Yesterday a judge voided the $31 million deal to bring a vast catalog and vault of Prince material to Universal Music Group. The request was filed by UMG after the company learned that many of the tracks it had paid for were still under contract with Warner Music Group.
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The courts have voided the murky $31 million UMG, Prince deal, as the music group has requested
In his ruling the judge stated that he was “reluctant” to rescind the deal, but decided that it was better than the “long and potentially expensive litigation” involving WMG, UMG the Prince Estate appeared to be the alternative.
UMG will still control the worldwide rights to administer Prince publishing and merchandise.
The Prince Estate now hopes to resell these same rights, though observers believe it will be for less than the $31 million UMG originally paid. Potential buyers include WMG, which released 18 Prince albums and has rights to some unreleased material.