Prince Estate Signs Deal With Sony Music to Re-Release 35 Catalog Albums

From Billboard: Prince Estate Signs Deal With Sony Music to Re-Release 35 Catalog Albums

The titles from 1978-2015 will be re-released via the Legacy Recordings imprint.

Prince's estate and Sony Music Entertainment announced on Wednesday (June 27) they have signed an exclusive distribution agreement that covers 35 of the iconic musician's previously released albums.

Under the new arrangement, the Prince catalog included in the deal will be distributed by Legacy Recordings. Worldwide rights begin immediately for Prince's album releases from 1995-2010, with the others following in years to come.

Among the titles included in the first phase are The Gold Experience (1995), Emancipation (1996), Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (1999), The Rainbow Children (2001) and 3121 (2006), as well as Musicology (2004) and Planet Earth (2007), which were originally release via Sony through Columbia.

Additional album titles from the 2014-2015 era will also be distributed with worldwide rights under the deal in the future.

The deal also includes rights to other previously released singles, B-sides, remixes, non-album tracks, live recordings and music videos recorded before 1995.

Starting in 2021, Sony/Legacy's distribution rights grow to include 12 Prince non-soundtrack catalog albums from the 1978-1996 era for distribution in the United States. Titles under the agreement from this period include Prince (1979), Dirty Mind(1980), Controversy (1981), 1999 (1982), Around the World in a Day (1985), Sign 'O' the Times (1987), Lovesexy (1988), Diamonds and Pearls (1991) and [Love Symbol] (1992).

"A true artist and visionary, Prince changed the world with his music, bringing love, joy and inspiration to millions," said SME Commercial Music Group President Richard Story in a statement. "Sony Music is honored to play a part in keeping Prince's music alive and making it available for generations of lifelong listeners and future fans."

"The Sony team's enthusiasm and deep knowledge of Prince's music make them the ideal partner to release these iconic bodies of work," added Prince Estate entertainment adviser Troy Carter. "We're looking forward to working with the heirs and Sony on giving fans what they've been waiting for -- more great music from Prince."

 

"35 albums" would have to include those obscure titles released by the NPG Music Club, wouldn't it? I sure hope so anyway.

 

with all eighties releases in 5.1 yea?

 

Nice that there is a conclusive path forward. What should we expect for sound quality?

 

Hopefully fresh remasters with regards to good dynamic range.

 

I wonder if the ticking clock to 2021 - when Warners loses the rights to apparently everything other than Purple Rain, Cherry Moon, and Graffiti Bridge - will spur them to squeeze out some deluxe editions in the next year or so

 

Finally The Gold Experience. Always wondered why Warner Brothers stopped their re-issue campaign of recent years right before that album.

 

hopefully they will redo the madhouse albums too.

 

I thought the Purple Rain reissue was done pretty well, at least from a perspective of balancing content vs. price. For $30 (at least it was when I pre-ordered), I got a four disc set comprised of the original album, a decent selection of previously-only-on-b%#ts tracks on a separate disc, a third disc of relevant single B-sides and non-album tracks and a DVD of a pretty legendary live set from the era. If they decide to follow that model for each of his albums, I'd be happy (albeit poorer!)

 

Kinda interesting that they divide the catalog into non-soundtracks, and Purple Rain seems to count in this deal as a soundtrack, which it looks to me like that means that a separate future deal can then be spun off for the soundtrack albums, Parade, Batman, etc. while including one of the most valuable (if not the most valuable) catalog pieces in that "soundtrack" deal instead of with the regular major albums. Was the original Purple Rain released under Prince's regular album contract, in the '80s, or did it count as a "soundtrack" even back then, I wonder? What were the specifics of his deal with Warner Brothers on that question, back in the '80s -- anyone know more about that? Did he get the same royalties and points for Purple Rain as his other albums, from the beginning, or was it already part of a separate soundtrack deal, at the time of the original film? That would be interesting to know.

I'm also just curious, I don't know or can't remember any other big record deals quite like this one. Has anybody ever done a major catalog deal like this before, that transpires so far out in the future? (some of the albums here don't come to Sony until 2021, presumably when the current deals expire). Most times I've seen something like this announced, it's been right when the catalog is expiring and it just rolls over. The Stones' Virgin deal (big at the time) was announced in 1992, a year after the Flashpoint live album predictably finished off their previous contract with Columbia, then the remastered albums rolled out about a year and a half later, which all seemed like just about the natural amount of time that these things would take to happen.... Has anybody ever done a record deal that actually takes place this far in the future, before, I wonder?

 

Finally!

 

Good news about something finally happening with the post-'95 albums. It will be a mess to not have all the early albums reissued on the same label though (if that is what will happen).

His complete album output is something like 40, it depends a bit on how you count (is The Truth a separate album, are Lotusflow3r and MPLSound two albums), but 35 would seem to be all of them minus the soundtracks.

Warner have Batman as well. Hope they don't do that, what a mess it will be to have multiple reissues of them coming out on separate labels.

Yes, finally! I think it must have had something to do with it being a joint Warner/NPG release, so they didn't have full control of it.

It always counted as a soundtrack, all releases read "music from the motion picture".

 

I hope there's some consideration being given to the side project/protege albums, most of which are entirely written and performed by Prince except for the lead vocal! Actually that material would make a great one-off box set. They could even put the album mixes alongside the demo mixes complete with Prince lead vocals. I know this will probably never happen, but there are some killer songs in there that don't deserve to be lost to history.

 

At this point I only care about unreleased live shows. That is news that will excite me. Could care less about studio stuff.

 

Aerosmith moving back to CBS/Sony from Geffen was done years in advance in 1990 or so but didn't they put anything out at Sony until Nine Lives in 1996 except the Making Of Pump home video.

 

At this point I only care about studio stuff. That is news that will excite me. Could care less about unreleased live shows.

 

I find that Purple Rain and Parade shows are dull once you have heard one or two of them. Sign O the times tour was pretty hot though . . .

 

Good news, and hopefully Warner does right by Parade, Graffiti Bridge, and Batman in the meantime.

 

It seems that a real release of prime unreleased songs will always be out of reach.

 

But after-show gigs would be fantastic, from any era!

All those shows leading up to The Gold Experience are great too, even with prerecorded backing vocals and whatnot. That was one kick ass band.

 

the best after shows occurred after The Revolution, so maybe my boredom with them live is because of that particular line-up. I do like the Junk Music sessions ...

 

I'll be glad to see these albums on streaming platforms soon.

 

The DVD with the recent Purple Rain reissue is pretty much the only live release most people need from that tour. It's great to watch but Alan Leeds nailed it - due to all the theatrical elements (scene changes, props, etc.), they were locked into the same show night after night, which made it pretty dull for anyone who had to watch it night after night. As he said, "you could set your watch to it."

 

yup, even Prince grew bored of it. I'd be happy never to hear any of the songs on that tour in any future incarnation.

 

How about some b-sides and unreleased songs too.