There's a nice three page article about Prince in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly.

Some highlights:

[On Josh] "I don't need to be any more famous. I want you to write about Josh, so that one day when he's producing Beyonce's next record you can say, "I was on that"

While listening to the new album, he runs out of the room when certain lyric comes up ("I forgot about that part," he murmurs sheepishly when he returns.)

He brings up the movie Lucy.

[On Warner] "It's just a business relationship, clean and transparent," he says. "And I got my stuff back." But why, he wants to know, is there still a need for labels at all "They're outmoded. Why do they get to take your work and take a piece of that? I'm not mad. They're not bad people. I've known some of them for more than half my life. But the system is old and it doesn't work anymore. It's the past."

"Part of the reason he doesn't like his interviews to be recorded, he says, is that like most people, he changes his mind. "Remember what I said about the internet?" he asks, pulling a wry face."

Prince on his favorite artists now: Joni Mitchell, Erykah Badu, Kendrick Lamar, Esperanza Spalding, Beyonce, Janelle Monae, BØRNS, Rita Ora, Willow Smith and Tori Kelly.

It's a pretty good article and Prince seemed happy & human in it.

TrevorAyer said:

thedoorkeeper said:

Enjoyed the last bit of the story when Prince rides his bicycle into the sunset.

It really sounds great, that image in my head put a smile uopn my face.

I really mean it.

TrevorAyer said:

Well ... When p had wb he could afford a great band, great collaborators .. Great tours .. A great movie .. There was distribution .. Promotion .. And the all important QUALITY CONTROL ... Without wb, for you would have bombed and p would be working at mcdonalds .. Nor would he be in any position to release the rubbish he currently releases sans wb .. So that might qualify as the need for a label

You are absolutely correct.Prince keeps dissing big record companies,but he forgets all of the good things that Warners did for him.They promoted him aggressively in the 80s,helping him expand his audience,get MTV exposure,etc.They spoiled him,invested in his own record company and some of his 'flop' protege acts.They invested in 'UTCM' and 'Graffiti Bridge' Prince would not have been able to do any of these things without Warner Bros.' help and money.Imagine if Prince had entered the music business in 1978 as an "independent artist" with no record deal from a major company.He would still be in Minneapolis,doing weekly shows at First Avenue....lol

He mentions Beyonce in this interview.He should ask himself...would she be as 'big' as she is without the help of a major record company?

Is this interview online?

SoulAlive said:

Strive said:

"Part of the reason he doesn't like his interviews to be recorded, he says, is that like most people, he changes his mind. "Remember what I said about the internet?" he asks, pulling a wry face."

It's a pretty good article and Prince seemed happy & human in it.

It's cool that Prince actually admits here that he changes his mind (like we didn't know ).

He even seems a little red-faced about his comments on the internet.

Good to see he's able to admit his own foibles. Makes him more human and relatable.

I think he's right about record labels being a dinosaur from another age. The music industry is still flummoxed by the tech industry.


So, the tech sector has driven down the value of content....i really believe the music industry has to come at the tech sector in a way that makes them value the music business as much as they value their own business. I really belive thats where one of the basic fundamental problems lie.

The tech sector isnt driving down the value of their OWN products. In fact they overinflate the value of what they produce with the help of wall street and the VC community.

Eventually I see a huge government intervention somehow - look at other predatory tech businesses like uber etc .....

Tech has pillaged copyright and intellectual property and has almost suffered no repercussions at all. Its all been directed at the consumers. Interestingly enough.

jdcxc said:

SoulAlive said:

He mentions Beyonce in this interview.He should ask himself...would she be as 'big' as she is without the help of a major record company?

Why are some of you so invested in supporting big multinational record companies?

I'm just saying that,big record companies do alot for many of these superstar artists.Do you think that Beyonce and Taylor Swift would be as popular as they are without the help of these big companies? I don't think so.

Being an "independent artist" sounds good in theory,but even Prince utilizes these big record companies for help with distribution and marketing.

SoulAlive said:

jdcxc said:

SoulAlive said: Why are some of you so invested in supporting big multinational record companies?

I'm just saying that,big record companies do alot for many of these superstar artists.Do you think that Beyonce and Taylor Swift would be as popular as they are without the help of these big companies? I don't think so.

Being an "independent artist" sounds good in theory,but even Prince utilizes these big record companies for help with distribution and marketing.

I would bet that beyonce, taylor and gwyneth all have the same PR firm. There is and identical strategy there that involves a HUGE monthly PR spend.

Miles said:

Strive said:

"Part of the reason he doesn't like his interviews to be recorded, he says, is that like most people, he changes his mind. "Remember what I said about the internet?" he asks, pulling a wry face."

