I am very torn by this latest round of shenanigans. Just as Prince himself is full of contradictions, so am I.

I have never understood the point of a website dedicated to an artist dissing him at every turn. In the very thread, he is called everything but a child of God. as he is one, I think he deserves that much resepct.

The PFU thing? If you guys believe Prince is being juvenile, how juvenile is it to say FUCK YOU to the reason we are all here in the first place?

If folks think Prince is being a jerk, well guess what? a whole lotta people in this world are jerks and aside from the music, why do we give a fuck?

Whether or not Prince is doing something intentionally to his fans remains to be seen. If people are this hurt by him, if they feel personally screwed, then the answer is not in the form of protest on a website. It is in the form of protest with your dollars.

I don't know about y'all but I have serious issues with giving anyone I consider an asshole my hard earned dollars.

I also don't understand the need to act brand new every time Prince does something like this. Is anyone really suprised? How much do you guys think someone is going to want to be disrespected by the very people who claim to love him? How many times is someone going to ask someone to stop doing something before a legal battle happens? Did we think the Org was immune?

Now the fan sites are united? GTFOHTBS. Seriously. It should have been unity across the boards before this. None are better than any others.



For the flipside:


I am deeply disappointed that Prince is doing this, mainly because I have to substain myself with the music of the past because his cuurent work does not inspire me. so, unfortunately, my entertainment is the latest round of cease and desist letters.

I am disappointed that a man who once told me to be free is trying to quash any conversation about him on independent sites. I know Uptown died long ago bu damn.

I feel that this has nothing to do with us as fans as I do not think he cares about us personally at all. In a way, that's cool. He's an artist, we pay for a product and maybe that's the way it should be. Perhaps, he's trying to distance himself from us.


Why is Prince doing this? I don't know. I don't care. Obviously he feels that he doesn't owe any of us an explanation which is really too bad.

Prince... what happened, eh??? Where did you go??


Y'know, a few weeks ago, I went to see Prince's final night at the O2 Arena - one of the most emotional P concerts I've ever attended; the atmosphere was electric - followed by THE most incredible Aftershow. People were already talking about it possibly being the last ever Prince concert. We were so spoiled, I can't begin to tell you how exhilarating the whole night was. It's completely embedded in my mind.


Silly as this may sound, however, standing five foot away from him on the Indigo stage, I looked at him and thought "Y'know - he's just a bloke. A totally inspirational and obscenely talented one but - ultimately - just another bloke". And something changed right there.


It *hasn't* taken me 14 years to realise that, by the way - I've always tried to avoid falling into the Fam Trap - but, being up that close and personal... there's no better way to get behind the mystique.


Don't get me wrong, I am in awe of his talents. I absolutely love his music, he astonishes me with his creativity, it blows my mind how one person can come up with so much. And where does it come from??? DAMN - so many questions. He is still the best live act on the planet. I can't imagine my life without his music (in the same way I adore other artists' output). He has soundtracked the last 14 years of my life. But, pathetic as this sounds, this is one of the saddest days I have known being a Prince fan. You have all said it for me already, and far more eloquently, but I can't believe this is happening. Or understand what he hopes to achieve - apart from alienating the very people who love him most.


Maybe - maybe - in ten, fifteen years' time we'll all look back at this period and completely understand this move. Despite the bizarre approach, we can now look back at the early 90's 'Slave' period and see exactly what Prince was trying to achieve; one look at today's industry and you can understand why Prince had concerns about it back then. (Never mind the fact he was a rich, successful adult musician signing the contract ). So maybe - maybe - in a few years' time, this will all blow over and, yet again, Prince will have made his point. Although whether we agree with the way it was executed or not is another matter. But, right now, I cannot see how this will endear him to anyone bar his lawyers. Fellow musicians will probably just roll their eyes and say 'There he goes again ', the media will be rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of a star of his magnitude in meltdown and the fans will be devastated. Everyone else probably won't give a damn. Okay - you retain control of your imagery and your output - but at what cost?? It's just a sad, sad spectacle.


