Prince (November 10, 1996) – Emancipation 3-CD Set Advance Advert - Star Tribune

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Nine days before the release of Emancipation, the November 10, 1996 Star Tribune carried a compact advance advertisement announcing the forthcoming three-CD set. With just a handful of words, the advert emphasised the extraordinary scale of the project: 36 new songs, three CDs and three hours of music, arriving November 19.

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FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS

FEATURE	DETAILS
Artist:	Prince
Publication:	Star Tribune
Publication Date:	November 10, 1996
Location:	Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Advertised Release:	Emancipation
Release Date:	November 19, 1996
Format Advertised:	3-CD Set
Songs Advertised:	36
Running Time Advertised:	3 hours
Advert Wording:	The Artist Formerly Known As Prince
Album Labels:	NPG Records / EMI Records
Format:	Advance Album Advertisement
Principal Theme:	Advance promotion of Prince’s forthcoming Emancipation triple album

ORIGINAL SOURCE MATERIAL

ORIGINAL NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENT

[IMAGE – STAR TRIBUNE, NOVEMBER 10, 1996 – EMANCIPATION 3-CD SET ADVANCE ADVERTISEMENT]

INTRODUCTION

COMING NOV. 19TH	EMANCIPATION
On November 10, 1996, the Star Tribune carried a compact advertisement announcing the approaching release of Emancipation. The most prominent introductory message is simply “Coming Nov. 19th”, giving Minneapolis readers advance notice of the new project.	Beneath the artist identification, the album title appears alongside the description “3-CD Set”. The advertisement then reduces the scale of the collection to two striking facts: 36 new songs and 3-hours of music.

THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS PRINCE

THE WORDING	THE PERIOD
The advertisement uses the contemporary identification “The Artist Formerly Known As Prince”, with Prince given the greatest typographic prominence.	That wording places the cutting firmly within the period when the Symbol identity and Prince’s separation from Warner Bros. had become central parts of the public narrative surrounding the music.

THREE CDs – THREE HOURS

THE FORMAT	THE STRUCTURE
Emancipation was issued as a three-CD album containing 36 tracks.	The complete album runs exactly three hours, with 12 tracks allocated to each of the three discs and each disc constructed to run for approximately one hour.

36 NEW SONGS

THE ADVERTISING MESSAGE	THE SCALE OF THE RELEASE
The phrase “Featuring 36 new songs” performs much of the work of the advertisement. No individual track is named and no review quotation is required.	The number alone communicates the unusual size of the project. Rather than promoting Emancipation through one lead song, this early newspaper notice sells the sheer abundance of material.

NOVEMBER 19, 1996

NINE DAYS TO GO	THE RELEASE
The advertisement appeared on November 10, placing it nine days ahead of the announced release date.	Emancipation was released on November 19, 1996 through NPG Records and EMI Records as a triple album containing 36 tracks.

A MINNEAPOLIS ADVERTISEMENT

STAR TRIBUNE	HOME-TOWN CONTEXT
The advertisement appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, giving the advance promotion a particularly appropriate local setting.	Rather than being a retrospective item looking back upon the album’s reputation, this is primary evidence of how the forthcoming release was being presented to newspaper readers immediately before it became available.

A VERY SIMPLE DESIGN

BLACK & WHITE	TYPOGRAPHY FIRST
The supplied advertisement is monochrome and contains no elaborate album artwork, artist portrait or extensive promotional copy.	Bold typography carries the entire message. Prince dominates the centre, while Emancipation, 3-CD Set, 36 new songs and 3-hours of music supply all the information considered necessary.

WHAT THE ADVERTISEMENT DOES NOT DO

NO TRACKLIST	NO EXPLANATION
None of the 36 individual song titles appears in the advertisement.	There is no lengthy explanation of what “Emancipation” means, no discussion of record-company history and no attempt to summarise the musical styles contained across the three discs. The scale of the project is allowed to speak for itself.

NPG RECORDS / EMI

THE RELEASE	A NEW PHASE
The official release was issued through NPG Records and EMI Records.	Prince’s official discography presents Emancipation as a celebration of newly gained creative freedom following the end of the contentious Warner Bros. relationship.

FREEDOM

THE TITLE	THE RECORD
Emancipation was conceived around the idea of artistic freedom, something reflected directly in the album title.	The official Prince discography preserves Prince’s description of the project as the most important record of the period because Prince regarded both the artist and the music as free.

