redflag said:

SoulAlive said:

I wonder...are there any more major labels that Prince can go to next? He keeps hopping around from one label to the next.I wonder why he doesn't try to secure a long term distribution deal?

That's what the Kobalt deal was supposed to be. Read the press release:

http://www.kobaltmusic.co...?id=WN1161

That doesn't sound like a one-off deal, it looked like he had finally settled on a home for all his various projects (solo albums, side projects, protege acts, etc.) for the first time since the Paisley/WB days. But it seems he walked away from the deal because he didn't like the lack of bonuses, advances and other such incentives (based on some comments Funkenberry made on a Spreecast). Also he's complained in recent interviews about not being on the radio and perhaps he realized that can only happen with a major.

No one is going to have a deal with as much incentives as the 1980s, and Prince had one of the rarest deals in that era. I can't imagine him ever being WOWED with a current deal.

scriptgirl said:

what did she do to them?

Exerpt of 1998 Tommy Lee interview

Michael Roberts: Tell me about the label, Motley Records. It's been around for a while, but why did you decide to run it yourselves instead of hooking up with another major?

.

Tommy Lee: One day Nikki and I were sitting on the bus, and we were really disappointed with Elektra, our record company. We'd made probably one of the best albums of our career, which was the record before this greatest-hits record, Generation Swine. We put a year and every bit of love we had into that record, and we made every single song melodic and a hit. No album filler, no crap. That record is unreal from top to bottom, but it didn't sell. So we were sitting there scratching our heads and going, "We don't get it. What the fuck is going on?" And it was even more frustrating because our record company was not supportive of us. I'm not racial whatsoever, but there was a black lady, Sylvia Rhone, in charge of Elektra then, and she didn't get us at all. She's a really big R&B lady, and I love that stuff too, but--well, I just don't think she cared for us too much; let's put it that way. So Nikki and I told our manager, "Man, you've got to get us out of there. Get us the fuck away from that company."

.

Michael Roberts: You still owed them albums?

.

Tommy Lee: We owed them two records and they owed us a lot of money for those two records. So we said, "Give us this amount of money and all of our masters and we'll walk." And we did. We got all of our masters and everything we'd ever filmed, from the beginning. You name it. And we were fucking jumping up and down. I mean, there's only a small handful of bands that have even come close to walking away with all that.

.

.

Nikki Sixx 2001 Metal Sludge

27. Time for Metal Sludge’s Word Association. We mention a name and you give us your thoughts.
Dave Mustaine = LOST ANGRY LITTLE BOY
Scott Ian = COOL DUDE
Butch Walker = GOOD GUY,TALENTED
Fred Durst = WHATS UNDER THAT DAMN CAP
Riki Rachtmen = CATHOUSE
Korn = COOL GUYS
Ginger from The Wildhearts = ROCKSTAR
Paul Gargano = ??
Kurt Cobain = SAD FOR HIS DAUGHTER
Randy Castillo = MY FRIEND,SURVIVOR
Axl Rose = WOW,I FORGOT ABOUT HIM…
Sylvia Rhone = BUSINESS WOMAN WHO FUCKED UP. HARD HEADED, VERY SMART…BUT NOT TOO STREET SMART

.

.

Nikki Sixx 2000 Bankrate

Q: So you started your own label.

Nikki Sixx: I'm into building careers, educating and having the artist pass the education on to the next artist in line. I've been recording and marketing hit albums, touring, designing album art , merchandising and all the other aspects of being in one of the world's biggest bands for 20 years. When I started my career, I was on the independent label that my band started (Lethur Records). When we sold enough records on our own, we drew the attention of the major labels. Excuse me, I'm eating ...

.

Q: Getting strong for the tour?

Nikki Sixx: Eating all-protein for the tour -- running, lifting weights.

.

Q: So Nikki, you guys have pulled off what the Beatles, the Beach Boys and every other band never could. How'd you get your music back?

Nikki Sixx: We got our all masters back from Electra. Sylvia Rhone, CEO of Elektra, made us sign a nondisclosure agreement -- our joke is that they don't want Metallica to know how to do it.

