Prince Returns to Warner Bros. Records After 18 Years

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    Prince Returns to Warner Bros. Records After 18 Years

    Prince PR Image B/W - H 2014
    Courtesy NPG Music Publishing

    The artist had a turbulent split from the label in 1996, changing his name to an unpronouncable symbol and calling himself a slave to the company.

    This story first appeared on billboard.com

    Prince has returned to Warner Bros. Records after 18 years with a deal that will see him regain ownership of his catalog. His classic Warner albums like Dirty MindControversy and 1999 will continue to be licensed through Warner Bros. as part of a new global agreement.

    As part of the deal, Prince’s classic Purple Rain album will be re-released in a remastered deluxe version in time for the 30th anniversary of the album and movie. Other planned re-issue projects will follow, and Prince will issue a new album too, although it is unclear if that title is a part of the deal.

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    “A brand-new studio album is on the way and both Warner Bros. Records and Eye (sic) are quite pleased with the results of the negotiations and look forward to a fruitful working relationship,” Prince said in a statement.

    Prince famously had a highly publicized and turbulent split from Warner Bros. in 1996 when he called himself a slave to the label, changed his name to a symbol and condemned the way the major label system worked. This deal marks a new era, as the ability to terminate master recording copyright after 35 years was granted in the Copyright Revision Act of 1976 and became effective in 1978, the year that Prince’s debut album came out.

    As 2013 loomed, record label executives and artists managers said that they were unsure how copyright terminations and ownership reversions would play out, as they expected a precedent-setting court case to decide whether the “work-for-hire” clause in standard recording contracts could successfully be challenged by artists. Works created under work-for-hire contracts are not eligible for copyright reversion. But privately, some label executives have also said that in some instances the wiser course might be to negotiate the reversions and retain control of issuing artists’ catalog eligible for copyright terminations.

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    In cutting what appears to be a landmark deal, Prince has chosen to remain with the label that was the subject of his ire back in the 1990s, avoiding a risky and costly legal battle, and still regains ownership of his catalog.

    Financial terms and length of the licensing deal were not disclosed, nor does the announcement clarify whether the artist is gaining ownership of his catalog all at once or, more likely, as each album becomes eligible for copyright termination.

    The Warner Music Group declined to provide further comment on the details of the deal. But Warner Bros. Records chairman and CEO Cameron Strang said in a statement: “Everyone at Warner Bros. Records is delighted to be working with Prince once again: He is one of the world’s biggest stars and a truly unique talent. We are also very excited about the release of new and re-mastered music from one of his greatest masterpieces.”

     

     

    Prince Reissuing Purple Rain, Promises New Music Under New Warner Bros. Deal, Releases New Song

    “Both Warner Bros. Records and Eye are quite pleased with the results of the negotiations.”

    By

    Jeremy Gordon

     on April 18, 2014 at 08:56 a.m.

    Prince Reissuing Purple Rain, Promises New Music Under New Warner Bros. Deal, Releases New Song

    Prince has announced a new partnership with Warner Bros. that gives him the rights to his master recordings and creates “an exclusive global licensing partnership that covers every album released from 1978 into the ’90s,” according to a press release.

    UPDATE: Prince has released a new song called “The Breakdown” on iTunes, out via NPG Records “under exclusive license to Warner Bros. Records”. According to Dr. Funkenberry, the song was debuted last year.

    Forthcoming projects are in the works, but first up is a digitally remastered deluxe edition of the classic Purple Rain, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this summer.

    The press release promises “long-awaited, previously unheard music,” but it is unclear what that means.

    Prince will record a new album for Warner Bros., too. (It’s rumored to be titled Plectrum Electrum.) His statement is pretty boilerplate, but spot the idiosyncratic detail: “A brand-new studio album is on the way and both Warner Bros. Records and Eye are quite pleased with the results of the negotiations and look forward to a fruitful working relationship.”

    Along with his current band 3rdEyeGirl, Prince has been slowly rolling out new songs, including a collaboration with Zooey Deschanel.

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