THE TRIPLE-ALBUM CONCEPT

AN AMBITIOUS FORMAT	PRECISE STRUCTURE
The project realised the long-standing ambition to release a triple album of new material.	Rather than simply filling three CDs to different lengths, the finished collection was deliberately structured as three groups of 12 songs, producing the precisely organised 36-track, three-hour format advertised here.

COMPLETE TRACKLIST

DISC 1	DISC 2
1. Jam of the Year 2. Right Back Here in My Arms 3. Somebody’s Somebody 4. Get Yo Groove On 5. Courtin’ Time 6. Betcha by Golly Wow! 7. We Gets Up 8. White Mansion 9. Damned If Eye Do 10. Eye Can’t Make U Love Me 11. Mr. Happy 12. In This Bed Eye Scream	1. Sex in the Summer 2. One Kiss at a Time 3. Soul Sanctuary 4. Emale 5. Curious Child 6. Dreamin’ About U 7. Joint 2 Joint 8. The Holy River 9. Let’s Have a Baby 10. Saviour 11. The Plan 12. Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife

DISC 3

1. Slave

2. New World

3. The Human Body

4. Face Down

5. La, La, La Means I Love U

6. Style

7. Sleep Around

8. Da, Da, Da

9. My Computer

10. One of Us

11. The Love We Make

12. Emancipation

FOUR COVER VERSIONS

EARLIER SONGS REINTERPRETED	A FIRST FOR A PRINCE ALBUM
The 36-track programme included versions of “Betcha by Golly Wow!”, “I Can’t Make U Love Me”, “La, La, La Means I Love U” and “One of Us”.	The official Prince discography notes these interpretations as another notable element of the project, broadening the album beyond Prince’s own compositions.

THE COMPLETE PROJECT

DISC 1	DISCS 2 & 3
The opening disc ranges from “Jam of the Year” and “Somebody’s Somebody” through “Betcha by Golly Wow!”, “White Mansion” and “In This Bed Eye Scream”.	The remaining discs extend through “The Holy River”, “Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife”, “Slave”, “Face Down”, “My Computer”, “The Love We Make” and finally the title track “Emancipation”.

WHY THE ADVERT MATTERS

BEFORE RELEASE	THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE
Later discussion of Emancipation naturally concentrates on artistic freedom, the end of the Warner Bros. period, the unusual three-hour structure and the individual songs.	This November 10 advertisement shows what readers were actually told before release. The message was remarkably straightforward: Prince had a new record coming, and it was going to contain 36 new songs across three CDs and three hours.

WHAT THE ADVERTISEMENT DOCUMENTS

VISIBLE IN THE CUTTING	RELEASE CONTEXT
Coming Nov. 19th The Artist Formerly Known As Prince Emancipation 3-CD Set 36 new songs 3-hours of music	November 19, 1996 release 36 tracks Three CDs Three-hour structure NPG Records / EMI Records

CONTEXT AND NOTES

HISTORICAL CONTEXT	ARCHIVAL SIGNIFICANCE
Emancipation arrived at a major point of transition in Prince’s recording career. The official Prince discography presents the album as a celebration of newfound freedom and identifies it as Prince’s third album-related release of 1996.	The Star Tribune cutting is valuable because it predates the release. It preserves the immediate promotional message rather than later commentary about what the album came to represent.
The advertisement itself establishes November 19, the three-CD format, 36 new songs and three hours of music. The complete release subsequently confirms that structure through three 12-track discs.	Its minimal presentation is also significant. There is no complicated campaign imagery or explanation. At this early advertising stage, the enormous quantity of new music was itself the selling point.

CONCLUSION

COMING NOV. 19TH	EMANCIPATION
On November 10, 1996, Minneapolis readers were given a remarkably concise preview of one of Prince’s largest releases. Nine days later, Emancipation arrived as the promised three-CD, 36-song, three-hour collection.	The small newspaper advertisement captures the album before reviews, sales figures and retrospective interpretation accumulated around it. In a handful of bold lines, the message was simply scale and freedom: a vast new Prince project was about to arrive.

SOURCES

SOURCE MATERIAL	ARCHIVAL VERIFICATION
Star Tribune November 10, 1996 Original supplied Emancipation advertisement	Prince Official Discography NPG Records EMI Records

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