Prince is not exactly renowned for his straightforward relationship with record companies. In his latest stand against the industry, the Purple One has reportedly once again compared a record contract to slavery – echoing his very public fight with Warner in 1993.

As much as we can trace his artistic trajectory through his music (often astonishing, occasionally in need of a judicious editor) we can also track Prince’s career through his tumultuous and sometimes contradictory dealings with the industry. Like Morrissey, he has had deals with a variety of labels but refuses to bite his tongue when those deals have turned sour.

Here, then, is a potted history of one of the bumpiest rides ever through the record label system. (The following covers albums ostensibly put out under his own name rather than as side projects – as that is a whole other story.)

The cult years (1978-1981)

Prince was signed to Warner Music in 1977 when he was just 18, his precocious talent like catnip to label executives desperate for the next big thing at a time when the record business was arguably at its most bloated and excessive. His first album, For You, came out in 1978, but only made it to No 163 in the US charts. This was a time when labels could afford to back artists and allow them to develop over multiple albums without quite the same pressure to hit pay dirt immediately that acts experience today. He was therefore able to release an album a year from 1978 to 1981 without scoring any significant success, but was kept on the label, as he was regarded as a musician that reflected well on Warner – a company that appeared to invest long term in serious talent.

The “A superstar is born” years (1982-1984)

In 1982, one year after MTV launched, Prince released 1999, and he went top 10 in the US for the first time. Along with Madonna, he was part of a new breed of musicians who understood the power of the music video as a way to market an artist and build their own iconography and mythology. At this point, fans were copying his look, and by 1984, the release of Purple Rain – tied into a hugely successful film starring the singer – he was arguably the biggest and certainly the most exciting pop star on the planet.

The Paisley Park Records years (1985-1992)



Sheila E was launched by Prince on Paisley Park Records. Photograph: Paul Natkin/WireImage

With global success comes huge leverage for an artist and a burning desire to renegotiate the terms of their contracts. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones did it in the mid-1960s, and so Prince was able to set up his own label, Paisley Park Records, which was part funded by Warner (which also handled its distribution). It was more than just a vanity label for Prince’s records, as he also acted as an A&R, launching acts like Sheila E and the Family as well as eventually signing legends like Mavis Staples and George Clinton. In total, eight Prince albums – from 1985’s Around the World in a Day to 1992’s Love Symbol Album – were released via Paisley Park/Warner, and this covers a phenomenal creative and commercial run for the singer. The good times, however, were not to last.

The fallout with Warner and the birth of Symbol (1993-1996)

In the buildup to the release of The Gold Experience, Prince and Warner were at loggerheads over both money and his music. He decided to take the battle public by appearing with the word “Slave” written on the side of his face. His argument was that he was signed to Warner and they, as a result, owned and controlled his name as well as any music released under that name. He changed his name to that of a symbol and was referred to, variously, as “Symbol”, “Squiggle” or “the Artist Formerly Known as Prince”. This coincided with George Michael’s ill-fated attempt to get out of his contract with Sony, which he had termed “professional slavery”, meaning the record labels had a serious PR battle on their hands that they could not afford to lose. Unable to break free completely, Prince fulfilled the terms of his contract with a rapid run of albums, some of which were regarded as a shameless purging of studio tapes and offcuts just to make up the numbers.

The NPG years (including EMI, Arista, Columbia, Universal and back to Warner again) (1995-2014)

The past two decades have been somewhat promiscuous for Prince in terms of his dealings with record labels, and this is where the chronology gets a little topsy-turvy. He set up NPG Records (the NPG standing for New Power Generation) to replace the now defunct Paisley Park Records. The Gold Experience (1995) came out on NPG/Warner, but also lived on when Prince finally broke with Warner and signed a series of one-off deals with most of Warner’s major label rivals. There was the tellingly titled Emancipation (with EMI) in 1996, Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (with Arista) in 1996, The Rainbow Children (with Redline Entertainment, owned by Best Buy) in 1999, NEWS (with MP Media) in 2003, Musicology (with Columbia) in 2004, 3121 (with Universal) in 2006, Planet Earth (with Columbia again, more of which below) in 2007 and then both Art Official Age and Plectrum Electrum (reuniting him with Warner) in 2014. Phew. Plus there were a few albums on only NPG that makes his label history resemble an Escher drawing.

The Columbia years and the Mail on Sunday (2007)

This was possibly the most remarkable release of all. For 2007’s Planet Earth, which coincided with 21 nights at the newly opened O2 in London, Prince struck a deal with Columbia (part of what was then Sony BMG). He also decided to do a deal with The Mail on Sunday to give it away for free on the front of the paper to its 2m readers. Except he forgot to tell Columbia he’d done this. Sony BMG responded by pulling the album’s release in the UK. Oops.

NPG Music Club/LOtUSFLOW3R (2001-2010)



When you have been through pretty much every major record company, the options get somewhat constricted. So for a while, as he was “resting” between major label deals, Prince was releasing albums himself online via a subscription service on NPG Music Club, which was then replaced by LOtUSFLOW3R in 2009, which sold his music as well as tickets to his shows. His early attempts to sell direct to fans online was clearly an influence on Radiohead, then out of contract with EMI, when they released In Rainbows in 2007 as a “pay what you like” download.

The war with YouTube, eBay, the Pirate Bay and streaming services years (2007-2015)

While he was clearly fired up about the possibility of selling music and tickets direct to fans, Prince is not completely bowled over by digital distribution. In a move to “reclaim his art on the internet” in 2007, he announced he was going to take action against YouTube, eBay and the Pirate Bay for unauthorised used of his music. Probably the most notorious manifestation of that was when Universal, which owned the publishing rights to Let’s Go Crazy, filed action against Stephanie Lenz for uploading a short video of her children dancing to the song. Much like Taylor Swift today, Prince has been aggressive in having his music pulled from YouTube (via its ContentID system) if uploaded by users in any context. He wasn’t completely cold on YouTube, however, and debuted his Screwdriver single on there in 2013. His most recent assault came last month when he pulled his music from all streaming services with the exception of Tidal, which will have the exclusive on his HITNRUN album next month. Except, as is the case with Prince, things are never straightforward, because just a few weeks after his assault on anyone who wasn’t Tidal, he put new song Stare on Spotify. His contrariness lives on.

• This article was amended on 12 August 2015. NPG Music Club was Prince’s main e-commerce platform between 2001 and 2006 and not NPGOnlineLTD.com as an earlier version said.