Publication: New York Daily News [US]
Date: February 18, 1997
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Title: "Madonna, Prince Like A Pair"
Written By: George Rush & Joanna Molloy

Are Madonna and the Artist We Still Call Prince ready to get into bed? Businesswise, of course. Record-industry voyeurs are whispering that the two superstars may mate their labels--Madonna's Maverick and Prince's NPG.

Born a month apart, the two libido-powered performers co-wrote and dueted on "Love Song," a cut on Madonna's 1989 "Like A Prayer" album. Since then, they've mapped similar strategies for building their own empires: constantly revamping their images, crossing over into film, fighting for control of their product.

Maverick staffers deny that a merger is in the works. But the two were spotted in Minneapolis, touring the Purple One's 65,000-square-foot Paisley Park Enterprises (which boasts four recording studios, a nightclub and a sound stage). Speculation is that the Material Girl may see Prince as a liberation hero now that he has contractually freed himself from Warner Music, the corporation that distributes Maverick.