We Still Get Delirious With Everything Prince Does But Is It OK To Play In His Vault Without Him?

By Maria Lopez Bernstein and Raoul Dennis

What kind of Prince fan are you? Are you good with the late rock icon’s music vault being made available or not?

Do you want more of his royal badness or don’t you?

The answer is easy but the respectful way forward isn’t. Fans want the music but thousands of his most die-hard followers don’t want to disrespect the artist’s wishes. Like a hot date night, both parties may want it but no one’s allowed to just take it.

Let’s face it: being a Prince Fan has always come with complications. Passionately private and a virtuoso perfectionist of all musical things he touched, those around him – including his fans - had to deal with him and his music on his terms or not at all. Remember when he went to war with Warner Bros. for ownership rights to his own music, and changed his name to a symbol so they couldn’t profit off his name? He regularly forced YouTube and other social media platforms to remove music of his that fans would post without permission. To combat piracy, he even sued Facebook users who posted links to unauthorized music and concerts.

Fans of his purple majesty stayed with him through it all in many ways making him more a champion for it.

And so here we are. The remastered “1999” album that made Prince a rock star before Purple Rain made him into a superstar was released in November. And you’re either partying like it’s…well, you know…or you’re not.

The massive super deluxe edition box set (five CDs, one DVD, total 65 tracks) includes the remastered title hit song along with 35 previously unreleased tracks, all recorded in 1981, 1982, and early 1983 – 24 tracks are unfinished work, some dating back to when the artist was just 20 years old. All from Prince’s legendary Paisley Park vault.

While scores of fans are shelling out the $60 for the box set and upwards of $225 for the vinyl version, others are feeling conflicted.

On The Money

Certain artists have a presence and a market long after they leave the spotlight. The Beatles, Elvis, Michael Jackson are all among a stellar status where the public hungers for them far deeper than in the music itself. They are cultural icons.

Prince has the same status but may have a slightly different twist above even those pop culture giants. For him, it was always about the purity of his music, and control of it in every detail. While The Gloved One is considered one of the greatest performers of all time, there’s little that depicts Michael Jackson exacting such total control over the musicianship as did Prince. And while Elvis and the Fab Four had no problem with merchandising their images to make a few million bucks, Prince completely frowned on that tripe. Can you picture a Prince lunch box? (As if there were one that you could actually give to your kids)

Prince walked the tightrope between commercial access and artistic exception and control. And again, his hardcore fans loved him all the more for it. He had standards in an industry full of people that would sell the skins off their own children’s faces if it were legal and they could draw a profit.

What Were Prince’s Plans For All His Archived Music?

According to an interview that Grammy award-winning composer and Prince collaborator Brent Fischer gave to The Guardian and the BBC in 2015, about 70% of the music Prince produced was never released. And he added, “There are lot of songs that were sent to us clearly with the idea that they would never be released.”

Alan Leeds, Prince’s former manager recalls a conversation with Prince in the early 90s wherein Prince told him, he’d “just burn everything” [in the vault] one day. But he also mentioned that Prince himself would tease fans, suggesting in his album liner notes that he’d release some songs at “a later date.” At the end of a 2012 YouTube clip of a new guitarist auditioning for his band, he included the text: “Every good thing in the vault… coming in 2013.” And then it didn’t happen.

We know that Prince only wanted to showcase his quality work.

At another time, Prince said that upon his passing, the vault would be opened and everything would come out. Well, this prophecy seems to be coming into fruition.

Shortly after his passing, his estate revealed that it would never release any of his unfinished work. They knew he wouldn’t want that. Yet, they have. This remastered 1999 box set has 24 unfinished tracks. And this is the eighth posthumous album the estate has revealed from the treasure cove that is his legendary vault.

To Buy Or Not To Buy

The new “1999” box set is going to sell. Fans love Prince’s music and they want to hear it – all of it. Yes, even the unfinished tracks.

Certainly, Prince knew that preparing a simple legal document could have ended the entire debate. The fact that a man so determined to control his work in life would leave it all up to chance in death suggests he may not have been as concerned about it as many would think.

Perhaps the consolation is in the influence of Prince’s artistry. Prince felt strongly about spreading love and knowledge about music. In fact, through the years, it’s reported he’s contributed more than $2 million to arts education programs. He feared that if people did not receive music education, did not learn how to play instruments, that art form would die out. Who’s to say that the music released won’t reach the ears of some developing young artist 100 years from now in ways that no other can---and spur her on to develop a sound that will change the music world.

Why not? It’s happened before.