http://www.telegraph.co.u...nce119.xml

Prince's idea of giving away his latest release is not as eccentric as it first appears, writes Neil McCormick

Did you know the Prince album given away with last week's Mail on Sunday was his 46th official release? Even given that it includes compilations (five) and live sets (two), that is a lot of albums - almost two a year since 1978. And some of them are doubles.

Prince - gave away his latest album with the Mail on Sunday
Prince: the smartest-working man in Pop?

There surely comes a point when the world doesn't really need another album by any artist, a notion sales figures certainly bear out. Elton John, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones are quantifiable superstars enjoying some of the best reviews of their long careers and regularly touring to sold-out stadiums, but their latterday albums only graze the upper reaches of the charts, and singles vanish without trace. The artist may feel compelled to keep creating, but for most fans even the greatest musicians are defined by a few classics and a hits compilation.

Nearly 20 million people worldwide bought Purple Rain in 1984, when Prince's intoxicating, eccentric mix of rock and funk sounded like the future of music. By 2001 the fan base willing to shell out for Rainbow Children was a hardcore 300,000. UK sales of last year's heavily promoted 3121 were just 80,000.

Mind you, at least that's 80,000 who actually wanted to listen to it, not just newspaper subscribers who might stick it on in the background while reading about the Beckham's latest adventures in Hollywood. When the market is saturated with something, people tend to say "you can't give it away". But the Mail on Sunday's distribution of three million copies of Prince's Planet Earth suggests otherwise.

Whatever the Mail's traditionally reactionary readership made of this association with a cross-dressing musical satyr who conflates sex and God into a highly personal mythology of erotic spirituality, the music business was certainly not amused. SonyBMG, the label scheduled to release the record, cancelled its commercial release. Record stores threatened to remove Prince's back catalogue: "The Artist formerly known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores," said Paul Quirk, co-chairman of the Entertainment Retailers Association.
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Prince was accused of "devaluing music". Yet he himself simply called it "direct marketing", with a view to promoting his upcoming 21 shows at London's O2 arena. The newspaper paid a rumoured £300,000 for the album, which is more than any advance Prince would receive from a record company given his current sales profile. He has also been giving away CDs to everyone who buys a live ticket. Fifteen shows have sold out. If the remaining six follow suit, the concert series will gross almost £15 million.

And that's before merchandising is factored in. Not a bad haul for someone who is devaluing music.

What Prince is doing is not really so different from U2 linking up with Apple to promote their 2004 hit Vertigo, or Paul McCartney releasing his latest album through Starbucks. The reality for most musicians, veteran or otherwise, is that pop radio won't playlist them, so they have to use a little imagination to get the message out.

Last month, London band the Crimea (recently dropped from WEA despite being hugely creative and critically lauded) opted to make their excellent new album, Secrets of the Witching Hour, available free on the internet (http://snipurl.com/crimea). More than 53,000 fans have downloaded it at the time of writing, with the counter still ticking over. The payback is that their recent tour has been their best attended and most profitable.

And this is what the music business is really worried about: the spectre of free music. CD album sales are declining, down 9 per cent in the UK so far this year and 20 per cent in America, but legal downloads are not taking up the slack. According to a recent US survey, last year fans acquired more than half their music from unpaid sources, whether that be illegal downloads, free downloads from promotional and networking sites, or covermounts stuck to the front of magazines and newspapers.

But everybody knows you can't really get something for nothing. This is an advertising-led model of music distribution, paid for exactly the same way we pay for commercial TV - by exposure to messages from sponsors.

And if Prince can make the Mail on Sunday seem funky, I expect we shall see a lot more of the same. Even after 46 albums of drifting focus and steadily declining sales, it seems the royal badass might still be capable of shaping the future of music after all.

Prince, U2 and McCartney....old fogies trying to squeeze out the last couple of dimes from their former glory.

