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Slave Trade: How Prince Re-Made The Music Business I hadn't seen this documentary before. Basically chronicles his career from the early 90s up until 3EG. Interviews with Alan Leeds, Sonny T., Michael Bland, Marva King and some journalists I'm not that familiar with. Overall I thought it was decent, though at one point someone would talk about how great an album was musically but the next guy would say the quality of the music wasn't there. Well which is it?
I was also a bit annoyed how they portrayed the mid to late 2000s as basically all about money. The fact is Prince was an amazing live performer and loved performing live. He knew live music is where it's at and that the fans coming to the shows want to hear the hits. If Coachella is going to offer him a big fat pile of money to play there he'd be a fool not to do it. Also I'm hard pressed to find many live shows where he was just going through the motions to collect a paycheck. I don't think the same can be said for some other artists trading off their hits. Most of his live shows got rave reviews with many saying it was the best concert they'd ever been to. Thankfully Michael Bland kind of made this point to end the program. [Edited 2/19/17 4:28am] Paisley Park is in your heart
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I started watching this last night ... and watched the whole thing ... (didnt plan on it actually had a dvd i was going to watch ) .
I was especially surprised ... when it showed the Today show ... 1998 , to almost get a glimpse of myself (my wife was featured in one angle where it showed prince's interview- i was standing next to her and just cut off ) .
I thought it was worth the watch (and i am pretty critical of the Prince stuff i have seen ) . I too was alittle frustrated with some of the "album comments" but hey - its Prince and I am always fascinated with people on this forum who think "lotusflower" is the best prince album ever - - - and those who say it sucks bad .... Colonel Angus may be smelly. colonel angus may be a little rough . but deep down ... Colonel angus is very sweet. | |
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ColAngus said: I started watching this last night ... and watched the whole thing ... (didnt plan on it actually had a dvd i was going to watch ) .
I was especially surprised ... when it showed the Today show ... 1998 , to almost get a glimpse of myself (my wife was featured in one angle where it showed prince's interview- i was standing next to her and just cut off ) .
I thought it was worth the watch (and i am pretty critical of the Prince stuff i have seen ) . I too was alittle frustrated with some of the "album comments" but hey - its Prince and I am always fascinated with people on this forum who think "lotusflower" is the best prince album ever - - - and those who say it sucks bad .... Yep. Honestly what bothered me more was the general tone of Musicology forward being all about money. Sure they pointed out things that were successful but the general theme was it was all about money. So the guy gets criticized when he's doing unconventional things that might not be commercially successful but when he does things that are more conventional (and successful) it's spun as being all about money. I've watched Coachella several times. On the Coachella website message board many have said it was one of the best performances they'd ever seen there. But the only thing this documentary focused on was that he allegedly got millions to play there? Who cares if the show is good and people felt they got their money's worth? Paisley Park is in your heart
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I've been wanting to see this! Where is it showing? | |
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The documentary covered the business side of Prince's activities--how he was going to get his vast musical offerings out to the public, and how he could find ways to remain financially solvent as an independent. It did a nice job of that. Some critics viewed the quality of Prince's projects differently in the process, but, eh, what are you going to do with the critics? That part was just like here on the Org. Love this doc--it is looong! | |
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rogifan said: ColAngus said: I started watching this last night ... and watched the whole thing ... (didnt plan on it actually had a dvd i was going to watch ) .
I was especially surprised ... when it showed the Today show ... 1998 , to almost get a glimpse of myself (my wife was featured in one angle where it showed prince's interview- i was standing next to her and just cut off ) .
I thought it was worth the watch (and i am pretty critical of the Prince stuff i have seen ) . I too was alittle frustrated with some of the "album comments" but hey - its Prince and I am always fascinated with people on this forum who think "lotusflower" is the best prince album ever - - - and those who say it sucks bad .... Yep. Honestly what bothered me more was the general tone of Musicology forward being all about money. Sure they pointed out things that were successful but the general theme was it was all about money. So the guy gets criticized when he's doing unconventional things that might not be commercially successful but when he does things that are more conventional (and successful) it's spun as being all about money. I've watched Coachella several times. On the Coachella website message board many have said it was one of the best performances they'd ever seen there. But the only thing this documentary focused on was that he allegedly got millions to play there? Who cares if the show is good and people felt they got their money's worth? --I don't understand why it bothered people when he was getting all that money he put in great shows and he was working independly how was he suppose to bankroll his projects if he did not get paid. | |
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Prince earned what he was paid...
Plus Coachella made more $$ because Prince appeared. [Edited 2/19/17 11:55am] | |
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Exactly!
I saw this over the summer and as I watched I thought to myself that even now artists and fans and nonfans who remember him writing slave on his face or whatever had lil to no idea how he'd impact the way artists's rights and payment will be handled...how much he changed things, how much their laughing/snickering will be nothing compared to his foresight about the industry as a whole and what's happeing right now that he saw and fought against back then to the detriment of his own career and fortune.
P really was a mythical creature...like a purple unicorn or something.
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I think that certain elements of his career were mythical, indeed--the whole mystique thing. But as far as his stance toward the music business is concerned, that was purely heroic and real.
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laurarichardson said: rogifan said: Yep. Honestly what bothered me more was the general tone of Musicology forward being all about money. Sure they pointed out things that were successful but the general theme was it was all about money. So the guy gets criticized when he's doing unconventional things that might not be commercially successful but when he does things that are more conventional (and successful) it's spun as being all about money. I've watched Coachella several times. On the Coachella website message board many have said it was one of the best performances they'd ever seen there. But the only thing this documentary focused on was that he allegedly got millions to play there? Who cares if the show is good and people felt they got their money's worth? --I don't understand why it bothered people when he was getting all that money he put in great shows and he was working independly how was he suppose to bankroll his projects if he did not get paid. Bottom line is he wouldn't have been making that kind of money if people didn't want to see him live. He had to deliver the goods. And he did time and time again. No one on this program criticized his live performances; they just painted him as some sort of sellout for playing the hits and making big money. Maybe that argument would hold water if his life performances were just perfunctory but we all know that's not true. I'm sure he got paid well to play SXSW but he performed for nearly 3 hours. When he played the Palladium in LA in 2014 I think the show lasted nearly 4 hours. People who shows up to a Prince show got their money's worth for sure. He wasn't selling out he was doing what he loved which included playing the hits. Paisley Park is in your heart
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Germanegro said:
I think that certain elements of his career were mythical, indeed--the whole mystique thing. But as far as his stance toward the music business is concerned, that was purely heroic and real.
Agree with you both^^ | |
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I can't remember what television performance it was or what show, but I distinctly remember Prince (this was during the 'slave' on the face time) saying at the end of a song to "Free TLC.' He wasn't only fighting for his own music career, he was fighting for everyone's musical career. At that time, TLC had the highest selling album of the previous year and they had to file bankruptcy. They were broke. Because of a bad CONtract. WTH? Prince knew of their troubles with their label/management/CONtract and he went to bat for them. He certainly changed how the business end of things were/are done. Today's artists need to recognize! | |
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It's one of the better documentaries, it's not that bad. ! I like that it discusses in depth his battle with WB, and gave him credit for what many people don't even know he accomplished and set in stone. i think i want ya | |
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Yup.
I like how they also acknowledge that P was ahead of his time in terms of business ideas like selling on the Internet and such. | |
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