Prince, you're just a bloke - a fabulously talented, filthily rich, bewildering one at that - but just a bloke. As much as I love you, nobody is entitled to the level of control you seek. Please re-think this move and don't hurt your fans.

I think we need to change the name of this website to "prick.org". Let Prince know that's what we think of him.

psychodelicide said:

Have you seen the Take me with U clip on 3121.com (Prince's official website)?

Brilliant !

Your the best !

statuesqque said:

It is a shame that he would do this to his long time fans. I have been listening since Controversy came out. I went to a concert alone because all of my friends thought he was a complete freak.
You stick by artists because you appreciate their talent and enjoy what they do.
I have little respect for an artist that would forget where he came from.
It seems that if all of this is true then he truly has forgotten where he started and how he got to where he is today.

darrenj said:

I haven't seen it, no.

garganta said:

Please. No one is going to stop listening to Prince's music. If folks truly feel this is personal against fans and if they truly believe he s an asshole, they would vote with their money. Folks are salivating right now over the next leg of the tour.

You know, I used to be a staunch defender of Prince when people would say to me, "You like Prince? How can you like him? He's WEIRD!" Now I'm starting to think that they're right, he is looney.

shanti0608 said:

Lothan said:

Oh, i am. I really haven't been listening to him that much on a personal level anyways. But i am a dj. And as my own little silent protest, not that he'll give two shits, i'm not going to be playing any of his shit. And i'm opening the Me'Shell Ndegeocello and Sharon Jones shows here where i live.

I do agree with you on the point that i think that people are coming in here to vent because they're hurt and angry, and that's all well and good but if they don't
back it up by making a statement and not spending any of their hard earned dollars on Prince, that it won't make a damned bit of difference.

shanti0608 said:

That's my whole view on the situation. I certainly don't think he's doing this for monetary reasons OR even that he hates his fans. He has to understand that viewing and posting a few pictures isn't making anyone any money. I think it's because he doesn't approve or is even ashamed of his former self, and that's just really sad. If he was never what he was then how can he know if he'd be who he is today?

BTW, have the cease & desist letters specifically mentioned the nature of the discussion of the fan sites? I just find that really bewildering if it has. Prince should be thankful that it's just his past and present appreciators on the internet instead of the mainstream tabloid press talking about him on a daily basis.

... and you know what, it's the way of the internet - cut the head off the beast and 10 will grow back in it's place. Don't like fansites posting pics and having certain discussions? Well soon enough it'll be more General forums they'll flock to without your name on it and then they'll be posting all the bootlegs too. Much harder to pinpoint on the web and control.

This is serious post about some serious issues and some self-righteousness.
Seriousness is serious. And we cant let seriousness get too serious or we wont be have any seriousness, or righteousness for that matter.

I wonder how my self-righteous post will look when i post it. Will other people approve of it? Or will it go down in the thread unnoticed by the masses?

I can only say, in all seriousness in this matter of thought-out self-righteous post, that i hope it makes me look, well, self-righteous. And that the masses will feel the wrath of my supiriority while there is a riot going on that im not participating in, but I am participating in should the other side win. Or something.

anyone wishing to get rid of their Prince music or memorobilia, hit me up

Lothan said:

My problem with Prince isn't that he's being juvenile, it's that he's being an ASSHOLE.

Seriously, lady. He is in a position of power, cuz of his money. He could almost certainly get this place shut down. Do the people who run this joint, or provide the servers, have the resources to fight it? We have a community here, and your "child of God" is prepared to ACT like the vengeful god he believes in and reach down from his heaven of fame and fortune and END this place.

What a dick.

He's not why I'm here. He's why I typed "Prince" into a search engine over a decade ago. Today, I'm here because of you, and because of the rest of my friends.

You're right about voting with dollars. He's not getting any more of mine as long as this is his way of being in the world (including the incredibly stupid music he has been releasing).

horatio said:

what

Militant said:

too late, I already called first dibs.

