See the letter above, to which the Sabotage label reacted:ĭear O(+> – we at SABOTAGE really dig your music, but wouldn’t you agree that our work was unnecessary if you really made everything available? Please open up your vault to the ears of the world! Peace He was very aware of the many bootlegs of his work and was often angry and pissed about it, particularly by the fact that bootleggers made money off them. But a live album is such definitive statement. The bootlegs – some of these guys are making more off my music than I am … I understand a fan’s need: I wanted every note James Brown ever sung. I’ve never released an official live album. What was Prince’s stance? Answering the question why he still hadn’t released a live album (his first album was released in 2002), knowing there were so many available, he said: Prince – Open letter to bootleggers 1996-1997 Prince vs bootlegs On the other hand, the existing fanbase is even more invested in the artist, as more and more material finds its way to them, while being part of a ‘secret’ group of people with more insight in and access to rare material. So, the worst case scenario is that people who listen to bootlegs are interested in going to the shows, after which they may visit a record store and spend some money. The real fans already have all official material and will keep on buying it, even if the music has been previously available on bootlegs. The reasoning some record companies had, was that every form of advertising ultimately brings money to the table.
PRINCE SMALL CLUB 1988 DISCOGS FREE
At the end of the 1980’s/early 1990’s bootlegs presented an alternative and free way to give attention to artists and their music. The question has to be raised how these recordings were obtained. The remastered and expanded release in 2010 contained no less than 40 (!) cd’s, and was supplemented with the concert tours in 19 and sounded pristine. The set contained recordings from every tour Prince had been on dating from 1980 to 1986. One specific bootleg that cannot remain unnamed is the City Lights box: an 11 cd set released in 1995. The labels had their own catalogs, release schedules and even remaster and re-release campaigns. To meet the demand real labels were founded, oftentimes exclusively targeted at releasing Prince material. This added to the value of those recordings. On top of that, Prince’s live performances were popular, because he tended to change up his regular shows on a sometimes nightly basis by adding or replacing songs, changing up the arrangements, adding solos or making room for (lengthy) improvisation. Before audio formats like mp3 existed, physical bootlegs were expensive and changed hands for enormous amounts of money. These recordings are highly sought after. The so-called soundboard recordings are special, named as such due to the source of the recordings: the central soundboard that passes the sound directly to the speaker(cabinet)s. Most of them are live recordings in varying sound quality, many really good. Hundreds, if not thousands, Prince bootlegs are in circulation. Hundreds of thousands copies of The Black Album bootleg were sold before it was officially released in 1994. The quest for Prince material was serious business. It became clear that Prince recorded more, much more, music than could ever be released. The planned, and subsequently retracted, release of The Black Album played a crucial part in that. In the 1990’s Prince was one of the most bootlegged artists of all time (maybe he still is). In other words: all recordings not officially released by an artist, or a record company the artist is/was signed to, is a so-called bootleg: a recording of a concert, aftershow, rehearsal or studio recording obtained illegally. Bootlegs usually consist of either unreleased studio recordings, live performances or interviews with an unpredictable level of quality. Recordings may be copied and traded among fans of the artist without financial exchange, but some bootleggers have sold recordings for profit, sometimes by adding professional-quality sound engineering and packaging to the raw material. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging. What constitutes a bootleg? Wikipedia states:Ī bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. This article holds the ultimate top 25, based on 5 different lists. Ample reason to dive into the world of Prince bootlegs and to compile a ‘must have’ list. Prince is one of the most bootlegged artists of all time.
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