I have NEVER compared the two situations. But Rihanna knows who to bow down to.

thedoorkeeper said:

You really can't compare Prince's situation with Rihanna's deal. The record industry in the 90's is very different from the record industry today. It a waste of time comparing the two. Apples and oranges folks

VERY TRUE

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

actually did ask Warners nicely for his Masters back. They told him"We won't give you back your Masters if you gave us a billion dollars" .

lol...he also badmouthed them in numerous interviews and gave them subpar albums just to get out of his contract.Let's not pretend that Prince handled the situation in a nice,respectful manner.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

thedoorkeeper said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

?

@ Your being so nice & positive....

bobzilla77 said:

David Bowie was a famous example of an artist getting his masters back. During the 1990s he made himself a commodity on the stock exchange and sold "Bowie Bonds" so he could get I think $50 million in one place at one time and buy them from RCA. Then he started a reissue program, went on tour, started an artist website real early in the game, and paid everybody back within a few years. I think there were some things like, special small-venue shows for the bond holders and fan club members. As I remember the fans who invested seemed pleased with the deal and felt like they had helped their old pal Bowie, which they were glad to do.

Bowie paid $50 Million+ for his Masters?

SoulAlive said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

actually did ask Warners nicely for his Masters back. They told him"We won't give you back your Masters if you gave us a billion dollars" .

lol...he also badmouthed them in numerous interviews and gave them subpar albums just to get out of his contract.Let's not pretend that Prince handled the situation in a nice,respectful manner.

so, he probably had a good reason unknown to you or me to bad mouth them ..

Chancellor said:

bobzilla77 said:

David Bowie was a famous example of an artist getting his masters back. During the 1990s he made himself a commodity on the stock exchange and sold "Bowie Bonds" so he could get I think $50 million in one place at one time and buy them from RCA. Then he started a reissue program, went on tour, started an artist website real early in the game, and paid everybody back within a few years. I think there were some things like, special small-venue shows for the bond holders and fan club members. As I remember the fans who invested seemed pleased with the deal and felt like they had helped their old pal Bowie, which they were glad to do.

Bowie paid $50 Million+ for his Masters?

$55 million, as it turns out, owned by his former manager.

Look up "celebrity bonds" on wikipedia, there are some other examples too.

bobzilla77 said:

Chancellor said:

Bowie paid $50 Million+ for his Masters?

$55 million, as it turns out, owned by his former manager.

Look up "celebrity bonds" on wikipedia, there are some other examples too.

so, he got taken advantage of too

lwr001 said:

bobzilla77 said:

$55 million, as it turns out, owned by his former manager.

Look up "celebrity bonds" on wikipedia, there are some other examples too.

so, he got taken advantage of too

Well he signed a one-sided management deal when he was young and hungry. I'd say it worked out pretty well for him. That manager of his may have been stingy with the payouts, but he sure did a good job getting Bowie's career off the ground.

.

And you might say, Bowie's so great, he could have done that with any manager. I'm not so sure. If you read about Bowie in the 70s, he was handled very differently from the average pop star, really did things his own way. And he was SO weird. I don't think you could look at him in 1970 and say that was a guaranteed superstar.

.

And at the end of the day he did well enough to buy his stuff back so there's a happy ending.

I'm wondering how in the hell she got this opportunity, and so soon! So many bigger artists than Rihanna don't own their masters, and likely never will.

SchlomoThaHomo said:

I'm wondering how in the hell she got this opportunity, and so soon! So many bigger artists than Rihanna don't own their masters, and likely never will.

Well, @ 28yrs of age RiRi's worth $160 Million and counting...She's also Richer than a lot of so-called Bigger Artists...Taylor Swift is 26 and worth $280 Million and counting...In the 21st Century Women REFUSE to be denied their worth...Put away the Kitchen apron and watch her sip on a Martini while her side-piece prepares Dinner...

The industry has also changed a lot since the days of Bowie. There are opportunities for artists to promote themselves without labels. People who are doing well, are probably more aware of the advantage to owning their stuff today, and the labels have to make concessions to them to keep them from walking away.

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My understanding of the White Stripes' deal is that they had their own label and licensed the releases to majors, so they probably owned their masters from the start. They became popular enough off their releases on a tiny LA label (same one that put my first records out, Sympathy For The Record Industry) that they could make that deal.

.

But some peopla re going the other way. Pete Townshend of the Who sold 100% of his remaining interest in his music (whatever percent he owns, as opposed to the labels) to a company called Spirit Music for a payout estimated to be in six figures. That totally goes against the idea of owning your stuff - he doesn't own his royalties anymore, let alone his masters. But, he took a one-time payout for what the stuff is estimated to be worth for the next 100 years or so. He's 71 this year and not going to live forever.

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I can see how that would be tempting - it's not like he can take it with him. And he's also not a guy that spends a lot of attention on reissues, they're mostly left to his staff, so the "creative control" over reissues probably isn't that important to him.

bobzilla77 said:

But some peopla re going the other way. Pete Townshend of the Who sold 100% of his remaining interest in his music (whatever percent he owns, as opposed to the labels) to a company called Spirit Music for a payout estimated to be in six figures. That totally goes against the idea of owning your stuff - he doesn't own his royalties anymore, let alone his masters. But, he took a one-time payout for what the stuff is estimated to be worth for the next 100 years or so. He's 71 this year and not going to live forever.

.

I can see how that would be tempting - it's not like he can take it with him. And he's also not a guy that spends a lot of attention on reissues, they're mostly left to his staff, so the "creative control" over reissues probably isn't that important to him.

I'm hoping you meant 7-figures...