Sad....as if they millions they get from touring and back catalog is not enough. God forbid they would try to just make some great music and earn their money through sales and not shilling for big media, big tech and coffee.

emesem said:

May I ask again... Who in the hell is gonna even know the album is good enough to buy if it's not placed in their laps, considering the current state of affairs in the music industry??

This article is right on! This guy gets it!

It used to be that tours were a way of selling albums, but now it's the other way around: albums are a way of selling tours. And that's where you make the money -- selling tickets and merchandise. The more you can promote yourself -- God forbid make your music available for free! even if it might be the next Purple Rain -- the more people will want to check you out, buy tickets, merchandise, and your back catalogue.

Prince ain't trying to squeeze dimes out of his former glory. Have you seen him perform live? He'll give anyone MORE than their money's worth. He's as exciting to watch now than he was 20+ years ago. So then, what's wrong with giving away music to get people to come to your shows? People gonna have a good time, and that's a promise you can take to the bank, literally.
[Edited 7/18/07 23:21pm]

emesem said:

that's the point, no matter how great the music is the general audience really isn't interested in it anymore. popular music is for teens, and teens ain't into old folks. Prince knows this, and knows the money isn't in record sales it is in concerts. it doesn't matter how great or bad his music is, it will sell the same no matter what, save for a couple of thousand copies.

guess what, the rest of the world isn't waiting for a great Prince album. they simply don't care. but they know he rips the shows, and are more willing to drop a couple of bills to see him live, where his real star shines, than buy a $10 album, regardless of whether they would like it or not.

Prince is a marketing genius.

asg said:

Actually this is Prince's 61st album, counting compilations and his own side projects. And this doesn't count Tamar's album or any of the other canceled projects. If you don't count side projects, then it's 37.

But I don't fault the writer or the paper, as I don't think many Prince fans would even guess "46".

Hell, I wouldn't have gotten it right except I looked it up.

And at least 4 of these albums are still debatable with regard to their inclusion as "side projects".

But that would still make the number 57.

The guy's been busy.

"Everybody says nothing comes too easy, but when you've got it baby, nothing comes to hard". People underestimate just how smart Prince really is, I've never understood that. But he can show them better than he can tell them!

emesem said:

Thou doest protest too much or something like that. Just because u get old doesn't mean don't want to be heard. All these old fogey still work hard creating new music so why wouldn't they want people to hear it. Are u thick?

I say good for him!

Now bring back the NPGMC and all will be happy.

Amen.

emesem said:

Seriously, I kind of have to wonder how crappy your day must be going to look it this so pessimistically. Prince got his album into his fans hands (plus a lot of non-fan hands) for virtually nothing. And he made a mint off it, ensuring he can continue to tour and make music in general. How on earth could you read that as something negative?!

Hasn't prince come a long way since his laughing stock 'symbol / slave' days of the mid nineties. Most of my friends bought the MOS and are astonished at prince's musical ability, simply having no idea of his range and musicianship.
As far as I'm concerned his standing has never been higher.

Position in history secure, place sat amongst the gods - not in question.
Well done prince.

emesem said:

You seem to be basing your notion on the old and, now outdated, idea that BIG TIME record sales = success for a musician, or good music.

Fact is, no one (Not even Timberlake) is having big record sales compared to years past. Artists make most of their money from touring.

2ndly, great music doesn't equal big sales and big sales doesn't equal great music.

Saw Prince closing weekend in Vegas and have seen him many other times...he's never been better - he's deeper, more himself, doesn't have to try as hard. His voice (which has always been incredible) is even more so (not to even mention his guitar playing which will just make you cry). Prince is giving away his music, I think, because it's all about love and God for him anyway...he sees his music as a sort of public service...his calling, something like that. At any rate, when you think of the joy and pleasure Prince, McCartney and U2 have spread over "Planet Earth"....we can only be grateful for any music they give away that might touch an insane mind on our troubled planet...they are all incredibly gifted souls who touch alot of lives...however they do it....is good by me.

im all for a musician giving away his music if he wants. what I dont like is selling your music to be a advertising gimmick.

