Interesting

Prince calls 'war' on record companies, and no one speaks up, leaving Prince on his lonesome to fight the battle

Michael Jackson calls 'war' on record companies and every man and his dog comes out of the woodwork to support him

dnaplaya said:



That is so true. Damn! That's so sad that it
took someone like Jackson to get the attention
of the masses since Prince addressed the issue
years ago. I tell you.. that snap judgement shit
gotta stop. Just because Prince brought the issue
to light in a artistic form, no one really paid him
any attention and labeled him a brat.

Why was he "alone"? Because no one could look at him and take him seriously and respect him.

I am for one, PROUD that Micheal Jackson is standing up to corporate creeps.

Never believe a what music corporates say, "We're protecting the artist" But in reality give a royalty of 5 cents to the dollar. Why NOT go free agent when you can have $1 to the $1! THen YOU as the artist are protecting YOURSELF from Napsters, Morpheuses and the RECORD COMPANIES!

Dig?

Dude man, come on... The only folks who took him seriously were the Prince Clones who think he can do no wrong. Had he went about it MATURELY then maybe the Clones would have gotten their wish ansd seen Princey up on the news sites as well getting "proper" covereage of his cause.

There's been artists since day one unhappy with record labels treatment of their work. Prince is no where near the first, h's just the first one you happened to hear talk about it.

Anyway... Ever hear of Consolidated? They were fighting this battle LONG AGO as well... You haven't heard of them though because it doesn't pretain to you. Same as folks who think Prince is a joke, they don't care.

The Dixie Chicks just re-signed with their label, Kravitz went back on the plantation, new nu-metal bands are being signed left and right...

Unless ALL artists boycott the system, there won't be any change no matter which 80's former mega-stars hold press conferences denouncing their former labels!

I'm confident he TRIED to do it "maturely" and was met with typical corporate "logic" and a general "shut up, you're rich" response. Prince's biggest problem with bad press and negative media response has always been that he DOES NOT KISS THIER ASS and play the game the way so many others do.

No, he just played the part of this introverted wierd guy who made sissy eyes and carried roses around instead of pointing out his opinion. Prince got bitten by the '80s Rock Star bug and played it out just like Madonna and Michael Jackson did. he just faded because he didn't make the "flavor of the moment" music.
...

Shit, I wish he DID more often. He wouldn't be so grossly misunderstood and demonized. A few well-placed interviews and TV appearences would've gone a long way.

Um, have you seen the interviews he's done? Came out looking like a complete f*ck up if you ask me.


As to your assertion that he's not the first, no, he isn't, but he's probably the biggest, most famous and influential one to voice it WHEN HE STILL HAD A VOICE. Pearl Jam is the only other one I can think of who sounded off before thier money ran out.

I'm sorry... Maybe I'm the only one in here who knows of George Michael? I dunno,... Maybe it's just me. Believe me, he was MUCH bigger tyhan Prince at the time when he first started battling his label.


Poor Michael. Now he's an artist all of a sudden. Where was his "art" when he sold all of the Beatles songs or shilled for Pepsi?

Michael Jackson made a GARBAGE half a*sed album. He's no longer needed as a pop icon, because... Well, those days are over and done with.
The ONLY way for older once HUGE artists to make the money they are use to making from back in the day is to do what Prince is doing now and getting all the profit by running the entire operation and then BUSTING THEIR A*SES out on the road to get the word out that they have a new record! Just like unsigned bands do day by day... What's the matter, you were once a huge star and now you actually have to WORK to make a pay check? Poor Ex Rock Star!

Madonna stays on top because, she STAYED on top and kept up with what was going on, emulating it, and selling it. While there'sabsolutely NOTHING commendable about that... She IS banking and making out pretty darn well with that "evil system" all you clones seem to hate so much (do any of you even work in the music industry?).

