Prince Estate and Sony Release 23 Long-Unavailable Albums Digitally

By Jem Aswad

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – UPDATED: As part of an agreement struck in June , the Prince Estate and Sony’s Legacy Recordings today launched their first round of catalog digital releases with a set of 23 albums originally issued between 1995 and 2010.

The recordings, which include such popular albums as “The Gold Experience,” “3121” and “Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic” as well as a new 37-track compilation called “ Anthology 1995-2010,” had been largely unavailable for many years. All are now available across all major streaming services and digital service providers. Many of these albums are available for the first time for streaming and download, adding more than 300 songs to the artist’s online in-print catalogue.

The recordings date from the latter half of Prince career, in which the intensely prolific artist released as many as four albums a year, either through his own labels or via one-off deals with indies or major labels.

Curiously, the artist’s biggest hit from that period — “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April of 1994 — is not included, although it was part of the original tracklist for “The Gold Experience.” Reps for the estate and Sony declined comment, but a source close to the situation tells Variety that the song is “on legal hold as a result of existing litigation.” (The song was originally issued on the indie Delmark Records after Prince’s label at the time, Warner Bros., with whom he was publicly sparring , reportedly declined to release it; after its chart success, the song was included on Prince’s next album for Warner, “The Gold Experience.”)

Assembled and curated under the auspices of The Prince Estate, “Prince Anthology: 1995-2010” opens with the title track from 1996’s “Emancipation” (“This is my most important record,” Prince said of his first album released after he’d left his original label, Warner Bros. Records) and closing with the anthemic “We March” (from 1995’s The Gold Experience).

Starting in 2021, Sony/Legacy’s distribution rights will be expanded to include 12 Prince non-soundtrack catalog albums , featuring music recorded by the artist from the 1978-1996 era for distribution in the United States. Music from this period covered under the agreement includes the albums “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). Prince’s soundtrack albums, including “Purple Rain,” “Parade” and “Batman,” will remains with Warner.

The announcement includes no mention of physical product, but it seems likely that many of the albums will be released on vinyl at some point in the future.

Prince catalogue titles newly available digitally via SME/Legacy are:

1. The Gold Experience (1995) (“The Most Beautiful Girl in the World” greyed out, partial album streaming only; album unavailable for download)
2. Chaos and Disorder (1996)
3. Emancipation (1996)
4. Crystal Ball (1998)
5. The Truth (1998)
6. Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (1999)
7. Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic (2001)
8. The Rainbow Children (2001)
9. One Nite Alone… (2002)
10. One Nite Alone…Live! (2002)
11. One Nite Alone…Live – The Aftershow: It Ain’t Over (Up Late with Prince & The NPG) (2002)
12. Xpectation (2003)
13. N.E.W.S. (2003)
14. C-Note (2004)
15. Musicology (2004)
16. The Chocolate Invasion (Trax from the NPG Music Club: Volume 1) (2004)
17. The Slaughterhouse (Trax from the NPG Music Club: Volume 2) (2004)
18. 3121 (2006)
19. Planet Earth (2007)
20. Indigo Nights (2008)
21. LOtUSFLOW3R (2009)
22. MPLSoUND (2009)
23. 20Ten (2010)
24. Prince Anthology: 1995-2010

Prince Anthology: 1995-2010

1. Emancipation (from Emancipation, 1996)
2. Black Sweat (from 3121, 2006)
3. P. Control (from The Gold Experience, 1995)
4. Crucial (from Crystal Ball, 1998)
5. The Love We Make (from Emancipation, 1996)
6. Eye Hate U (from The Gold Experience, 1995)
7. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (from Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, 1999)
8. Eye Love U, But Eye Don’t Trust U (from Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, 1999)
9. Gold (from The Gold Experience, 1995)
10. Guitar (from Planet Earth, 2007)
11. Dream Factory (from Crystal Ball, 1998)
12. The Work Part 1 (from The Rainbow Children, 2001)
13. Call My Name (from Musicology, 2004)
14. Strays of The World (from Crystal Ball, 1998)
15. Shhh (from The Gold Experience, 1995)
16. Dreamer (from LOtUSFLOW3R, 2009)
17. Chaos and Disorder (from Chaos and Disorder, 1996)
18. Endorphinmachine (from The Gold Experience, 1995)
19. Musicology (from Musicology, 2004)
20. Northside (from The Slaughterhouse, 2004)
21. When Eye Lay My Hands on U (from The Chocolate Invasion, 2004)
22. Beautiful Strange (from Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic, 2001)
23. Future Soul Song (from 20Ten, 2010)
24. Empty Room (from C-Note, 2004)
25. 3rd Eye (from The Truth, 1998)
26. U’re Gonna C Me (from One Nite Alone…, 2002)
27. Dinner With Delores (from Chaos and Disorder, 1996)
28. Ol’ Skool Company (from MPLSoUND, 2009)
29. 4ever (from LOtUSFLOW3R, 2009)
30. West (from N.E.W.S., 2003)
31. Xpedition (from Xpectation, 2003)
32. Muse 2 The Pharaoh (from The Rainbow Children, 2001)
33. Somewhere Here On Earth (from Planet Earth, 2007)
34. U Make My Sun Shine (from The Chocolate Invasion, 2004)
35. 1+1+1 Is 3 (from The Rainbow Children, 2001)
36. Chelsea Rodgers (from Planet Earth, 2007)
37. We March (from The Gold Experience, 1995)