.

Q: C'mon, Nikki, I have to know what it cost you and how you did it.

Nikki Sixx: I can't tell you, man. Wish I could. We did $12 million in billing last year on Mötley Records. So I took some of my money to start Americoma for artists that are valid but don't fit into the major label picture. Like Flashbastard. They have a Stooges/MC5 vibe, which is not what's going on right now in the music scene. I fell head over heels in love. This is real, not contrived, not drum loops; if I took 'em to a major, they'd say the chances are nil -- 'We need Kid Rock, Backstreet Boys.' I think the underdogs need a shot, too. The greatest bands in history were passed by the majors. Mötley Crüe is a perfect example. We couldn't get signed until we sold a couple hundred thousand copies on our own.

.

Q: So you guys own the label, but you have a distribution partner?

Nikki Sixx: BMG provides our distribution. But this isn't some vanity label. Beyond Music has 150 people. I'm hands-on. Until about 45 days ago, when I had to start laying down the new album, I was there working every single day, building staff, A&R staff, everything. John Bush, lead singer of Anthrax, he's out finding bands. Basically, artists trust artists. You get a blues guy and a heavy metal guy, and they relate. You have A&R guys, who might have great ears, but they relate to artists as businessmen. I communicate as a songwriter.

.

Q: You've sold 40 million records. Hundreds of millions of dollars. How does that break down?

Nikki Sixx: When you're signed to a label, you get a royalty rate, usually as little as possible, maybe 12 percent of the retail price. Mötley started at 16%. It helped that we were proven on our own, and the marketing expense was so low cuz we'd already set a fire. When Elektra took us on, their only expense was to bring in Roy Thomas Baker to go over the indie record and make it more magical. We were building and promoting. By the time of the second record, we'd sold 3 million of the first. And by the time of Dr. Feelgood, we were getting 22%. When you're on your own label, you get 100%.

.

Q: Doesn't BMG get something?

Nikki Sixx: Just cost of business. We split the overhead. If you're getting $10 a record and you sell 1.5 million records in the last 12 months like we did, that's $15 million. With my other deal, I get $2.2 million. Why do you think record companies fly around in custom G4 jets and live in high rises? Could they afford that if there weren't bloated costs involved? Then there's a lot of stuff that happens that the artist never knows about. You can roll 5-6 bands into one freegoods cost and amortize it. There's a lot of things they do that they say they don't do. I'm not anti-majors, I'm anti-not getting paid what I should. My initiative is to teach the young artist what I know.

.

Q: What kind of money have you earned in your career?

Nikki Sixx: Merchandise, touring, recording, royalties, there's ... . It's a lot. If you live at your lifestyle and below it, the pool will fill up. Then when times are less lucrative, a lot of artists live above their means. And all careers have hills and valleys -- I tell all my artists that. Save for a rainy day. If you love making music you don't want to have to sacrifice what you do so you have to go make an album that sounds like Third Eye Blind even though you're in Mötley Crüe. Trends come and go. I write or co-write in Mötley, so I get songwriting royalties, and we split album royalties. Mostly me and Mick (Mars, Mötley guitarist) wrote the stuff. Tommy (Lee) only really got involved in the Generation Swine album. I am probably the least musical of the group but the most song oriented.

.

Q: So what do you do with your dough?

Nikki Sixx: I invest in myself. I don't believe there's anyone out there who works harder for me than me. I invested in Outlaw USA clothing line, for example. I'm developing a broadband channel called beyondmusic.com in partnership with Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HWP). Me and (Mötley Crüe singer) Vince Neil are developing the Outlaw Channel. We have programming that will relate to that lifestyle, from a kid in Compton to a kid in Beverly Hills, to a Harley rider in Tennessee. Bikes, tattoos, lifestyle.

.

2009 En Vogue

Man, that was a good interview about Motley Crue's business. I noticed their greatest hits was on Motley Records and not Elektra.

Prince would KILL for that deal!

