Sony Music Entertainment has been awarded distribution rights to Prince’s post-Warner Bros catalogue, the material he recorded since leaving the label in 1995. The releases will be handled by Sony’s imprint label Legacy Recordings.

The arrangement comes in three phases. The initial phase includes the catalogue under NPG Records – the albums recorded following the artist’s separation from Warner Bros, such as The Gold Experience, Emancipation, Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic and Musicology as well as many others. Sony’s inaugural release is a collection of 37-songs, a shortlist of fan favourites, gleaned from his albums of this period, many available to stream for the very first time, in a package named Anthology: 1995-2010.

Sony Music strike deal to release Prince’s post Warner catalogue
Anthology: 1995-2010
© Steve Parke

Fans will be more intrigued to know that this arrangement also encompasses his many non-album tracks, music videos, plus live performances recorded before 1995. This part of the agreement does not come into effect until 1 January 2021, but does however give fans certainty about future release intent.

His catalogue, recorded since leaving Warner was a very prolific period for the artist and is estimated to include a thousand unreleased songs. The deal gives fans new hope, following the failed earlier arrangement struck between The Prince Estate and Universal Music last year for $31m, quickly withdrawn following the non-disclosure of an earlier deal brokered between Prince and Warner Brothers two years before his death in 2016.

The second phase of Sony’s deal includes the rights to release the twelve non-soundtrack albums recorded during Prince’s 19-year tenure with Warner Bros (1978-1995) – basically his iconic albums (excluding Purple Rain, Parade, Graffiti Bridge and Batman). The Black Album, and two albums Prince gave Warner Bros in 2014 (Art Official Age and Plectrumelectrum) are also covered by Sony’s 35-album deal but not until a third phase at some more distant date in the future.

Goldies Parade

Goldies Parade is a lifelong Prince fan who founded this website in 1998 to serve the fan community with a resource for Prince news, releases and tour info, and to curate the extensive discography of this much copied but unequalled music icon.

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