i find it amusing that the biggest selling Warner Bros album this week is The Very Best Of Prince!

I bet Prince doesn´t find it THAT amusing!

Mazerati said:

Yep I agree with you. Once again I have to say that WBR was a fool not to give him his way about his masters. As you can see now they are about to really stick thier foot in thier ass by letting Madonna and Maverick go. Very stupid label. But thier are still people around here that think Prince was the fool for leaving them. Amazing. Still the proof is in the pudding when your top selling artist is no longer on your label.
Peace

chiltonmusic said:

Well, because they own his masters, THEY are going to be the ones making money out of 'The Best of Prince'. If they'd have given him his masters, he probably would still have left and they wouldn't be earning anything out of him right now - so financially for them it was the correct decision. They are going to be making money out of his back catalogue for the rest of time without having to do any work. Theyre not making any money directly out of this album, but they have 20 odd albums that they are still making money out of. I'm not saying that's morally right, of couse.

So you think Warners are going to be upset that Prince's renewed popularity is helping to sell THEIR albums? I think they will be crying all the way to the bank!

that C.D. sucked lol

chiltonmusic said:

What is so stupid about a label retaining the rights to earn money on Prince's back catalogue for the next ten to twenty five years? As this week proves, they can sit back, do absolutely nothing and rake in the dollars.

The proof is in the pudding when your top-selling artist pays a rival record company to promote his latest album, and you spend nothing earning the spin-off benefits as he tours by playing his greatest hits on 'The Very Best Of Prince'.
.

So Prince doesn't make any money off of that cd?

PurpleCharm said:

Yes he makes money.

For example, he earns money from the mechanical rights to his compositions (every time Warners makes another CD with his compositions on, then he earns a bit).

It's quite likely he will still be paid artist royalties linked to the sales of 'The Very Best Of Prince' by Warners.
.

langebleu said:

I think you are missing my point. There is nothing stupid about WBR making money on old Prince records. My point is they could have had it all. They could be making money on old Prince moving new Prince and possibly making their label seem functional. As it stands the only money they are making now is on old Prince and as I have stated in other posts it looks like they are about to loose Madonna and Maverick. So now Prince becomes more valuable to them and I think he could have stayed that way as an artist on their roster, but a realistic deal for the masters would have had to have been reached. The fact that they did not and the the fact that now they have a #1 album by an artist that is not on their roster seems stupid to me. Although I understand what you are saying completely that hey they are selling and they did not have to do anything. I just wonder how long do you think that will last?
They are just basking in a bit of afterglow what do they do after this?
Peace

C'mon warner bros, try remastering(with bonus trax) the first 10-12 albums.That's all I care about.That's more easy money

metalorange said:

yeah...
they're not idiots!! Just the opposite

chiltonmusic said:

Do you relly think Prince had stayed at WB if he had gotten the masters back????

I don't think so

13inchshoe said:

Can they remaster the cd's w/o Prince's permission????

i dont know if this was mentioned yet, but warner bros. is no longer signing artists, they are strictly a catalog label now... and the only new records they release will be by artists already signed to them...

chiltonmusic said:

My guess:

A Warner Executive has got a calculator out and has pressed the buttons.

Which is worth more to them in $$$$?

Their share under the contract due to holding the master recordings of Prince's greatest hits for the next 10-25 years?

Not having to pay the salaries of hired employees to look after the relationship.

Not having to spend a cent on promotion unless they can see any valuable margin.

Or trading all that in for the money they would earn under a promotion and distribution deal for his next 'X' number of releases.

... and someone is going to be working out the possible overheads under the latter deal: aside from the promotion and distribution costs, there's the cost of being seen to concede on holding the masters, sending a message to every act that wants to complain about their future contract terms.

(And this ignores any incidental costs, should the maverick in Prince re-emerge, with him demanding the withdrawl of an album at the last minute, for example.)

Sure, WB might reach a deal with the master recordings, but they are going to trade them in for something more than Prince's next 3 albums' worth of promotion and distribution.

.

tritoncin said:

I doubt it.

The other problem they have is that Prince is actually in possession of the master tapes, he just doesn't own the rights to them. I suppose they could send the heavies around to rough him up.

Prince very well likely would have stayed with WB had they worked out a deal for ownership of the masters and had they given him more freedom and flexibility over his own output. The way things turned out didn't work well for either company. Sure, WB can make a few bucks when Prince gets back in the spotlight, but they made a heck of a lot more money keeping him in the spotlight for 15+ years.

langebleu said:

Yes I agree and that is where I have a problem with them. I think they are asking for an unfair price. Now with the financial trouble that they are in there is no way that is going to happen. They need every sale that they can get. Still if I were a label I would not like to be banking any financial futures on an act that is not on my roster and whom we ultimately have no control over what so ever. I see their math, I completely get your point and right now WBR is in the winning position. Still I would have liked to have kept everything in the family so to speak.
Peace

tritoncin said:

Yeah I think he would have. Prince was WBR's baby. Say what you say about them but WBR has always been a little different in their roster and their business dealings. They used to have visionary executives that understood talent. Keeping Prince happy was a very big deal over there. I can't really see a problem (outside of the one that made him leave in the first place) that would have spurned Prince to leave. Actually to be honest I am proud of him for having to guts to leave in the first place. Prince can write slave on his face all he wants to but I think most of us black, white, red, or yellow would have gladly jumped in his shoes. This does not blind me to his cause or his message about major labels however.

I am sorry I am getting off point. Yes I feel had Prince gotten his masters he would have stayed at WBR. I think the fact that he is still working with major labels from time to time is proof that he understands that he ultimately needs the industry that he hates. Why leave a home that is comfortable and willing to work with you? That is my theory anyway.
Peace

langebleu said:

-----
Keep defending the stupid ass corporation that let Prince, Maddona, Van Halen and more groups than I can name. WB/AOL sold this business because they have been losing money for a decade. They are going to make money off of Prince and everybody else but would it have been better to have kept them on the label.

alandail said:

-----
Right on. He could have just stayed with the label.

laurarichardson said:

Damn I forgot they let Van Halen go too!!

laurarichardson said:

I'm not defending them in the slightest.

Like others here, I think it would have been preferable if Prince and Warners had reached a settlement whilst Prince was their label-mate.

I'm simply pointing out that, given the current position, I can understand why a business might be unwilling to reach a deal with Prince over the master recordings. Financially, they could well have too much to lose - even though reaching a deal whilst Prince was still a label-mate might have been a preferable option long-term for both record company and artist.

You'll notice that I'm defending neither party for having reached the current position - Prince still no further forward regarding the rights to the 'WB' master recordings, and WB without Prince and having suffered financially.
.
[This message was edited Fri Apr 30 0:50:59 2004 by langebleu]