In April 2004, Prince released his thirtieth studio album
Musicology from
Columbia Records after leaving former record labels
Warner Bros. and
Arista. The album followed the 2003 releases
Xpectation and
N.E.W.S. When speaking about the album, Prince stated: "I am really an artist and a musician at heart, that's what I do. Musicology has no boundaries or formats. It is long overdue to return to the art and craft of music, that's what this album is about. School's in session." The singer gave a small performance at the
El Rey Theater in Los Angeles in February to preview some of the new songs from the album where he also announced plans for an upcoming tour. Tour dates were announced later that month in North America. He opened the 2004
Grammy Awards with
Beyoncé and was also inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the same year. More tour dates were announced shortly afterward. The Musicology Tour also increased sales of the
Musicology album because concertgoers received a copy of
Musicology, with the album cost included in the ticket price for the tour. This prompted
Billboard magazine and
Nielsen SoundScan to change its chart data methodology: For future album releases,
Billboard says that customers "must be given an option to either add the CD to the ticket purchase or forgo the CD for a reduced ticket-only price." ==Set list==