Talk:Prince albums discography

Discography issues
I've noticed several serious issues with the Prince discography, that needs some attention from an experienced Prince fan.


 * Numbering discrepancy: Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999) is reportedly Prince's 23rd album. But counting from Emancipation (1996), where it says this is Prince's 19th studio album, there can never be three studio releases in between the two. Prince released only two albums in that period: Crystal Ball (1998) and The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale (1999), both compilation albums, not studio releases. Still, these are only two studio releases, meaning one of them is missing. One could argue either The Truth or Kamasutra (part of Crystal Ball) is counted as a studio release, but they sure aren't identified on Wikipedia as such. And again, these amount to just two, not three.


 * Numbering discrepancy #2: Girl 6 is the only soundtrack album by Prince that is not counted as one of his official studio releases. Why is that? All others are counted as such. I believe it ought to be named as Prince's 18th studio release, making Emancipation the 20th.


 * Erroneous categorization: In Template:Prince albums, Crystal Ball and The Vault are listed under "Studio albums", even though the pages identify these albums as "Compilations".


 * Infobox next/previous: Lastly, I notice an inconsistency in the albums' various infoboxes with "next album" and "previous album". Some skip the compilations and live albums, others don't (i.e. Rave Un2 has Emancipation as previous album, skipping Crystal Ball and The Vault). In the infoboxes, the Girl 6 soundtrack and Indigo Nights are both skipped completely.

Can someone address these issues? I don't consider myself sufficiently knowledgeable on this topic to start meddling with the pages myself. --Eddyspeeder (talk) 16:00, 31 January 2013 (UTC)

I have no idea how to react to the issues you raised other than editing your input. Please let me know if there's another way to do this:

To start of with your first point.

'Emancipation' is indeed his 19th studio album and 'Rave' is indeed his 23rd studio album. The albums in between are 'Crystal Ball' (20th), 'The Truth' (21st) and 'The Vault' (22nd). At first 'The Truth' was included on the 'Crystal Ball' box set as a bonus disc, but should be considered a standalone studio album. At one point it could be downloaded on his site as a standalone album and nowadays can be found on Tidal as a standalone album. 'Crystal Ball' and 'The Vault' are not considered compilation albums, since the songs on these records weren't released before. They were unreleased songs from his large vault. Since the 1980's Prince has often used older unreleased songs from his vault on new albums. The most recent example is the song "1000 hugs and kisses" on his latest album 'HitnRun' (2015). That song was first recorded in 1992.

The reason 'Girl 6' is not counted as a studio release is that all the songs on that album, except one ("Girl 6"), were released before. So it is in fact more of a compilation album than a studio album. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Djfunkfunk (talk • contribs) 17:27, 7 November 2015 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Alan Jackson albums discography which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 23:31, 4 January 2014 (UTC)

Non-free use of File:Prince logo.svg
Since File:Prince logo.svg is a non-free image, any usage of it must comply with WP:NFCC. Not only do all 10 of the criteria listed in WP:NFCCP need to be met, but the image should also not be used in any of the ways listed WP:NFC. The first problem with this usage is that it does not have the seperate, specific non-free use rationale it needs per WP:NFCC. That would be a simple enough fix if a valid nfur could be written. The usage is also problematic per WP:NFLISTS and possibly No. 6 of WP:NFC. The symbol can already be seen in two stand-alone articles: Love Symbol Album and Prince (musician). The album's article is wikilinked, so there is really no need to use the image again per WP:NFCC. The other problem is that non-free images such as logos, album covers, etc. are not really considered acceptable for lists or tables because such usage is primarily considered to be decorative. That is why album cover art is considered OK for stand-alone articles, but not OK for musician/band or discography articles. The use of this image has been discussed before at Wikipedia:Non-free content review/Archive 23 and Wikipedia:Non-free content review/Archive 9. The consensus of the most recent discussion was that it is acceptable for "Prince" and "Love Symbol", but not in any list articles. Consensus can change over time, so this can be discussed again at WP:FFD if necessary. -- Marchjuly (talk) 23:02, 6 November 2015 (UTC)


