Music icon Prince has ended his long-standing feud with his former label Warner Bros., and has announced a new partnership with the company that will give him rights to his master recordings. The deal is described as “an exclusive global licensing partnership that covers every album released from 1978 into the ’90s.” With that period of recorded material, in particular, the superstar now has control of the most popular music in his catalog.
Via this new deal, Prince has released a new song to iTunes called “The Breakdown,” and plans are set to reissue his classic 1984 album/soundtrack Purple Rain later this year to mark the 30th anniversary of his most popular work. It will be a digitally-remastered release with expected bonus tracks. There will also be “previously-uneard” music released to the public, though no specifics have been given; and he plans to release a full new album, as well.
“A brand-new studio album is on the way and both Warner Bros. Records and Eye are quite pleased with the results of the negotiations and look forward to a fruitful working relationship.”\\,” Prince said via statement.
The singer famously feuded with Warner Bros in the late 1990s over control of his catalog. He began performing with the word “SLAVE” scrawled across his cheek in protest of the label and changed his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol for a time to assert some control over his new music without being tethered to contracts that were binding under his “Prince” name. He named his first album after leaving Warner Bros in 1996 Emancipation.
