Prince signs deal with Universal Records

[vashti1999]

Press Release from Billboard.com

Prince Inks With Universal For New CD
December 09, 2005, 9:30 AM ET

Jonathan Cohen, Los Angeles

Prince has inked a deal with Universal for the release of his next album, "3121." The set will be preceded by the single "Te Amo Corazon," the video for which stars actress Mia Maestro ("Frida," "The Motorcycle Diaries") and was directed by actress Salma Hayek.

The clip, which was shot in Marrakesh, will be available online Tuesday (Dec. 13) via Prince's NPG Music Club site. A press conference in Los Angeles is scheduled for that evening.

"3121" is the follow-up to Prince's 2004 studio set "Musicology," which was issued via a one-off deal with Sony's Columbia label. The album debuted at No. 3 on The Billboard 200.

That release was supported by a lavishly praised tour which drew nearly 1.5 million people and grossed $90.2 million, according to Billboard Boxscore. Prince is expected to return to the road sometime next year.

[Janice Johnson]

I thought he was going to sign with Sony?

[vashti1999]

Originally Posted by Janice Johnson

I thought he was going to sign with Sony?

They did well with Musicology. I guess maybe Universal gave him an even better deal. He'll probably be jumping around from label to label from now on.

[Dean Winchester]

Vash, do you know if there are any plans for the Musicology tour coming out on DVD? I know he released Rave Un2 The Year 2000 and Live At The Aladdin, so I figured there was going to be a chance it'd come out because I think that tour would be massive on DVD, especially if Prince took a page from the U2 or Melissa Etheridge scrapbook and really loaded the DVD up with alternate angle performances and other goodies.

[vashti1999]

Originally Posted by HUNG UP!

Vash, do you know if there are any plans for the Musicology tour coming out on DVD? I know he released Rave Un2 The Year 2000 and Live At The Aladdin, so I figured there was going to be a chance it'd come out because I think that tour would be massive on DVD, especially if Prince took a page from the U2 or Melissa Etheridge scrapbook and really loaded the DVD up with alternate angle performances and other goodies.

There was talk around the end of the tour that there may be a concert dvd released, but unfortunately as typical with Prince, some plans end up going unfulfilled. I doubt there's going to be one now since he's moved on to a new project. That would be bad, because Musicology was a great show. Would've been smart for him to release it while it was still hot.

[Jrnygrl]

Vash thanks for the update!!!

Looking forward to the new stuff, Musicology made me a fan.

I hope we get the Musicology tour on DVD that would be a cool thing for those of us who didn't get to go.

[Dean Winchester]

one possibility is that maybe next fall, Best Buy could do a limited edition exclusive Prince DVD. They did it with Stones and Elton in the past and this year it's Usher. I think we all know that Prince is a far bigger legend and icon than freaking USHER, that they could do a 4 disc live set, consisting of a show from the Musicology tour, a show from the upcoming tour, maybe another show (how about one from Emancipation era?) and who knows, how about also using the last disc to bring the "Prince And The Revolution Live" video from 1985 onto DVD for the first time), kinda like how the Elton, Stones and Usher DVD's have several different concerts with a lot of different songs from each tour.

Don't forget to watch VH1 tonight at 11 pm to see "Te Amo, Corazon"

[vashti1999]

PRINCE SIGNS WITH UNIVERSAL RECORDS;
NEW ALBUM, 3121, SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE IN 2006

PRINCE AND SALMA HAYEK’S “TÈ AMO CORAZÓN” VIDEO DEBUTS TODAY ACROSS ALL OF VH1’S TELEVISION, BROADBAND AND WIRELESS PLATFORMS

New York, NY (December 13, 2005) – Announcing his new musical home, musical superstar Prince has signed an exclusive recording agreement with Universal Records, it was announced today by Doug Morris, chairman & CEO of Universal Music Group, Mel Lewinter, chairman of Universal Motown Records Group, Monte Lipman, president of Universal Records, and Prince. His first release on Universal Records, an album entitled 3121, is set to debut in 2006. Concurrently, VH1 will today shepherd the first audiovisual installment from his forthcoming album, the Salma Hayek-directed video, “Tè Amo Corazón” (“I Love You, Sweetheart”), marking the world’s first-ever multiplatform worldwide exclusive premiere of a music video.

