People can put out whatever music they want. As far as the Prince "brand", I want Prince music not some sound alike wannabe johnny come lately.

I guess Prince was wrong, they don't dig you better dead...

I like Janelle but that single just comes across as a lame pastiche.

I like the idea of people being inspired by Prince and putting their own original spin on his sound and style. With that said, I don't know how I feel about the idea of branding it as some sort of official off-shoot of Prince and his estate. Prince was Prince, and nobody has to assume that identity in order to pay tribute to the man and his music. But other than that, I'd absolutely love to hear more artists come together and create something with the funk and spirit that made Prince so great

mbdtyler said:

mbdtyler said:

I like the idea of people being inspired by Prince and putting their own original spin on his sound and style. With that said, I don't know how I feel about the idea of branding it as some sort of official off-shoot of Prince and his estate. Prince was Prince, and nobody has to assume that identity in order to pay tribute to the man and his music. But other than that, I'd absolutely love to hear more artists come together and create something with the funk and spirit that made Prince so great

And the thing is, that happens a lot. People shit on Bruno Mars, but 24K Magic harkens to Prince, the 80s, and 90s R&B scene. D'angelo certainly takes a nod from Prince. It's clear Janelle Monáe's new record is going to have Prince on it and is influenced by him. Sterling Simms channeled Prince on stuff like "Nasty Girl" in the past. The list goes on.

But to brand some random group or artist under some Prince-estate blessed act is ridiculous. That doesn't extend his legacy, it would cheapen it. The Beatles, KISS, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and the like have never done that. For a reason.

Nightcrawler said:

When I heard the brilliant, and very Prince-influenced, new Janelle Monáe Single "Make Me Feel" today, I had a crazy idea. I want to share it, because somehow it made me feel good (I have to say I had no idea that apparently Prince was involved in the creation of that song until some minutes ago). Here it is: What if the brand "Prince" would be used to put out new albums (let's say: one per year). No, I don't mean vault music by the man himself (which of course I want to hear, too), I mean original, new music that Prince wasn't involved in, but that is created using everything that makes Prince-music great. That sounds like Prince could have sounded if he was still around and evolving. You know, like great fictional characters (for instance cartoon characters/superheroes) can continue to live and even evolve once their creators have passed away, the brand "Prince" could be managed by a team of people who really understand what our favourite artist was all about (including former collaborators) and new projects could be conceived creating original art and albums - and music. The artists behind the projects wouldn't be featured prominently. They would have to follow a set of "Prince"-rules closely guarded by the brand managers (like "real music by real musicians" etc.) and the new "Prince"-Projects would have to continue his legacy without becoming a tribute-act. Don't burn me for this idea - I'm realistic enough to think of the many obstacles this would involve. But this idea got me thinking enough to write this post. What do you think?

What you are describing is basically an estate-sanctioned series of tribute albums and hell, why not? However, I fail to see the point in confusing listeners by titling the albums under the "Prince" brand in the way you seem to suggest. I think something like "Official Prince Tributes Series" or something like that would be enough. That could be a way for the estate to attract newer listeners to P's music by featuring younger acts they're fans of, so it's not necessarily a bad idea.

Let's avoid that "real music by real musicians" conservative BS, though

OperatingThetan said:

NewYorkCity said:

I guess Prince was wrong, they don't dig you better dead...

makes you say that? he's gotten many tributes on big stages i think the world is aware they lost something majestic but i don't think any of us will know just how much we lost until we have some time to hear what's in the vault. Also, Prince was a legend, a respected one at his time of death unlike the other stars in his league, both michael and elvis were unmitigated jokes at the time of their deaths which of course reversed soon after. prince will be fine in the history books.

This just has to be a no.