With the Label being attacked by Prince since 1993, Is it possible that Warner Bros records are purposely making the music buying public (masses) forget about Prince?

I don't hear any Old Prince Hits on the radio that often, if any- these days, no promotion for any of the Warner releases...The Vault and The Best of Prince, both releases flopped big time in the states!

Plus they are not releasing any dvd compilations of his greatest work on DVD including videos or the movies.

I did see commercials for the Very Best of collection, but it was very late...and Warners didnt even remix the songs like they did for madonna, and released a compilation video for mtv or vh1 to air, so whats the deal now!???

are they making Prince look less desirable and old!?
any thoughts...

no.

Could be possible. people hold grudges and rec.companies are no exception

They're not purposely doing ANYthing to Prince. They just don't care. The world has moved on.

It's a shame that he burned every single bridge and then pissed on the ashes, but hey.

WB ain't still thinkin' about Prince...it's Prince who can't stop thinkin' about WB.

I don't think he burnt all his bridges, he and clive are back communicating, Prince doesn't want to sign a deal just yet, I'm sure...thats why, and besides he's making non commerical music these days, good/quality music, that wouldnt be given the chance on mainstream pop radio!

So I think warners are purposely trying to make him look like a has been...because they couldnt keep him on lock!

PRINCE will eventually pull another commercial stunt and be on top for a bit, its just not the time and he knows it.
He can definitely pull another Beautiful Girl era!

Prince basically told everyone to go fuck themselves, so he got fucked in return.

I don't think so. Record companies put out music for 1 reason: to make money. And Warner Bros. will be doing just that by putting out some sort of compilation of Prince oldies every so often.
Having a profitable back catalog is very important to record companies. 'The Very Best of Prince' didn't sell because people probably just weren't interested in it at this time.

No I don't think they are, they have better things to do - like make money.

See Prince puts a whole lot of negative energy into stamping his feet over a big corporation like WB - I doubt they even give him a second thought, they have more profitable artists who are on actually on their record label who they spend their time ruminating over.

It's as simple as this - all the negative PR stunts (name-change, SLAVE etc, etc) plus a decline in quality of music, lack of distribution and promotion since 1996 means the music world has moved on.

I'm sure if Prince came up with a killer single and he was prepared to promote and distrubte it in a fashion that the industry is accustomed to, it would be welcomed with open arms by radio, TV, and the buying public.

But he hasn't done all that since the album.

A decade is a very long time and things have moved on, the only people poised on the edge of their seat for a new Prince release is us, and even we are dwindling in numbers - each new PR disaster results in fans becoming casual listeners.

I really just think records comps, and everyone else is slowly forgettin about the man..

prince is making people forget about prince. its an awful shame too because i think rainbow children is a great recording and his last tour was just amazing. musically, i think he's in top form...i just think he's too crazy these days for anyone to pay him attention.

no, I don't think so.

I hear Prince's "hits" all the time on the radio, see his music videos on vh1classic, and mtv2's "old school", and almost every popular act has something positive to say about him, so I don't think he's as "forgotten" as you suggest, sure, his current popularity may not be along the lines of madonna, mj's, ect., but I don't think he's been all toghether forgotten.

As far as WB not releasing anything new (dvds and such), they don't want to invest in something that they think won't sell, it's that simple.

I really think Warners WANTS to remind the world of Prince's talent and awesome catalog,but it's clear that Prince doesn't want to cooperate.By now,Warners would just love to remaster all his classic albums,with bonus tracks,new liner notes,photos,etc.And I'm betting that they would be thrilled at the prospect of a remastered 'Purple Rain' DVD next year.The only problem is,Prince would have to cooperate and work on these projects with them.But we all know how stubborn he is,so it's not likely to happen.


So,in reality,it's really *PRINCE* who is making the world forget about Prince.

WHY CANT wb just release the DVD's in their current state without extra's...

Thats more than enough!!!

Romance1600 said:

That's a laugh! What killer single on the album? That whole album was booty-shit. Not one good song.

thedog said:

Say what?? Are you saying that "7" is not a good song? Are you implying that "And God Created Woman" is crap? Are you dismissing strong tracks like "Love 2 The 9s" and "The Continental"? And finally...are you out of your mind??

DavidEye said:

You hit it on the head. WEA and ALL record companies want to make money, and what better way to make money than reissuing an older artists material. It's a cheap and easy way to make some dough for them. The only thing stopping them from doing so, is Prince himself. HE wants his masters and HE wants to make the money when those albums are re-issued and he also wants them released on his terms (I am HOPING he doesn't edit them...I am not really interested in hearing a clean version of Dirty Mind), but he is the reason why he's not as popular as he once was.

Also The Very Best of Prince is one of those albums that will have legs for years to come. It tanked when it 1st came out, but its the album that casual fans will buy when they just want the big hits.


edits
[This message was edited Mon Jul 28 6:57:20 PDT 2003 by Pagey]

thedog said:

Both Sexy MF and My Name Is Prince did very well commercially in the UK, and are still remembered as Prince "hits".