“‘The entire Universal Music Group family is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with such a visionary and charismatic talent as Prince,” stated Universal’s Doug Morris. “Prince is one of popular music’s greatest architects,” added Monte Lipman. “He is the embodiment of what musical artistry and talent is all about; he continues to be a major trendsetter whose many talents have always earned him the highest respect and praise.”

Prince will premiere “Tè Amo Corazón” today across all of VH1’s platforms: television, broadband and wireless. This unique event will premiere simultaneously today, at 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT/global), on VH1, VH1 Classic, VHUNO, Tempo, VH1 Soul as well as VH1.com through VH1’s broadband channel Vspot and through VH1 Mobile through its partnership with Verizon’s VCast service. The gorgeous and decadent location of Marrakesh, Morroco provided the backdrop for the incredibly lush ballad and video featuring Prince and Mia Maestro, directed by Salma Hayek.

”VH1 is honored to present this unprecedented multimedia experience with a legendary innovator like Prince,” commented Tom Calderone, general manager of VH1.

“Salma heard the song and came up with the original concept,” Prince said. “Salma is the most thoughtful, attentive director I have ever worked with. An absolute joy.”

Prince’s rise to fame was nothing short of meteoric, from a buzzed-about musician (with the release of his first album, 1979’s For You) to arguably one of the most acclaimed and influential artist of the 20th century. USA Today has hailed him as “one of the most daring and brilliant artists,” just one of the many accolades bestowed on Prince by both critics and peers throughout his career. In fact, a chorus of acclaim literally exploded with the release of the Minnesota native’s world-changing, 1984 dual phenomenon of Purple Rain (the movie broke box office records, the Grammy-nominated album sold more than 11 million copies and spent 24 weeks at #1), making Prince one of the few triple-threats in history to simultaneously land the #1 single, album and movie. His plaintively brilliant single, “When Doves Cry,” the first of many Top Tens, exemplified the kind of transformational musical current that only Prince could deliver. To top it off, he won the “Best Original Score” Academy Award for Purple Rain. A series of seminal albums – from 1985’s Around The World In A Day to 1987’s prophetic Sign o’ the Times, to 1989’s Batman soundtrack to 1991’s Diamonds And Pearls, indelibly cemented his reputation as a 21st century impresario, and a fearless pursuer of the musical stratosphere.

With more than 60 million records sold, Prince launched his web-centric NPG Music Club, a groundbreaking, completely autonomous Prince-authorized nexus, emphasizing direct sales and value-added content for Prince fans and subscribers, a virtual template of the kind of online, artist-driven entrepreneurial models artists and internet gurus would be gravitating towards the close of the decade. More groundbreaking albums followed, with Prince himself stewarding their marketing and promotion. A varied array of label distribution deals were interspersed throughout, with major imprints such as EMI, Arista and Columbia, forming temporary but fruitful relationships with the evocative artist.

Last year saw the cultural icon command the mainstream music radar with a vengeance, releasing the critically and commercially acclaimed Musicology (the disc snagged two Grammys), being inducted to the Rock n’ Roll Hall Of Fame, and rolling out one of the most successful, talked about tours in music history, (Pollstar Magazine crowned him a top concert draw for the year) coinciding with the two-decade anniversary of his masterpiece Purple Rain. Prince also won an NAACP Image award in 2004 and was most recently inspired to write two songs to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims, “S.S.T.” and “Brand New Orleans,” both of which are available on NPGMusicClub.com.


About Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is the world’s largest music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 77 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the industry’s largest global music publishing operations. Universal Music Group consists of record labels Decca Music Group, Deutsche Grammophon, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Geffen Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Philips, Polydor Records, Universal Music Latino, Universal Motown Records Group, and Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, a new media and technologies division, and Universal Music Mobile. Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company.

About VH1

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with series, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in over 87 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array if digital services including VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Uno and VH1 Country. Connect with VH1 at http://www.vh1.com.