Why not give the album away at the EARTH concert? How about instead of selling it to a right wing rag do something productive with it? If it was really about getting it in people hands why not attach it to something worthwhile?

PRINCE DID NOT GIVE AWAY HIS ALBUM, he sold it to be a marketing gimmick for a newspaper.

MendesCity said:

Well said!!!!!

jtsmaggie said:

Hear Hear x x x x x x x

I'm so proud...!

Snap said:

LeGrindLady said:

?

Oh man that is so off target. listen to the guitar solos on Planet Earth, Guitar and The One U Wanna C...and tell me who else in the industry plays like that. The man is getting better.
Peace.

jtsmaggie said:

I think that's a rather cool way of putting it.

Snap said:

Exactly! The key is to get *anyone* in this ADD era to listen. He's done his job in the UK, imo.

Brendan said:

I'd call myself a fan, but no way can I make this add up. Purely Prince albums must be a long way short of this total surely - where's the list of 61??

emesem said:

I think we all realise that Prince DID get something for the "giveaway". But for all of those people that received the CD it was definitely a "giveaway". You make it sound like an awful thing to use a "marketing gimmick" to get music out there. Where have you been? Have you seen Paul McCartney on the ipod commercials? (love his new album btw, I bought the CD). U2 have their own brand of ipod. Rolling Stones and Best Buy. MJ and Pepsi back in the day.

Artists hooking up with products as marketing is not a gimmick, it's standard practice. The more people that can hear your music without having to put any effort into getting it the better. And that is done with marketing.

It's no coincedence that the best selling albums are usually the ones that you hear on the radio. It's because they were on the radio that they became best selling albums. I'm sure that there are plenty of exceptions to that but you get the point. SNAP said above "Who in the hell is gonna even know the album is good enough to buy if it's not placed in their laps, considering the current state of affairs in the music industry??" A lot of veteran artists realize that the day is over when they would instantly have 4 tracks off their album hit the airwaves and be hits. Now they use any means that they can to get that music out to the masses. And then people will go to the shows, buy the CD, buy back catalogues, merchandise.

Genius. And I really like Planet Earth too. I've been listening to it for free on MSN with their free streaming. And I will buy the CD on Tuesday. And see some shows in the US when he comes because I saw him for free on TV during the superbowl. I also have Guitar on my Verizon cel phone for free. I've been a fan since the beginning and would have bought the cd and seen shows anyway but a casual fan or someone on the fence might take all this free exposure and decide to try out the CD or a show. Marketing!

MattUK said:

Doesn't sound right to me, either. Especially if double or triple albums are counted as one.

MattUK said:

Well, turn in your fan card. Seriously, though, can you come up with the 46 that's stated in the article?

With 46 they have to be including side projects, so I'm correcting that number. It's much higher and his solo/band work is much lower.

Here's a slightly different cut and paste. Feel free to correct or explode all over that which you disagree with.

I'll go with 57 to 61 albums from Prince. Not bad for someone only 49.

Total # of Solo/Band Studio Albums = 28
Total # of Solo/Band Studio Albums & Compilations = 37
Total # of Solo/Band Studio Albums, Compilations & Side Projects = 61 (57 minus bolded albums)

Studio Albums [28]

[1] For You (1978)
[2] Prince (1979)
[3] Dirty Mind (1980)
[4] Controversy (1981)
[5] 1999 (1982)
[6] Purple Rain (1984)
[7] Around the World in a Day (1985)
[8] Parade (1986)
[9] Sign ‘O’ the Times (1987)
[10] The Black Album (1987) (Shelved until 1994)
[11] Lovesexy (1988)
[12] Batman (1989)
[13] Graffiti Bridge (1990)
[14] Diamonds and Pearls (1991)
[15] Symbol (1992)
[16] Come (1994)
[17] The Gold Experience (1995)
[18] Chaos and Disorder (1996)
[19] Emancipation (1996)
[20] The Truth (1997/98)
[21] Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999) (also “Rave In2”)
[22] The Rainbow Children (2001)
[23] One Nite Alone (2002)
[24] Xpectation (2003)
[25] N.E.W.S. (2003)
[26] Musicology (2004)
[27] 3121 (2006)
[28] Planet Earth (2007)

Note: “The War” is not an album and neither is “C-Note”. EPs are not counted either.

