From Electronic Urban Report:



PRINCE

*Well, what can you say about the Artist formerly known as Prince, but who is now known as Prince all over again ... just like they used to call him before. (That would make a hell of an acronym) He is a musical
icon of our age. Believe that. He has sold over 600 million records world-wide and has inspired performers in the genres of hip-hop, pop,rock and roll, R&B and maybe even country. He led the music industry's
charge on to the Internet way back when people thought www meant where's Waldo's white ass. As usual, he was light ears ahead of his time. He was also ahead of his time when he changed his name to do his thang.


"On Decemeber 31, 1999 my publishing contract with Warner had expired thus emancipating the name I was given before I was born from all long term restrictive contracts. I'm now going back to using my name instead of the symbol that I adopted to free myself from undesirable
relationships."


As a way of avoiding those undesirable relationships, Prince began selling his own music online about 3 years ago. His last album, "Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic," was critically acclaimed, but did not do as well as expected. So, now it's being repackaged and presented again.


"NPG (his website) will release an Internet only version of my album called 'Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic' to make up for the lackluster way in which its predecessor 'Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic was promoted.
The new CD will contain numerous remixes and 2 new songs."


While his feelings about dealing with major labels may never change, his relationship with diehard fans is one he is constantly trying to nurture and build on.


"On June 7 (that's today, y'all) NPGonlineLTD.com will be hosting an event called 'Prince: A Celebration.' Details of the event can be found at the site. Our goal is to further dialog between us and our audience to find the best way to continue our musical relationship. If that
sounds vague, it's meant to be, Napster may be listening."


Always the crusader, Prince said the reasons behind his virtual ventures lie largely with the music industry's rapidly deteriorating standards and the upward swing of CD prices. The consumer is getting a whole lot less for a whole lot more.


"The people have spoken on this issue. The price of CDs has skyrocketed while the quality of music has plummeted. As long as middle men create the means by which the consumer consumes this will never change."


The Artist ... um we mean Prince ... our bad, was one of the first, if not the very first, musician(s) to understand that the Internet is the future of music. But even he could not have envisioned the prominence of such music download sites as Napster and MP3. His Purpleness
believes these middle men are digging into the bottom-line.


"The problem is not a complex one. Let the baker make the bread. I'm a musician, let me make music. The moment someone defines music as content, then we have a problem. They have now appointed themselves as a content provider and will wreak the bulk of the benefits. They create distribution systems and who wants to buy one of those? If I want bread I go to the baker, then it will be fresh and handled by as few hands as possible. No need for a middle man there. To avoid a monopoly on the net why not allow an artist the freedom to decide. In this new virtual reality why can't I have my own site and people that want my
music just come there. Or do I once again give up my store to the Forrest Gump accountants who say a royalty check is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get."


We're going to cut our feature on Mr. Prince Rogers Nelson short for now. We'll return with the remainder of the piece in a future EUR. Until then, you can check out his site at www.NPGonlineLTD.com and see what the dilly ih. BTW, HAPPY BIRFDAY PRINCE!