Each of the radio stations has three songs given a thumbs up, and one to three songs given a thumbs down. The set of thumbs-up songs have a theme indicating what the emperor really wants to hear; the purple text and references to the emperor’s son/heir who is “departed” are intended to help the solver notice that the themes also fit hit songs by the late Prince.

The thumbs-down songs each hint (by definition or association) at an answer word of the given length. The letters in these answers can be deleted from the name of the Prince song (since they’re unwanted) so that a single letter remains. These thirteen leftover letters, in order, spell NEVER FORGET ME, the surprisingly creepy answer to this puzzle.

“Night Owls”- Whitehorse
“Theory of the Crows”- The National
“Where Eagles Dare”- Iron Maiden
Theme: Birds => WHEN DOVES CRY

“Bashful”- Kwes. => SHY
“Marry Me”- Jason Derulo => WED
“Sing My Song”- Dennis Landry => COVER
WHENDOVESCRY - SHYWEDCOVER = N

“Cheddar”- H.A.W.K.
“Milk”- Kings of Leon
“Yoghurt”- Ylvis
Theme: Dairy products => CREAM

“Study Hard”- Count Bass D => CRAM
CREAM - CRAM = E

“The Firebird”- Priestess
“Mustang Sally”- Wilson Pickett
“Pit Viper”- 10,000 Maniacs
Theme: Car models => LITTLE RED CORVETTE

“Bank Job”- Barenaked Ladies => TELLER
“Disturbing the Peace”- Pentagram => RIOT
“Sense”- Pete Yorn => DETECT
LITTLEREDCORVETTE - TELLERRIOTDETECT = V

“Flip Your Lid”- Phantom Tollbooth
“I’m Gonna Lose It”- Matt Lonsdale
“Sometimes I Just Freak Out”- Diana Krall
Theme: Phrases synonymous with "go crazy”=> LET’S GO CRAZY

“The Polish Money Dance”- Traditional => ZLOTYS
“Rugged Rock”- Steve Gibbons Band => CRAG
LETSGOCRAZY - ZLOTYSCRAG = E

“In Love With a Bowler”- O.J.R.
“Me & Stetson”- Tom McRae
“Queen of the Roller Derby”- Leon Russell
Theme: Hats => RASPBERRY BERET

“The Ballad of Sweeney Todd”- Ensemble => BARBER
“Blue Spruce”- Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer => TREE
“Secret Agent Man”- Johnny Rivers => SPY
RASPBERRYBERET - BARBERTREESPY = R

“Big Sis”- Sales
“Bro Dependent”- Lagwagon
“Mom”- Garth Brooks
Theme: Nicknames for relatives => POP LIFE

“Crude”- Hogwash => OIL
“Energy”- Alexandra Stan => PEP
POPLIFE - PEPOIL = F

“Blood of Emeralds”- Gary Moore
“Bombay Sapphires”- Stevie Nicks
“Top Tim Rubies”- Deerhoof
Theme: Birthstones => DIAMONDS AND PEARLS

“Daddy Was a Navy Man”- Kevin Denney => ADMIRAL
“Desert Ground”- The Western Den => SAND
“Go Shopping”- Bran Van 3000 => SPEND
DIAMONDSANDPEARLS - ADMIRALSANDSPEND = O

“Hail, Hail”- Pearl Jam
“Riders on the Storm”- The Doors
“White as Snow”- U2
Theme: Precipitation => PURPLE RAIN

“About the Moon”- Rilo Kiley => LUNAR
“Smoke It”- The Dandy Warhols => PIPE
PURPLERAIN - PIPELUNAR = R

“Dark Globe”- Placebo
“Hark the Herald Angels Sing”- Carrie Underwood
“Whipping Post”- The Allman Brothers Band
Theme: Newspapers => SIGN O’ THE TIMES

“Envy”- Chevelle => SIN
“Leave It Out”- The Specials => OMIT
“On My Bed”- Shut Up Stella => SHEET
SIGNOTHETIMES - SINOMITSHEET = G

“Acids and Bases”- Vectro Electro
“Kitchen Mitts”- Disco Biscuit
“Wrecking Ball”- Miley Cyrus
Theme: Baseball equipment => BATDANCE

“Feline”- Ella Eyre => CAT
“The Rockers”- Action Bronson => BAND
BATDANCE - CATBAND = E

“Dirty Blvd.”- Lou Reed
“Glenwood Ave.”- Algernon Cadwallader
“Zzyzx Rd.”- Stone Sour
Theme: Abbreviated roads => ALPHABET ST.

“Dish of the Day”- Gare Du Nord => PLATE
“One Big Party”- The Bellrays => BASH
ALPHABETST - PLATEBASH = T

“Mosque of Love”- The Adams
“Spirit Shrine”- Bad Religion
“Take Me to Church”- Hozier
Theme: Houses of worship => THIEVES IN THE TEMPLE

“The Guests”- Leonard Cohen => INVITEES
“Lend a Hand”- Jakob Dylan => HELP
“Molars”- Cinema Strange => TEETH
THIEVESINTHETEMPLE - INVITEESHELPTEETH = M

“Cool Runnings”- Bunny Wailer
“The Great Outdoors”- Depeche Mode
“Volunteers”- Jefferson Airplane
Theme: John Candy movies => DELIRIOUS

“Pump Up the Volume”- M|A|R|R|S => LOUD
“In Your Eyes”- Peter Gabriel => IRIS
DELIRIOUS - LOUDIRIS = E