The thread about which vault songs could be hits in 2026 made me think of something. For about a decade between 1984 and 1993, Prince was an in-demand songwriter/producer in the music industry, writing all those songs for other artists. A practice that abruptly stopped, with a few exceptions, in 1994, when he decided he didn't want to give away his songs' master anymore.

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Nevertheless, there's a ton of unreleased songs in the vault, some the Estate could try and shop around to new artists to rerecord (most likely from scratch in most cases, though some may choose to use parts of the original multitracks) and sing. I suspect that would be a better way to make "hits" than releasing decades-old tunes as such.

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Now IDK whether that could work, but I suspect quite a few contemporary artists may feel honored to release an exclusive Prince track. And the Estate could always release the originals afterwards, getting more interest into them by having them sung by others first.

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I know this idea may shock those who know me as a purist, but as as it doesn't involve tinkering with P's versions and may help getting those out later, I wouldn't mind such a practice.

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Opinions?

databank said:

That’s a refreshing idea !

💜


Let’s start with Friction sung by ………… Bruno Mars or Janelle



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[Edited 3/3/26 18:29pm]
[Edited 3/3/26 18:31pm]

No offense, but this is one of the worst ideas I've ever seen posted on here. I'm genuinely taken aback by how dumb that would be. No. Just, no.

ShellyMcG said:

None taken. But why are you so against the idea?
Or do you also disapprove of other artists covering Prince? Because to me it's kinda the same, only in that case the original isn't out yet.
Or is it because Prince himself wouldn't have picked what to offer to whom?
Just trying to understand. I'm not saying the idea was necessarily genius. But since everyone is always talking about making sure new generations get to know Prince and his legacy, and how to make the vault more profitable so they don't just sell mugs and t-shirts, it made sense to me.
Also, shopping around already released songs for covers is an old practice. Warner Chappell did it with some Prince songs in the 80s, which is the reason so many of the early covers were I Wanna Be Your Lover, Private Joy and I Feel For You. And Prince sometimes spontaneously offered songs to artists.
[Edited 3/3/26 22:14pm]