Prince’s Former Lawyers Put Artist Ownership At Center Of Paisley Park Symposium

Prince‘s fight to control his music will bring two of his former lawyers back into the conversation at Paisley Park next week.

The inaugural Emancipation 30 Retrospective and Symposium pairs the album’s anniversary with discussions about ownership, creative independence and constitutional freedoms.

The November 19-21 gathering in Chanhassen, Minnesota, is co-hosted by Mayte Garcia and L. Londell McMillan. McMillan will moderate a Friday panel featuring U.S. District Judge Jerry W. Blackwell, another former Prince attorney, alongside civil-rights and First Amendment voices.

“It is an honor to produce and continue the legacy of freedom, justice and innovation with Emancipation 30. We will engage in deep discussions and honor Prince, his music, intellect and vision for a free and just global society. Prince deserves a salute not only for his incomparable talents and music but also his loving and courageous humanity,” McMillan said.

Garcia, McMillan and recording engineer Hans-Martin Buff will also participate in Thursday’s livestreamed conversation about the Emancipation years.

The album arrived on November 19, 1996, through NPG Records and EMI after Prince’s contentious relationship with Warner Bros. His final album of new material for Warner, Chaos and Disorder, had arrived that July, following the March release of his Girl 6 soundtrack.

Prince made his independence audible, assembling 36 tracks across three discs that each ran precisely an hour. The collection moved between styles rather than squeezing his output into a conventional single-disc release, with songs including “The Holy River” and “Somebody’s Somebody.”

The launch also reached television audiences through a Paisley Park concert carried simultaneously by BET, MTV and VH1 on November 12, 1996. The subsequent Jam of the Year tour included musicians Kirk Johnson, Morris Hayes and Mike Scott, who are returning for the anniversary program.

Prince was 57 when he died at Paisley Park on April 21, 2016. The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office later determined that an accidental overdose of fentanyl caused his death.

Questions about control continued after his death, with a 2022 estate agreement dividing assets between Prince Legacy LLC and Prince Oat Holdings LLC.

That agreement followed six years of proceedings over an estate valued at roughly $156 million.

The new symposium includes a San Antonio concert-film screening and free Saturday community activities, giving the weekend room beyond its industry discussions.

New Power Generation will perform music from Emancipation during Saturday’s anniversary concert.

Saturday’s New Power Generation performance is scheduled to begin at 8 P.M. Central, with doors opening at 4 P.M.