Cinny said:

Man, that was a good interview about Motley Crue's business. I noticed their greatest hits was on Motley Records and not Elektra.

Prince would KILL for that deal!

I think U2 have owned their masters from the beginning. I read years ago that they took a lower royalty rate when they first got a record deal in exchange for their tapes. I think the label didn't really believe the group was going to be popular, so didn't care. Genesis own theirs too except for the 1st album. Metallica got their masters recently. They had sued Elektra years ago and got it put in their contract that they would get their masters when their contract expired. I don't know if Prince would have gotten the same deal. Perhaps Sylvia not really understanding metal music might have worked in their favor. If Prince did get his music, would he do anything with it? Maybe just put it in a vault. Would he change the lyrics to certain songs or take them off the albums? Sort of like when Sharon Osbourne had some players overdubbing drums and bass on a couple of Ozzy Osbourne albums when they were rereleased and when Peter Gabriel re-recorded vocals on a box set of then unreleased (in 1998) Genesis songs and demos.

Cinny said:

Man, that was a good interview about Motley Crue's business. I noticed their greatest hits was on Motley Records and not Elektra.

Prince would KILL for that deal!

It sounds like Motley Records operates like a well-oiled business enterprise. Prince, on the other hand, has been independent for over a decade, and all he seems to do is sign one-album agreements with whomever will have him.

MickyDolenz said:

If Prince did get his music, would he do anything with it? Maybe just put it in a vault. Would he change the lyrics to certain songs or take them off the albums? Sort of like when Sharon Osbourne had some players overdubbing drums and bass on a couple of Ozzy Osbourne albums when they were rereleased

It would be exactly like that because you see how he dressed up songs from the vault on Crystal Ball (his version).

MickyDolenz said:

Cinny said:

Man, that was a good interview about Motley Crue's business. I noticed their greatest hits was on Motley Records and not Elektra.

Prince would KILL for that deal!

I think U2 have owned their masters from the beginning. I read years ago that they took a lower royalty rate when they first got a record deal in exchange for their tapes. I think the label didn't really believe the group was going to be popular, so didn't care. Genesis own theirs too except for the 1st album. Metallica got their masters recently. They had sued Elektra years ago and got it put in their contract that they would get their masters when their contract expired. I don't know if Prince would have gotten the same deal. Perhaps Sylvia not really understanding metal music might have worked in their favor. If Prince did get his music, would he do anything with it? Maybe just put it in a vault. Would he change the lyrics to certain songs or take them off the albums? Sort of like when Sharon Osbourne had some players overdubbing drums and bass on a couple of Ozzy Osbourne albums when they were rereleased and when Peter Gabriel re-recorded vocals on a box set of then unreleased (in 1998) Genesis songs and demos.

----------

NO, U2 did not learn about master tapes until Prince was going thru is thing with WB. In fact Bono said he asked Prince what the whole slave thing was really about. Bono then went to his manager and asked that they start getting their masters when it came to time to negoiate a new deal. Prince is getting his music back each year and we have all seen the HD Tracks and more old stuff popping up on I-Tunes. It would be great if he did another Crystal Ball but with some many bootleggs out on the black market who knows if their is an audience for unreleased

[Edited 4/2/14 5:48am]

Identity said:

Cinny said:

Man, that was a good interview about Motley Crue's business. I noticed their greatest hits was on Motley Records and not Elektra.

Prince would KILL for that deal!

It sounds like Motley Records operates like a well-oiled business enterprise. Prince, on the other hand, has been independent for over a decade, and all he seems to do is sign one-album agreements with whomever will have him.

And he gets a big fat advance off of those one-off deals.

but Prince couldve found out the details of that motley deal..

MickyDolenz said:

scriptgirl said:

what did she do to them?

2009 En Vogue

Thank you for this. Like a vampire, she pursued what was in the best interest of her pocket. She encouraged/allowed/carried out the alteration of En Vogue while they were at their heigth. Instead of looking at the fact that they could have sold many more albums she was concerned with her immediate interest. I hear her name and I want to vomit.