The following link was posted in another thread about fans being "annoying".

http://marketing.umpg.com.../login.asp

The password is music77

Well, alongside recent pictures of Prince, there is one photo which was used on the cover of the "Thieves In The Temple" single. Wouldn't Warners own this artwork?

Then there's a biography which you can download: http://marketing.umpg.com...=biography

Here's a transcript...

PRINCE

It is hard to believe that it's been more than twenty-five years since Prince's first album, "For You," was released. Not only because both the world and the musical landscape have altered so much in that quarter century, but because many of those changes were anticipated and initiated by the multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer, songwriter, Oscar winning composer, multi-Grammy winning artist.

But those accolades are not likely to stop, since 2004 looks to be a tremendous year for Prince, with a new studio album nearing completion-the first single, “Musicology” already on tap-an extensive World Tour, a number of major events surrounding the 20th anniversary of the release of “Purple Rain,” and of course, the monumental honor of being a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee in March.

His most recent DVD, “Prince: Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas” released last December, debuted at the top the Billboard charts and is poised to be one of Universal Records most successful DVDs. Nearing gold status, “Live…” shows both Prince’s sophisticated musical erudition and his ability to move a crowd to both tears and laughter, if only because he transformed Led Zeppelin’s hard hitting anthem, “Whole Lotta Love” into a funky masterpiece, proving once again that that he is not only one of the greatest talents of last quarter century, but one of the most ingenious.

During the '80s, Prince emerged as the musical prophet of the era, releasing a series of ground-breaking albums that both defined the captured the spirit of the times. His genre-bending songs sent shock waves through the music industry that are still reverberating today.

An extraordinarily successful and independent creative force, he grafted together pop, funk, rock, soul and a dash of folk to create an entirely new entity that would propel him to the top of the charts with 1984's "Purple Rain,” where he remained for a mind-boggling 24 weeks.

With his early albums, Prince added an erotic charge to a mordant music scene, fusing sex, love and music together and proving that they were truly a single entity. His subsequent albums pushed the boundaries of taste and imagination to new heights, even flirted with psychedelia, as he created his own personal brand of intricate and idiosyncratic music, selling more than 100 million copies of his albums along the way. While few artists have been able to rewrite the rules, Prince has always been a visionary first, a musician second. But that's not to take anything away from his musical acumen.

When he was a child and his parents split up, his father left behind a piano. Prince began picking out TV theme songs without a single lesson. He expanded his musical universe teaching himself how to play guitar and bass, and at the age of 18 recorded demos for what would be his first album. By the next year, he struck a lucrative deal with Warner Bros. Which gave him unprecedented artistic freedom and a six-figure advance, allowing him to produce his own albums, making Prince the youngest producer in Warner's history.

He toured relentlessly, penned songs and produced albums for other artists- giving the career of Scottish singer Sheena Easton new life when he composed her US Top Ten hit "Sugar Walls." He also gave Los Angeles girl group the Bangles a No.2 hit with "Manic Monday," which he wrote under the pen name of Christopher, one of his many pseudonyms. The only reason "Monday" didn't reach the top spot was that Prince was already there with "Kiss," his third Top Ten record.

He helped transform Sheila E. from a backup percussionist into a headliner and produced an album for singer Mavis Staples, which took the gospel singer to new heights. During the late '80s, Prince's Paisley Park label was a hotbed of innovation and activity. Besides being a creative outlet for Prince, Sheila E., George Clinton, Mavis Staples and others were signed to the label, enabling Prince to work creatively with those he considered artistic soulmates.

But the musician wasn't entirely selfless. He had his own muse to serve, and Prince tirelessly recorded songs for himself that still lie slumbering in his prodigious vaults in Minneapolis. Of all of his remarkable accomplishments, perhaps the most seminal moment in Prince's career was when he created and starred in "Purple Rain," the poignant semi-autobiographical story of his own life, which also yielded his first Top Ten hit, "When Does Cry," taken from the soundtrack of the film.

Reaching that high water mark didn't alter the musician's output in the least. In fact after extricating himself from his relationship with Warner Bros. Prince experienced an exhilarating sense of freedom at his newfound autonomy that enabled him to release his own music in the manner he saw fit. Documenting his quest for higher meaning and self-determinism, Prince was now able to blaze even more profound trails without inhibitions. He continues to break new ground through his music in an effort to communicate truths about love and spirituality.

With countless numbers of dedicated fans in mind, Prince created the NPG Music Club (www.npgmc.com ) so he could be in direct contact with those who both understand and appreciate his art. That very intimate relationship has provided a tremendous and fruitful synergy, which as pushed the musician to even greater heights of creativity. After joining (memberships is $25 U.S.), fans are offered unlimited access to Prince's revolutionary Internet site where they are able to view videos months prior to their release on DVD, as well as attend online listening parties, much like the one Prince held before the release of his Grammy-award nominated CD "N.E.W.S.," allowing members to hear the entire CD before its official release. There is also the Reflection Room where people can listen to specially selected songs from Prince's vast catalog.

Prince is fearless in his pursuit of artistic challenges. He is constantly experimenting with different sounds, textures and genres, and continues to confound audiences. On N.E.W.S., he took another unexpected turn, creating an album of pure luminous sound as he pays tribute to each of the points on the compass, calling on the talents of Renato Neto (piano & synthesizers), Rhonda Smith (acoustic and electric bass), John Blackwell (drums) and Eric Leeds (tenor & baritone sax). To everyone's surprise there wasn't a single vocal performance on the disc, yet Prince still managed to leave his indelible mark on the recording.

Never one to rest on his considerable laurels, Prince continues to write, produce, and perform with the rage and fire of an artist just starting out, and that alone is reason enough to celebrate him and the music itself.

Jaan Uhelszki
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DVD release
Prince: Alive in Las Vegas, (December 2003)

Why would a record company go to all this trouble just to plug an artist whom gave them one concert video to sell? Why would they plug the fact that he's got a new album out soon? The page is really up to date too - Arista's page was never updated once the Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic album had been on sale for a month or so.

Prince signed a publishing deal with Universal several years ago, after his publishing deal with Warners expired. It was first reported here at the end of 2001:

http://www.prince.org/msg...5#msg_8315

It is most likely in Universal's financial interests to promote all of Prince's work. If they take a percentage, then the more publishing they collect, the more they make.

The release of the Aladdin DVD was through their Hip-O subsidiary.

As for the image from the Graffiti Bridge era photo shoot, the image could belong to Warners, Prince, Universal, or someone else, but Universal might be have at least acquired a license to use images for official publicity under an associated marketing agreement they might have signed with Prince: if they promote Prince, if people spin Prince music, regardless of who owns the master recordings - the more Universal and Prince are going to make - so they need some official publicity material from across his career to support that pursuit.

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[This message was edited Wed Feb 25 14:13:56 2004 by langebleu]