Michael Jackson hired all these lame hip hop producers and they put together a HORRID attempt at putting an aging ex pop star back on top. He should ONLY be mad at himself, I mean, he sits around for 5 years without doing a thing, tosses together a salad of the latest and "coolest" hip hop producers, lends his voice and expects it to be Thriller all over again. That ain't gonna fly and HE ain't gonna fly. He is infiltrating a world of gangsta ghetto punks and DJ / "producers" who have no musical merit what so ever. He flopped and now he's crying that it's someone elses fault. Well, it's BOTH, the label got sick of waiting so they said "GIVE US SOMETHING" He did and it was a bust... They deciided to drop all further promotion due to the allready ENOURMOUS amount they spent just getting the record recorded before it was even out. Good for them!

And to all you folks who seem to know everything about the music industry and are first in line to join some wierd work ethic against the music industry army, do you have any idea how much these artists make due to the distribution these labels give? Even if the records don't make them KC Kasems top 40 pick of the week they STILL sell enough to cover those DISGUSTINGLY huge advances they are given!
So whay should I or anyone else feel sorry for someone who saw a pot of gold, signed the dotted line, and lived large until, well until they saw how much money was actually being passed around from their product... But remember, that money wouldn't even be there if it weren't for DISTRIBUTION!!!

So listen, before any of you 9-5 day job folk who have no idea of what's going on except for what you heard some silly cry baby with slave written across his face start pointing fingers, look at the whole story and understand BOTH sides of the coin. Prince signs a $110,000,000 contract and then decides it's not enough? HUH??? HE SIGNED, MICHAEL JACKSON SIGNED, etc etc etc... They all have ALOT MORE MONEY than all you "sympathizers" and they keep raking it in with royalties of sales so when you look at YOUR pay check think twice about who got screwed.

Love,
A guy who's seen all sides of the industry, and it ain't as bad as you think.

Exactly. Prince ALWAYS seems to get his due only through hindsight. As usual, he's a decade ahead of most. It's because Prince doesn't play kissie face with the media like so many other "artists".

FlyingCloudPassenger said:

5 cents to the dollar for the artist
5 cents to a SMART producer
5 cents for roytalties as they come up
20 cents to the label (DUH They are the reason the artist EXISTS!)
75 cents to get the discs into peoples hands
Of course these aren't exact figures but I believe they will get my point across.

Why not go free agent so you can have $1 on the $1?
I'll tell ya why, becaise NO ONE MAY EVEN KNOW YOUR RECORD EXISTS! You NEED the distribution of a major if you wanna be Britteny Spears / Prince / Madonna!

And who's getting protected by Morpheus etc? What BAD does it actually do? I bought all the Blackalicious discs lastt night BECAUSE I downloaded them first. I haven't opened them either and may not, I just wanted to give proper respect to those FEW folks out there actually making intelligent music. So where is the protection needed there?

TheMEssage said:

Here are my replies to each point you made poopy pants:

• "5 cents to a SMART producer"
I don't think JUST smartness applies here, TALENT does, vision...there are POP producers, musicianless producers (Most "Hip" Hip-POP producers), and TALENTED, innovative producers which are extremely rare.

The job of a producer. A REAL PRODUCER and not some fool with a turntable or MPC is to work the budget, come up with enough investors (if needed), oversee the recording so it goes smoothly and efficeiently, and FINALLY, to put together a presentable product whereas there may not be anything there at all and shop it to different avenues...
A SMART producer in the case of a Michael Jackson or a Prince would be someone who makes sure they recieve a respectable level of points or coins for the finished project. This is what I reffer to here.

And really, the artist SHOULD be producing themselves. It's like a painter, do they hire a producer to sweeten up their paintings, designs, etc? No.

Music is a very different "art" than other forms see... When someone hires a producer it is for many reasons (explained above). As far as the production of the sound goes... They hire someone to "HELP" them along so that they might come out with the best product possible. A musician (or musical artist) comes up with the song, the producer at this point polishes it, or in a painters terms... FRAMES it.


• "20 cents to the label (DUH They are the reason the artist EXISTS!)"
Really? You think that an artists exists BECAUSE of the label? Do you mean that they exist in terms of promotion or marketing, hype, publicity? I hope you did.