It's a pretty good article and Prince seemed happy & human in it.

It's cool that Prince actually admits here that he changes his mind (like we didn't know ).

He even seems a little red-faced about his comments on the internet.

Good to see he's able to admit his own foibles. Makes him more human and relatable.

but that is a silly reason to not want to be recorded. he said it or he did not say it... once it is in print he said it. So he changed his mind or the situation changed. I would say the internet is still NOT quiet there in terms of music. One issue is illegal stuff and the other is it is still a little wonkey on the legal stuff. Same with movies and other entertainment.

and by that I am saying it is just getting started.... and as soon as one way gets set some new means gets created. So the whole thing is chacing its own tail so to speak. And we have not seen anything yet.

This is pretty much what I thought the situation was, he doesn't need to be famous, he's happy guiding new talent, he doesn't think his legacy needs maintenance and approval from older crusty obsessed fans.

TrevorAyer said:

Well ... When p had wb he could afford a great band, great collaborators .. Great tours .. A great movie .. There was distribution .. Promotion .. And the all important QUALITY CONTROL ... Without wb, for you would have bombed and p would be working at mcdonalds .. Nor would he be in any position to release the rubbish he currently releases sans wb .. So that might qualify as the need for a label

Didn't we get Jughead when he was at WB? And all that Tony M shit?

Rita Ora is ordinary, pure, corporate shit Prince.

TheEnglishGent said:

TrevorAyer said:

Well ... When p had wb he could afford a great band, great collaborators .. Great tours .. A great movie .. There was distribution .. Promotion .. And the all important QUALITY CONTROL ... Without wb, for you would have bombed and p would be working at mcdonalds .. Nor would he be in any position to release the rubbish he currently releases sans wb .. So that might qualify as the need for a label

Didn't we get Jughead when he was at WB? And all that Tony M shit?

that was in that time when CDs were becoming the standard and as they held 70 t0 80 minutes of music and many acts felt obligated to fill that space. So now they had to make nearly twice as much material as before so it there was filler... and with acts that had 30 mins of filler on a 40 min album were really in trouble... so even for prince there was space to fill. So we got Jughead and the segues and other filler.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

TheEnglishGent said:

Didn't we get Jughead when he was at WB? And all that Tony M shit?

that was in that time when CDs were becoming the standard and as they held 70 t0 80 minutes of music and many acts felt obligated to fill that space. So now they had to make nearly twice as much material as before so it there was filler... and with acts that had 30 mins of filler on a 40 min album were really in trouble... so even for prince there was space to fill. So we got Jughead and the segues and other filler.

I've not listened to D&P all the way through since 1992. I did spend a year listening in heavy rotation and loved it at the time but i couldn't face doing it again. I'm not sure i truly love a single track on it now.

There's not a song on it that would make my top 20 Prince songs anyway.

Marrk said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

that was in that time when CDs were becoming the standard and as they held 70 t0 80 minutes of music and many acts felt obligated to fill that space. So now they had to make nearly twice as much material as before so it there was filler... and with acts that had 30 mins of filler on a 40 min album were really in trouble... so even for prince there was space to fill. So we got Jughead and the segues and other filler.

I've not listened to D&P all the way through since 1992. I did spend a year listening in heavy rotation and loved it at the time but i couldn't face doing it again. I'm not sure i truly love a single track on it now.

There's not a song on it that would make my top 20 Prince songs anyway.

some of that is due to being able to skip songs. that too is part of how music is changing.

But I think as more and more acts relize the models are all out dates (such a weird al) they will break away from lables and more to direct sales.... I though Prince would have been there some 10 or even 15 years ago. Really by 2000 he should have been selling direct all his new music. (I think WB still owned most of the vault as I was told by people inside PP that he charged WB for studio time so they had a claim on the songs)....

Aerogram said:

This is pretty much what I thought the situation was, he doesn't need to be famous, he's happy guiding new talent, he doesn't think his legacy needs maintenance and approval from older crusty obsessed fans.

Who are you calling crusty?

He's getting good press from and for this album so yea

[Edited 9/5/15 18:57pm]

Prince will kill Josh's career too! "dearly beloved, we are gathered he today..to remember the careers I have killed!

• Tamar
• Jill Jones
• Chaka Khan
• Ingrid Chavez
• Nona Gaye
• Bria Valente

avasdad said:

Prince will kill Josh's career too! "dearly beloved, we are gathered he today..to remember the careers I have killed!

• Tamar
• Jill Jones
• Chaka Khan
• Ingrid Chavez
• Nona Gaye
• Bria Valente

Aside from Chaka Khan, did any of those people really have lucrative careers before Prince? So I don't know how much promise was there anyway.