YESSS. Please!

Legally he is entitled to demand the removal of any material that infringes his copyright or any trademarks held

The symbol design would certainly fall into that category under "commissioned artwork"

He can demand to have removed any libellous comments made

Where this starts to get complicated is with photographs

The person who actually took the photograph owns the copyright

Therefore, there may not be a legal mechanism for him to demand their removal

Its worth getting advice on

Any Trading Standards officer in the UK would be able to tell you and it wouldnt cost a penny except the price of the phonecall

What I do find interesting is having checked the european registry of trademarks a US based company, not associated with the artist, holds the trademark for the word "prince" under class 25, specifically t shirts

This could mean that merchandise produced for the last tour could be illegal and an offence under the Trademarks Act

That means all merchandise produced could be deemed to be "counterfeit"

It would certainly make an interesting test case

ButterscotchPimp said:

I am not just saying lawyers...but are you going to tell me that others don't have an effect on him? But..that's just my opinion...But for whatever reason he is doing this..it's a shame..because he is just digging his own grave!

HereToRockYourWorld said:

My problem with Prince right now - and it's a BIG problem - is that he seems to be sending a message the freedom of expression is only "free" to those with enough money to clobber that freedom out of those less privileged.

I have other problems with God's special little purple lamb right now, but that's the biggie.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

I am here because of my friends as well and those friends will be around even if this site goes down.

For years, when stuff Prince used to do would upset me, some of my friends would say; don't worry about it. That's just the way he is. he's a control freak.

I always wanted to know why we all felt like he never had to answer for anything he did.

Now everybody's all in an uproar over this. I don't get it.

Where is CJ when we need her? I wonder what she has to say about all of this mayhem that Prince has created. She probably is having a heyday and laughing her ass off about it.

MoniGram said:

Yeah, there's a topic that can be debated for sure.
You can blame Larry Graham to an extent for the whole JW thing, but again if Prince wasn't already having some sort of spiritual crisis, that whole thing wouldn't have gone down.

I really don't think it's others having an effect on him. I think what it's been over the years is him being completely surrounded by people that tell him what he wants to hear. And as soon as someone has been around long enough to think that he actually does care about them and value their opinion, if they DO speak out and tell him something that he doesn't want to hear, they're gone and replaced in a heartbeat.

Anxiety said:

Yeah, I'm with ya there.

psychodelicide said:

That's the worst part. I've gad to defend this guy like I was his mama. Because I thought that people were being unfair to him.
Now he he is just screwing his fans who have not only supported his ass financialy, but also his image.

And now I gotta go to school and defend his ass some more. Because, I guess Im an idiot, I've in invested to much into him. I'm still trying to keep a good attitude. Even though I am sick at myself for it.
I would at least like an explanation from that waste of server space 3121.com

ToraToraDreams said:

You're not an idiot. You have the right to your opinions on this whole situation too.

So folks, what's the messgae in all this? Maybe he's telling us all to go support some messed up stars like Britney and MJ. People we should be thankful aren't so content and bored of their day to day lives that what's posted about them on the internet is the least of their worries.

Lothan said:

It's because this is about something important.

Not receiving a preorder of Crystal Ball before it hit the malls? Weak.

The YouTube bullshit? Super weak.

The whole Uptown thing? That was totally gross.


But. . .THIS shit actually does threaten the existence of these community sites. A lot of friendships really wouldn't survive the end of these sits. It's a much, much bigger deal. Or, I think so.

And yeah, he's acting like rights only count for those people who can afford to buy them. Fuck that shit. There's something wrong with our legal system if he's able to get away with it.


And he's doing this for what? Who's getting rich off of the org? How is Prince being harmed? If the TRUTH about him weren't so unpleasant in recent years, people wouldn't be telling it! So, that's his damned problem. Except now it's ours.

horatio said:

r u in the usa? if so i call first dibs on uk, europe, japan and australia