's no sign of anything else coming on the horizon either. It's one thing for Prince to make stupid business decisions. You can forgive him for that. He was human. His talents were in creating the music. It was always someone else's job to sell it. Back when he was alive, Warner Bros, Sony, whoever else he'd sign deals with could only release the stuff he'd give them when he gave it to them. The current Estate are sitting on potentially thousands of unreleased recordings and there's nothing stopping them from releasing them. They are choosing not to. "The Vault is Free" they said. What have they done since then? Nothing. They play songs for the select few willing to spend thousands of dollars to go to Paisley Park. But not even those fans are allowed to actually purchase those songs. It's a joke. And there's no excuse for it.

If we are to be generous, the current configuration of the Estate hasn't been in place too long. If they're making a long term plan for truly 'freeing the vault', then fine. The ATWIAD release was pretty baffling though.