[Dean Winchester]

I am surprised he ended things with Sony so quickly, considering the success of Musicology. I remember he was vocally upset about the way Arista handled Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic but I would say Sony did a really good job with Musicology.

[vashti1999]

Originally Posted by HUNG UP!

one possibility is that maybe next fall, Best Buy could do a limited edition exclusive Prince DVD. They did it with Stones and Elton in the past and this year it's Usher. I think we all know that Prince is a far bigger legend and icon than freaking USHER, that they could do a 4 disc live set, consisting of a show from the Musicology tour, a show from the upcoming tour, maybe another show (how about one from Emancipation era?) and who knows, how about also using the last disc to bring the "Prince And The Revolution Live" video from 1985 onto DVD for the first time), kinda like how the Elton, Stones and Usher DVD's have several different concerts with a lot of different songs from each tour.

The problem with all that is that this is Prince we're talking about. He's controlling to the point where he might not even make an effort to do that, especially when he wants to concentrate on pushing his new stuff. He'd probably make a release like that available on his NPG Music Club before he does a partnership with Best Buy, whatever way he could keep most of the profits himself. I'm not dissing him or anything, he's still my idol. I just know how controlling he is and it would be pulling teeth to get him to cooperate in releasing a package like that. I'd love to see it though.

[vashti1999]

Two thumbs up for the song and video. Pleasant, simple, understated. I like it. Better I think than Greatest Romance Ever Sold. I just hope to hear Prince on NY radio for a change and see this do well.

[vashti1999]

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Prince, who famously scrawled "slave" on his face during a dispute with his record company in the mid-1990s, said Tuesday he received everything he wanted in his latest deal with Universal Records.


"I got a chance to structure an agreement the way I saw fit instead of the other way around," Prince said during a news conference to promote a video for his new single,"Te Amo Corazon."

The 47-year-old superstar has signed a one-album deal with Universal to release his upcoming album, "3121," early next year.

Prince declined to give financial details of the agreement, but said it was similar to the joint venture he struck with Columbia Records in 2003. In that deal, the label manufactured and distributed his 2004 hit album "Musicology," for NPG Records, Prince's label.

Asked why he would sign on with the biggest record company in the world given his past clashes with major labels, Prince said, "I don't consider Universal a slave ship. I did my own agreement ... I got exactly what I wanted."

The singer had some advice for new artists. He challenged them to read the fine print on their record contracts.

On Tuesday, VH1 and its affiliated networks, including Tempo and VH1 Soul, premiered "Te Amo Corazon," directed by Salma Hayek.

VH1 will also make the song available on its Vspot broadband channel and VH1 Mobile.

Prince said the sultry ballad is not indicative of what the album sounds like. He also said a tour was in the works but declined to give details.

[Jrnygrl]

Hey Vash, thanks again for the updated post.

I have to say I agree with the way Prince has conducted his terms with regards to his music. Too many great musicians and singers from the past were as Prince said a slave to the record label, and even though they made great music, alot of them came away from the whole experience with nothing, not even the music they wrote do they own, for example The Beatles, McCartney doesn't even own his own music that he created. So the label gets their cut,and Prince gets to own his and control his music and a large sum of the profits.

[isiahthomas]

I wonder why he would wanna sign with a major label at this point in his career. I thought he would wanna stay on a independent label. Doesn't he have his own label?

[Dean Winchester]

Originally Posted by isiahthomas

I wonder why he would wanna sign with a major label at this point in his career. I thought he would wanna stay on a independent label. Doesn't he have his own label?

well, the conditions that Prince gets are ideal. The major label distributes it, which means better promotion (New Power Soul could've done very well, but it being on his indie label, the album came and died fast, despite being one of his strongest 90's efforts), yet Prince retains all rights to the masters and gets a phenomenal share of each album sale. Musicology only sold about 1/10th what Purple Rain sold, yet he netted more money from Musicology's sales than he ever saw off Purple Rain, 1999, Around The World In A Day or Sign O' The Times, despite those albums being considerably bigger.