XNY said:

i'm not a naysayer - i just say what's on my mind, and i ain't a horse.

to continue with my example, i'd totally go see prince if donald trump hired him to play banjo in a dildo emporium. could you just imagine the merch table???

Anxiety said:

Serious question here...

If someone told you that 5 years ago, what would you have thought and/or said?

SexyBeautifulOne said:

i would have thought it was a fake rumor, and when i heard it was true i'd probably feel bad for prince because 5 years ago, this seems like the kind of compromise that he would have turned his nose up at. of course, in some ways "selling out" like this is just fine. it's not much different than selling a song to a car company to advertise SUVs. but damn. an airplane hangar? kc and the sunshine band? oh, prince. prince, prince, prince....

XNY said:

I couldn't agree with you more even if I tried.

Listen,
I can't stand when prince sells out like this, its just so not 'him' But the guy is near enough 50, He wont be able to sell out huge stadiums for much longer, so he needs to make as much $$$ to keep PP and his recording going.. come'on do U reckon he will wanna sell PP in a few years just because he didn't have the $$ to keep it running?!

andykeen said:

what did he do with all that O2 money? with the musicology tour money? with the 3121 vegas money and all those expensive-ass tickets? and so on and so forth!

i guess i like him better when he's playing the pimp than when he's playing the call girl.

cha know, when i worked for sbc they used to hire big names to entertain us during conventions and award trips and it always felt icky to me...i never enjoyed the show cause it always felt like i was at a zoo watching a caged animal.

Anxiety said:

Thanks for answering, Anx! I'd have had a similar reaction and I guess that's why I'm so perplexed.

Prince has made a very successful career by being uncompromising, why the sudden 180?

Yeah, I know, people change but they don't change their principles...at least not without a catalyst...they don't!

I just want it documented that somebody was paying attention. Somebody knew something was WRONG and somebody tried to alert the masses.

Anxiety said:

That's what I want to know! It's not like he needs the money...that I could understand! It's like he's hard up or something and that's so un-Prince Rogers Nelson like...it's spooky!

I'm not an economist, [and not being in the US, I don't know anything about kc, the sunshine band and Jeffrey Soffer], so sorry if this sounds a naive question, but isn't there such a thing as market prices?

A concert by Prince at the O2 Arena in London costs 31.21 pounds, a performance by Prince at a private party costs $2 million [for ex.], a private concert by a little known artist costs between $xx and $xx, and a concert by a world famous one costs 10-20 times more. Does that make any sense?
And there is such a thing as the 'elite market'. Here in Moscow there is the annual Millionaires' Fair showcasing luxury goods and services in various sectors and which is open to the public. I could walk around there for hours whining about how unfair and disgusting it all is. But then, there is a market for it.

No matter how cold and calculating it sounds, music is a business, therefore its participants play by the economic rules of that business. And no matter how romantic or spiritual some of Prince's ballads and thoughtful lyrics are, he too has to play by those rules. And I don't think it would make any sense, economic as well as image-wise, for him to cheapen himself by not aksing for fees in the top range - when he is charging someone in the elite market.

As for the moral aspect of participating in the economy of his business sphere in the most profitable way he can, that I think is a question of a personal order: something that's between himself and his conscience.

Flo6 said:

That's the problem!!! For 2 and a half decades...Prince has never HAD TO play by those rules!!! It doesn't seem rather strange to you that NOW...at the highest point of his career excluding the Purple Rain era...that he's suddenly so accommodating at playing by somebody else's rules?
[Edited 12/18/07 21:10pm]

Flo6 said:

Well said....very well said. We need to take our emotions out of it and understand that at the end of the day it is a business. Prince never does anything without an underlying reason to do it. It makes business and economic sense. Prince is impulsive, he's a Gemini. You know, Prince being the incredibly gifted artist that he is, is on a totally different level, not saying he's greater or better than us. Prince is going to do what Prince wants to do and Prince is going to be just fine. He does everything for a reason whether it makes sense to us or not. Prince is going to be Prince.

Another comment I'd like to add is that we can only see from the outside looking in. This may lead to an incredible business venture, a movie etc. We don't know the business negotiations that have gone on prior to doing this or the behind the scenes if you will.

We can only analyze and make our assessments. Prince is not soft or weak. He's not a sell out and he certainly does not have to prove anything to anyone.

Oh Bennnnn! Please tell me that there's a way for you to keep these pages even in the event that prince.org as it is ceases to exist! When my "I told you so!" moment hits and unfortunately...it will...I'm going to need proof...that I did call it!

Clevelandgirl said:

so, prince can sign another CONtract and we are supposed to ignore the SLAVE's plea ehhh?

He doesn't do commercials and whore himself like other celebrities...

He loves his music and I can only imagine he has some pretty big bills to pay.
So I support his business decisions...

I don't understand why some of you have your panties in a bunch...

Prince if you come to NY for a show I could come up with $300 to see you perform...
[Edited 12/19/07 12:38pm]

Just goes to show how much his fan-base has shrunk lately.
Hopefully he can at least get out of the hangars and back into some small clubs next year sometime.

Anxiety said:

Maybe his divorce has been rather expensive ?

Snap said:

I bet that 'hangar' looked amazing though, by the time they did it all up!

You can't excuse away reality (LOL) Yes, a musician performing for a living. That is the reality.
-----

SexyBeautifulOne said:

exploiting your own music for as a clown for some bajillionares birthday part

-----
So performing your music is exploiting it and if you have money your a clown.

Please explain your logic.
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TheJourney4all7 said:

A lot of performers are doing drugs, beating the shit out of women and abusing little kids too

I don't see what any of that has to do with performing music Kind of a wild comparision.
-----
"I'm upset because he's gone from a phenomenal musical genius to what equates as a peddling musical whore in just the last 4 years of a fabulously illustrious career and only a few seem to be able to see that for what it is...ODD AS HELL! "

I still think he is a musical genius and I am sure most of the music world still
thinks so as well. In addtion, we have no idea what is going on with his finances. Maybe the divorice ripped a hole in his pocket or maybe he enjoys doing these small gigs.

SexyBeautifulOne said:

Where have you been? Prince has signed a few contracts over the last 10 years.
You really don't have a chance at distrubing your music and marketing without a label. At least we know P does not have the no how to do it from the CB disaster.

I think he gave being independent a good try and now he is trying to use labels for distrubution and marketing in one off deals.

I think some of you should get over the slave (business) and move on.

-----

sosgemini said:

pplrain said:

See Target, Corvette and Verizon commercials....or whoring yourself for a millionaire...the b*tch played 1999...a song he said he would never play again. ;nuts:

might as well be taking it up the arse on stage.

laurarichardson said:

prince failed? while other's have not.

I think you should go apply for a job at Paisley Park or at least admit you've already got one and move on!

You go through damn near every single post trying to do damage control...why is that?

laurarichardson said:

Anxiety said:

Have you seen some airplane hangars? I am sure this was a private hangar for corporate jets. I worked at Atlantic Aviation in Chicago and there were many events that took place in the hangars. A few radio stations in Chicago had concerts in the hangars for listeners.

Kind of wild comparison, nothing! You're the one that said he's only doing what lots of performers do. I'm just hoping he hasn't become that big of a follower.

laurarichardson said:

prince playing at birthdays? what is he, shah rukh khan?

Funkyalien said:

lol, im not the only desi in this thread then

i dont know why this is such a god damn big deal.

boo hoo Prince played a gig and made some money.