Publication: The London Times [UK]
Date: December 29, 1998
Section: Home News
Length: 415 Words
Title: "Prince In No Mood To Party Over The Re-Release Of 1999"
Written By: Mark Henderson

THE pop star Prince has embarked on a new dispute with his former record label over the rights to his song 1999, which is widely tipped to be the biggest hit of next year.

The diminutive American singer, who now prefers to be known as "the Artist", forfeited his rights to the single as part of the agreement that freed him from his contract with Warner Brothers in 1996 after a bitter dispute. He is determined to stop the company profiting from the record's expected popularity.

He has recorded seven remixes on his new record label, NPG. He hopes these will trounce the original in the charts and has invited fans to sign an Internet petition demanding the return of his rights over the song, which Warner reissued last week.

Bob Merlis, a Warner spokesman, said that the company had recognized the potential of 1999 as soon as Prince recorded it in 1982. Executives had thought, "if it's not a hit now, we know we'll have another shot", he said.

Prince, who has never allowed his work to be used in advertisements, is also concerned that Warner is considering selling 1999 to advertising agencies. The song is the tune most requested by agencies in America and some are reportedly prepared to pay up to $ 1million for the rights. A spokesman for Warner said that the label had not yet sold the commercial rights but reserved the right to do so.

The spat is the latest incident in the troubled relationship between the singer and the label, which oversaw his rise to stardom in the early 1980s. While fighting to be released from his contract, Prince performed at the 1995 Brit Awards ceremony with the word "slave" written on his face, and then called his first album after leaving Warner Emancipation.

Warner said that it was not worried about Prince's campaign and had the right to re release the track. "We've got used to his pretty bizarre behavior and it doesn't mean that much to us any more," the spokesman said. "It's a long time since the split and it's water under the bridge."

Warner is not the only one likely to make money from the single's re-release. Neil Crespin from Surrey stands to make Pounds 5,000 if 1999 is number one at any time next year, after placing a Pounds 50 bet at William Hill six years ago. The bookmaker has since cut the odds to 6-1 for the song being top next Christmas.