CandyCool said:

databank said:

NorthC said:

databank said:

I stopped buying bootlegs when they TOTALLY disappeared from French wreckas stows after police raids in 96. I had maybe 50 at that point. I had just moved from the city I was in high skool where I had fellow Prince fans who were in touch with boots dealers, and the next thing I know u can't find them in stores no more. I managed to find one 97 show once on a trip to Paris in 97 or 98 and that's all after early 96. I would get free cassettes of T's releases from my old pals every once in a while when I'd meet them again and that's it. Then in 2004 I got an internet connection for good and didn't have to worry about it no more.

Yeah, there was a time when it was completely normal for CD shops to sell bootlegs, so Prince's point that he was losing income isn't completely wrong: if you didn't know his music very well and were going through all those CDs, you might end up buying a bootleg without realizing it. My first Jimi Hendrix CD was called Fire. I thought it was an original album. Only when I got home I realized they were live recordings. The record label was called Swinging Pig. I know now that it was a bootleg label, but back then (it was 25 years ago, I was just beginning to collect records), I had no idea.

You make a good point, but usually those bootlegs in shops used to cost $25-$35 for single disc bootlegs and $50+ for double discs. Most casual listeners would not opt for that when most CDs were selling at $10-$18. Not to mention that many of the shops had the bootlegs behind the counter or in a special "import" section further reducing the problem.

djThunderfunk said:

NorthC said:

databank said: Yeah, there was a time when it was completely normal for CD shops to sell bootlegs, so Prince's point that he was losing income isn't completely wrong: if you didn't know his music very well and were going through all those CDs, you might end up buying a bootleg without realizing it. My first Jimi Hendrix CD was called Fire. I thought it was an original album. Only when I got home I realized they were live recordings. The record label was called Swinging Pig. I know now that it was a bootleg label, but back then (it was 25 years ago, I was just beginning to collect records), I had no idea.

You make a good point, but usually those bootlegs in shops used to cost $25-$35 for single disc bootlegs and $50+ for double discs. Most casual listeners would not opt for that when most CDs were selling at $10-$18. Not to mention that many of the shops had the bootlegs behind the counter or in a special "import" section further reducing the problem.

"Imports," huh? That's rich.

FlyOnTheWall said:

djThunderfunk said:

You make a good point, but usually those bootlegs in shops used to cost $25-$35 for single disc bootlegs and $50+ for double discs. Most casual listeners would not opt for that when most CDs were selling at $10-$18. Not to mention that many of the shops had the bootlegs behind the counter or in a special "import" section further reducing the problem.

"Imports," huh? That's rich.

Oh, yes. I used to work in one of these shops. Terminology was drilled into us. Nobody, on either side of the counter, could use the word bootleg. It was always "Import". At some stores it was as shady as buying drugs from a street dealer.

[Edited 1/13/17 11:00am]

djThunderfunk said:

NorthC said:

databank said: Yeah, there was a time when it was completely normal for CD shops to sell bootlegs, so Prince's point that he was losing income isn't completely wrong: if you didn't know his music very well and were going through all those CDs, you might end up buying a bootleg without realizing it. My first Jimi Hendrix CD was called Fire. I thought it was an original album. Only when I got home I realized they were live recordings. The record label was called Swinging Pig. I know now that it was a bootleg label, but back then (it was 25 years ago, I was just beginning to collect records), I had no idea.

You make a good point, but usually those bootlegs in shops used to cost $25-$35 for single disc bootlegs and $50+ for double discs. Most casual listeners would not opt for that when most CDs were selling at $10-$18. Not to mention that many of the shops had the bootlegs behind the counter or in a special "import" section further reducing the problem.

It's certain that the bootleg explosion of 1993-1995 was becoming a threat to the music industry: bootlegs as a black market are one thing, bootlegs being in mass in every record store, including the mainstream stores, as if they were regular releases becomes plain piracy and a dangerous competition given that indeed, a lot of customers aren't necessarily aware of what's what. I remember even seeing one record store selling only bootlegs in a holiday beach resort in Summer 94! The music industry had to react and they did. I remember that in 91-92 when I first discovered boots, they were usually only available in speciality stores, where people knew what they were purchasing. Then the next thing you know they're everywhere. God those were the days of wild

databank said:

FlyOnTheWall said:

CandyCool said:

I saw some P bootlegs in a very well known store in London UK just last summer. Sure it didn't fill the place but there were plenty in there....

Prince bootlegs were always turning up in regular retail stores, right throughout his career.
But Prince was actively courting the black market with The Black Album having got funky with the remix and promo markets during Sign O The Times. He wanted to be funky across the entire spectrum of music and marketing culture and in this case it worked because when he withdrew The Black Album when it already was in promo copies, there was a humour in that which he expected to be appreciated by retailers. It was and they then saw Prince as somebody whose genius had straddled the black market and artfully played with the legalities of promos (which are not for sale). There's no doubt that the unusual marketing was odd enough not to have been of Warners' devising and since Prince was directing every aspect of his 'offer' from instrumentation through choreography and even sound mixing at venues, there was definitely some kind of 'in the know' thing about selling dubious Prince items blatantly in retail shops.

This was even influential, I'd say. The mixtapes market opened up shortly afterwards in hip hop circles and artists consciously wanted tapes 'under the counter' as The Black Album had been.

Dis anybody else here get their initial cassette of TBA at a retail store by asking about it?
I know I did. Didn't come from no 'bootlegger'

XSX said:

CandyCool said:

I saw some P bootlegs in a very well known store in London UK just last summer. Sure it didn't fill the place but there were plenty in there....

Prince bootlegs were always turning up in regular retail stores, right throughout his career.
But Prince was actively courting the black market with The Black Album having got funky with the remix and promo markets during Sign O The Times. He wanted to be funky across the entire spectrum of music and marketing culture and in this case it worked because when he withdrew The Black Album when it already was in promo copies, there was a humour in that which he expected to be appreciated by retailers. It was and they then saw Prince as somebody whose genius had straddled the black market and artfully played with the legalities of promos (which are not for sale). There's no doubt that the unusual marketing was odd enough not to have been of Warners' devising and since Prince was directing every aspect of his 'offer' from instrumentation through choreography and even sound mixing at venues, there was definitely some kind of 'in the know' thing about selling dubious Prince items blatantly in retail shops.

This was even influential, I'd say. The mixtapes market opened up shortly afterwards in hip hop circles and artists consciously wanted tapes 'under the counter' as The Black Album had been.

Dis anybody else here get their initial cassette of TBA at a retail store by asking about it?
I know I did. Didn't come from no 'bootlegger'

It looks like you are among those few fans who believe the whole TBA fiasco was some sort of marketing ploy from Prince. While he certainly was smart enough to take advantage of, and build on the TBA mythos from 1988 on, it was nothing of the sort: the story happened as it was told.

djThunderfunk said:

FlyOnTheWall said:

"Imports," huh? That's rich.

Oh, yes. I used to work in one of these shops. Terminology was drilled into us. Nobody, on either side of the counter, could use the word bootleg. It was always "Import". At some stores it was as shady as buying drugs from a street dealer.

[Edited 1/13/17 11:00am]

Wow.

paid $60 for Return Of The Bumpsquad boot from Cyberseekers