Compilations [9] (Hits, anthologies, live albums, outtakes, download collections)

[1] The Hits / The B-Sides (1993) (3-Disc Career Retrospective)
*Also released as “The Hits 1” and “The Hits 2”
[2] Girl 6 (1996) (Soundtrack Compilation)
* Includes 3-previously unreleased tracks
[3] Crystal Ball (1998) (Outtakes)
[4] The Vault…Old Friends 4 Sale (1999) (Outtakes)
[5] The Very Best of Prince (2001)
[6] One Nite Alone...Live! / It Ain't Over Box Set (2002)
* Live Concert/After Show
[7] Chocolate Invasion (2004) (Download Assemblage)
[8] The Slaughterhouse (2004) (Download Assemblage)
[9] Ultimate Prince (2006)
* 1 Disc of Hits / 1 Disc of Extended Remixes

Side Project Studio Albums [23] (50 to 100% Songwriting/Arrangement/Production by Prince)

[1] The Time - The Time (1981)
[2] Vanity 6 - Vanity 6 (1982)
[3] The Time - What Time Is It? (1982)
[4] The Time - Ice Cream Castles (1984)
[5] Apollonia 6 - Apollonia 6 (1984)
[6] Sheila E. - Glamorous Life (1984)
[7] The Family - The Family (1985)
[8] Sheila E. - Romance 1600 (1985)
[9] Madhouse - 8 (1987)
[10] Jill Jones - Jill Jones (1987)
[11] Madhouse - 16 (1987)
[12] Sheila E. - Sheila E. (1987) (Debatable)
[13] Mavis Staples - Time Waits For No One (1989)
[14] Eric Leeds - Times Squared (1991)
[15] Carmen Electra - Carmen Electra (1992) (Debatable)
[16] Mavis Staples - The Voice (1993) (Debatable)
[17] New Power Generation - Goldnigga (1993)
[18] NPG - Exodus (1995)
[19] Mayte - Children of the Sun (1995)
[20] NPG Orchestra - Kamasutra (1997/98)
[21] Chaka Khan - Come 2 My House (1998)
[22] Graham Central Station – GCS 2000 (1998) (Debatable)
[23] New Power Generation – New Power Soul (1998)
[xx] Tamar - Milk & Honey (2006) (canceled)

Side Project Compilations [1]

[01] Various Artists - 1-800-NEW-FUNK (1994)

--

Don’t count towards Prince’s total of 61.

Significant-Contribution Albums [5] (Consisting of at Least 1/3 but less than 1/2 Prince-penned/Co-penned tracks)

[01] The Time - Pandemonium (1990)
[02] Elisa Fiorillo – I Am (1990)
[03] Ingrid Chavez – May 19, 1992 (1991) (debatable)
[04] Tevin Campbell – I’m Ready (1993)
[05] Martika – Martika’s Kitchen (1991)

Corrections
[Edited 7/19/07 15:32pm]

live4lust said:

Yep. They only count as one. You could release a 10-disc box set and it would still only count as 1 release.

Brendan said:

None of the side-project or protege albums should be counted, imo. They aren't Prince albums.

Edit: Although, it's hard not include the NPG albums. But I can't count Mayte or any of that other stuff.
[Edited 7/19/07 9:25am]

Prince has been quite clever with the release of this album I think. It has generated a lot of publicity for him, plus, if the album had been released normally, how many people would have downloaded it anyway, how much money would he have got from the album being released in Britain and Ireland compared to how much money the MOS paid for it?

It will be interesting to see how much the albums sell in other countries compared to his last few albums. Will it chart as high as 3121?