Could co-ownership of a Prince song be the perfect Valentine’s Day gift?

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Chocolates and flowers are one thing, but if you want to give your amour a little more this Valentine’s Day, how about co-ownership of a song by Prince?

Chris Moon received a co-writing credit for the lyrics of Soft and Wet, which appeared on Prince’s debut album, For You, and he’s now auctioning ownership of his half of the song on eBay. 

“I wrote the lyrics and Prince wrote the music,” he explains. “When he was getting ready to release his first album with Warner Brothers, we signed a song royalty agreement in which we equally shared in the writing credits of the song. I got the writing royalties for the lyrics, he got the writing royalties for the music and ECNIRP took the publishing. We have been sharing in the royalties of that song over all these years... and still do.”

Moon says that the song has paid him well over the years - it was also sampled by MC Hammer in 1990 - and that he’s now ready to “pass the torch to a Prince fan who will continue to cherish and enjoy owning it as much as I have”. However, it’ll have to be a Prince fan with deep pockets: the buy it now price is $490,000.  

(Via Minneapolis StarTribune)

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.