7 is also a catchy song that non-fans love.

I'm not talking great art here, I'm talking GOOD singles - not The Greatest Romance Ever Sold or The One where they're released with no fan-fare, no promotion, videos AFTER the single has charted yadda yadda.

That won't do ANY good.

was the last album that had any proper lengthy promotion behind it (Emancipation crapped after 2 singles, partly due to EMI folding).

XtrueX said:

'The Very Best of Prince' sold well in the uk - went in at No. 2 and was in top 10 for ages

LondonGuy said:

yeah but why not put a bit of effort in and make them even better? if outatkes exist put them on - use the DVD to the max

Those funny conspiracy theories. I just love them. People who believe this got brainwashed by NPGMC.

Since Prince has taken his career completely in his own hands, he has managed to get it down the drain.
He did not need any help from anyone to do so.

As long as he's making good music (TRC) and does not get broke, this is o.k. for me.
As long as he's playing silly NPGMC games (expensive CD releases, stupid websites, uncomplete concert DVDs)
this is just annoying.

XtrueX said:

The Very Best Of Prince went to number 1 in the UK album chart.
i didnt buy it though

Vh1 Classics and Mtv2 is not recieved by every1, you have to pay extra to get those 2 channels, If you have regular cable then you won't see any old prince videos and in detroit, whom is the so-called 2nd home of Prince, doesn't play old prince hits, all the record companies have them playing the same ole 20 songs per day...so thats what I meant by not hearing his music here as much!

maybe once in awhile!

The Very Best Of didnt enter top 20 in US...Europe is a different story, alot of stuff gets played, promoted and rank #1 there.

NPD313 said:

WB has a financial interest in the selling of the Prince albums.


TVBOP sold relatively well worldiwde. WB didn't have to make a huge investment to still make money.
As for TVBOPnot being digitally remastered, that's because they need Prince's permission to do that, but Prince won't give them permission to apply new technolgies on his older work.


That could still happen next year.


Any current or new technology applied to his older work needs Prince's express permission.


I think Prince himself is doing that. HE butchers his olds songs by editing out lyrics and/ or not playing them at all anymore, saying that is the "old" Prince. HE wants his fans to turn in the "old" exstended versions of Little red corvette, let's go crazy, I would die for U and Kiss which all are one of the best versions of these recordings ever made. I haven't seen WB do any of that.

Assuming TVBOP did not sell, it's because it had already been packaged as "Hits 1/Hits 2" years earlier.

Prince's lack of exposure by WB is a result of waning interest in his music. He's not releasing his product conventionally aymore, so Warners has little incentive to release new stuff/remastered stuff/DVDs to capitalize on or compete with new Prince "hits."

If Warners released the extended versions of Prince's singles/B-sides, I'd be the first to buy them. That would generate some sales from the hardcore base that would have little incentive to buy TVBOP.

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HA HA (LIKE THAT GUY OFF THE SIMPSONS)


THEY COULDN'T GIVE A SHIT. THEY'VE GOT 50 OTHER STARS THAT ARE "WILLIN TO DO THE WORK"


HA HA.

WB does what AOL tells it to do... (good morning!)

OK, this is what I want to know - can Warners release this stuff, since they did appear in their extended form on the singles, and therefore can be considered actual releases?

If they can do this without his permission, then I suppose it's technically possible they might release something like that in the next few years...but then again, he's beating his "slave" drum again, and record companies are as cold and unforgiving as Prince can be, so if he keeps up with his latest WB rantings, it will only result in Prince's place in musical history becoming more and more marginal.

Did anyone else think that the whole Warner Brothers thing was finally over? Jeez, it's been TEN YEARS now.

namepeace said:

If Warners are trying to make the world forget about Prince, they are doing a very good job. He's probably done more to damage his own visibility, intentionally or not, than Warners ever could have done had they tried. If Warners had actively tried to make the world forget about him, and the public still had interest in his music, the public would have found a way to get his music. As someone wrote, they have just moved on, Warners or no Warners.

Despite inclusion in some lists on VH1 (pop icon, best ass), some radio airplay of classic hits and videos and occasional showings of "Purple Rain," he has pretty much disappeared from the popular radar screen. He is more remembered for his great old music and his "weird antics" than anything recent.

theblueangel said:

NO

when they decide a tracklisting for a single it has to be drawn up (like a mini contract), that say's all parties agree to the chosen tracks being used.

so if they wanted to re-issue the long verions of singles / or make an album of them they'd still have to get an agreement - not a new record contract - just an agreement from prince.

That's the funny thing. Prince can stop WB doing stuff with his back catalouge, so they're not making money. But what he wants is to have the masters ASAP so he can do all this re-issues to make him LOADS of money. fair enough, some people would it's his to exploit... but P likes to make this a moral crusade. when it's just greed.

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WUZ HE "WILLING 2 DO THE WORK?"





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