Prince has signed a $100-million deal with Warner Bros. Records that will pay him $10-million per album and make him a corporate vice president, an official said Thursday.
The first-of-its-kind deal makes Prince the highest paid player in pop music, surpassing Michael Jackson, who signed a $50-million contract with Sony Corp. last year, and Madonna, who signed a seven-year deal worth perhaps $60-million in April with Time Warner Inc.
Prince's deal will finance his two record labels, the existing Paisley Park Records and a new, second label that will concentrate on releasing "cutting edge" singles, said Gilbert Davison, president of Prince's Paisley Park Enterprises.
Prince must provide Warners Bros. _ his record label since his first deal _ with another six albums after his next release, due Oct. 20.
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