 * I would like to discuss the use of File:Prince logo.svg a.k.a. 'The Love Symbol'. Is this the way to do it? If not, can somebody help me?
 * To me, it doesn't make any sence to use File:Prince logo.svg only the album page and not in the musician page and discography articles. The symbol has two meanings: At first it was the name of his 14th studio album. I don't see why this name could not be added in the discography lists, especially when File:Prince logo.svg is being used in the first line of the album page. Soon thereafter it became Prince's new name. Prince commented on his decision as follows: "The first step I have taken toward the ultimate goal of emancipation from the chains that bind me to Warner Bros. was to change my name from Prince to the Love Symbol. Prince is the name that my mother gave me at birth. Warner Bros. took the name, trademarked it, and used it as the main marketing tool to promote all of the music that I wrote. The company owns the name Prince and all related music marketed under Prince. I became merely a pawn used to produce more money for Warner Bros…" (http://www.trademarkologist.com/2014/08/90s-flashback-princes-trademark-cautionary-tale/). So File:Prince logo.svg was copyrighted and trademarked by Prince to prevent a record company like Warner to use it without his consent like they could do with his real name, not to prevent people like us from using it to refer to him let alone to refer to his 14th studio album. Ofcourse a lot of artist names have been copyrighted and trademarked, but can in fact be used in (wiki)articles without any problem. There's a reason Warner Bros made a special font of it and distributed it. So my conlusion is that the font, the symbol, File:Prince logo.svg or O(+> can be used, just not for commercial purposes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Djfunkfunk (talk • contribs) 17:49, 7 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Djfunkfunk: I've started a "Files for Discussion" at Wikipedia:Files for discussion/2015 November 7 since that's where use of non-free content on Wikipedia is primarily discussed. I've pinged you for reference, but clicking on the above link should take you to the discussion itself. Feel free to further elaborate on your reasons why you think the image should be used in that thread. For reference, non-free content can only be displayed in the article namespace and only for uses where it has a valid non-free use rationale. Displaying it on talk pages, etc. like you did you your above post is something that is allowed. You can link to the image on talk pages etc., however, using the colon trick if you want for discussion purposes. -- Marchjuly (talk) 22:38, 7 November 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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Piano and a Microphone 1983
Piano and a Microphone 1983 is listed here with the compilation albums, but it is not a compilation. It is a recording he put down on cassette tape live in his home studio. Since it isn't a traditional studio album either, should there be a new section for posthumous album releases?--Filmgirlfannn (talk) 21:18, 20 September 2018 (UTC)

I think there should be such a section. More artists have this section on Wikipedia (for instance Michael Jackson). More than a year ago I proposed to add this section and include in this section all albums with unreleased material like 'Purple Rain Deluxe' and 'Piano and a Microphone 1983'.

DJ FunkFunk 14:29, 22 September 2018 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Djfunkfunk (talk • contribs)

New categories: Posthumous albums and Special Editions
I noticed that Prince's first reissue has not been mentioned yet. How do you think we can best add this to the page?

I see basically two options:

1. To add a new category 'Posthumous albums'. This will then include 4Ever as well as Purple Rain 2015 Paisley Park Remaster / Deluxe / Deluxe Expanded. It also means 4Ever has to be removed from the 'Compilation Albums' list.

2. To add a new category 'Reissues' with only the Purple Rain remaster in it. This will change in due time of course, as soon as other reissues will be released. In this case 4Ever can stay in the 'Compilation albums' list. The only problem with this is that we need yet another category as soon as the first album sees day of light with unreleased Prince material not specifically linked to a previously released album. We can hardly call such an album a compilation album so by that time we then need a category like 'Previously unreleased material'.

I tend to lean towards option 1. What are your thoughts? DJ FunkFunk 01:17, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

After giving it some thought, I now tend to go for option 2. DJ FunkFunk 08:19, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

More than a year after I wanted to start a discussion to add a new category I have noticed very little discussion on the subject. I didn't make any alterations yet following WP:BRD, because I didn't feel 100% satisfied with my solutions even though nobody came up with a better solution. But now I think I have a better one. I suggest to add two new categories: 1. 'Posthumous albums'. Albums with formerly unreleased material like 'Piano and a Microphone 1983'. 2. 'Special Editions'. We could do so by renaming the category 'Remix albums' to 'Special editions' As of today this category would include 'Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic and Purple Rain 2015 Paisley Park Remaster / Deluxe / Deluxe Expanded. What are your thoughts? DJ FunkFunk 12:39, 23 September 2018 (UTC)

One Nite Alone... Live!
Is 'One Nite Alone... Live!' one live album or are they two live albums? If one, the entry should simply be 'One Nite Alone... Live!' If two, the entry remains 'One Nite Alone... Live! / One Nite Alone... The Aftershow: It Ain't Over!'. But it means Prince has four instead of three live albums under his belt. What do y'all think?DJ FunkFunk 19:27, 28 September 2018 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Djfunkfunk (talk • contribs)

His Majesty's Pop Life
His Majesty's Pop Life is a compilation album that was first made available as a promotional album in 1985 in Japan. It was rereleased in the US in 2019 for record store day. It is not yet listed as a separate release in wiki, but if it will, shouldn't it be listed chronologically in 1985 or 2019? DJ FunkFunk 12:20, 7 June 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Djfunkfunk (talk • contribs)

"Prince and the Revolution: Live" is a 'Live Album' or 'Posthumous Album'?
Even though this album that came out in 2020 was released after Prince had died, shouldn't it go under the 'Live Albums' section? Pantufa123 (talk) 03:44, 10 July 2020 (UTC)

Hit'n'Run Phase 1/2
The albums 'Hit n Run' phase 1/2 are listed as compilations, although in the articles themselves they are described as Prince's 37th and 38th albums, and they seem to be included in the overall number of Prince studio albums. They are also described as studio albums in other sites, like the Prince Vault. There is perhaps an excellent reason why they are in the 'compilations' section, in which case I beg forgiveness. BathRope (talk) 13:45, 22 December 2023 (UTC)


 * @BathRope
 * Chaos & Disorder among others were recently put in the compilations section as well, and I find this very impractical. These albums were marketed as albums and intended as such. Putting them I'm the compilation section is disingenuous in my opinion and makes browsing more difficult for people who aren't die-hard fans. 2607:FEA8:AA42:6400:233:3F22:9BDC:763 (talk) 22:39, 28 December 2023 (UTC)