No, I mean that the LABEL put up $100,000 to record the record and then distribute / promote it. if it weren't for them, they'd be touring small venues across the country leaving a maximum of 30 people PER city knowing who they are, MAYBE. How does THAT relate to success? Gas and lodging takes up anything they may have made that night.


• "75 cents to get the discs into peoples hands"
Okay, but most labels/record companies/media conglomerates OWN, I repeat OWN their own record plants and distribution channels...!

So, Prince has to pay to record at Paisley... What's your point?


So add the 20 cents plus 75 cents and bam, 95 cents they're getting back. Fine, seems like a good deal...for the record companies.

OK, so sell 1,000,000,000 copies of a record and take 5% and MAYBE 30% depending on the artist and figure out the dollar amount... Then try driving from Minneapolis and hitting every major city across the country to LA and see how much you make by tyhe end of the trip. Which outweighs?

I'll sign the contract thank you...


• "I'll tell ya why, becaise NO ONE MAY EVEN KNOW YOUR RECORD EXISTS! You NEED the distribution of a major if you wanna be Britteny Spears / Prince / Madonna!"

Woa! You just crammed Prince into the same category as these two superficial, mediocre artists (although I personally like Erotica and some early Madonna stuff). That's bad. What impression did Prince give you to place them in the same level?

Um, well, I think it MIGHT have been the purple raincoat and lace gloves in 1984. let's not forget that Britteny Spears IS what Prince was, at one time. He was a POP star, NOT a crazy Mozart introvert, he BECAMNE that. He has one up because he CAN play like a lunatic... Which in the end, will support him. If the others lose their star power, they die. But in the case I was reffering to.. He was a POP star, and icon...


The reason that many of these "Pop" CELEBRETIES is because they've pretty much based their careers on a majority of attention getting silliness. Hype, always getting your name in the news with new flings, divorces, separations, controversies...Jennifer Lopez is a recent example. Just when you know the limelight is fading, BAM, in the NEWS with a controversy to keep the publicity machine going.

Man, come on... Turn on your TV and see what's on? Entertainment Tonight.. Inside Edition... Deco Drive... etc etc etc... Go buy some ramen noodles, stand in line and what do you see? Tabloids a plenty. Do you actually think alot of these headlines are PLANNED? No man, the folks on top of the cradle at the moment are watched CONSTANTLY, the folks watching them (ET, Tabloids, etc) are making LOOT by reporting their EVERY MOVE! That in turn creates the controversy and all that crap which in turn gives promotion. It's called "entertainment". And YOU, being a Prince fan, bought into it in 1984.


• "And who's getting protected by Morpheus etc? What BAD does it actually do? I bought all the Blackalicious discs lastt night BECAUSE I downloaded them first. I haven't opened them either and may not, I just wanted to give proper respect to those FEW folks out there actually making intelligent music. So where is the protection needed there?"

It typical now for people to say, "yeah I ended up buying it after I downloaded it!"

And? I can see you missed my point entirely.


Well, I have to admit, I downloaded a few songs, but I haven't been moved to buy the album. I'm keeping the songs, but most really do suck. If the ARTIST did have site you could pay like a buck or so, heck, I'd buy the songs. Not many, I'm no rich person, but one beautifully created song is WORTH IT and maybe more!

So you just presented your case as a hypocrite... Thank you sir!

Schooled you have been, here's are more knowledge sites:
http://www.medialit.org
http://www.medialiteracy.com
http://www.recordingartis...lition.com

Trust me dude... Ya didn't school me a bit.
I know what I'm talking about allright. Trust me.


Enjoy.

Once you awake to the fact that you have been hoodwinked & bamboozed, the revolution will begin.

I know...more...than...you...blah...hypocrite...blah...I...went...to...school...than you sir...(how does he know I'm a sir, I don't know?)...

"Record companies have to start treating their artists with respect, honor, and financial justice,"