http://www.azcentral.com/...e0628.html


Edna Gundersen
USA Today
Jun. 28, 2004 12:00 AM

Prince didn't relinquish his throne; he reupholstered it.

"I've been working and making music all along," he says, rejecting the term "comeback" to describe his elevated profile.

After years of low visibility and self-exile, the '80s funk czar has resurfaced with a hit album, a blockbuster tour and a renovated reputation that defies the industry's usual formula of diminishing returns. The crowning glory? He won success on his terms, not through contract legalese.

"The cool thing is there is no manager or record executive pulling my strings," he says. "I make my decisions based on what's right as opposed to what's traditional. When I try something fresh and break new ground, I'm creating the next tradition for artists to follow."

Prince, 46, founded a sovereign state after seceding from the industry in the mid-'90s. He remained busy, releasing rivers of music on his Web site and NPG label, but, aside from teaming with Arista for 1999's Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, he seemed to drift off the pop-culture radar.

Prince's banner year got rolling with a show-stopping performance on the Grammys and his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His subsequent album and tour yielded critical acclaim and hefty profits.


• On the road. The Musicology Tour, which is expected to draw 1.5 million concertgoers by mid-September, is a critical and commercial bonanza. It has racked up $36.8 million in gross receipts from 41 shows attended by 579,886 fans. It's on track to reach $100 million from 90 dates. Each ticket buyer gets a Musicology CD. (Tour copies are dispensed in simple sleeves, while the retail version, released in April on Columbia, has enhanced audio and visual components and elaborate packaging.)


• On the record. Musicology, No. 5 in Billboard, has sold 872,000 copies since its April 20 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan, which began a groundbreaking policy of counting Prince's CDs bundled with concert tickets, boosting his chart profile. Counting units SoundScan doesn't tabulate (arena box seats, tour sales before April 20, online club sales), Musicology sales now exceed 2 million copies domestically.


• On the Web. Prince, dazzled by the Internet's ability to directly reach fans, established the New Power Generation Music Club (www.npgmc.com) in 2001, and membership is exploding. For $25, fans get discounts on downloads and merchandise, plus unlimited access to view videos, attend listening parties and hear CDs before release. They're also plugged into catalog tracks, news updates and presale tour tickets. It's a cash cow that accommodates Prince's voluminous output without expensive marketing and packaging.

chile said:

Oh lord...

chile said:

Huh? So Sony and the tour promotor had nothing to do with it? Gimme a break.

chile said:

Playing 20-year old hits in a desperate ploy to earn some much needed dough is "something fresh", "break[ing] new ground", "creating the next tradition for artists to follow"? And here's silly old me thinking that it's exactly this that Prince swore to not do back in the 1980s.

chile said:

Huh? Who thinks up this silly crap?

chile said:

Yet it doesn't sell squat outside the US.

chile said:

Must be a different site than the one I know about.

No offense, but I can't believe you're still here. Prince seems to have brought you nothing but pain and grief for the last 10 years or so, and I wonder why you don't just move on. Isn't it obvious that Prince is not going to become whatever it is that you want him to be?

bart, go away with all your negative comments...get a LIFE!

He makes valid points.

lovemachine said:

Yes , RodeoSchro does make some valid points about Bart...

BartVanHemelen said:

Exactly what I was thinking.

RodeoSchro said:

it's quite simple, really: prince owns 'im.

BartVanHemelen said:

No. 3 in Holland
No. 3 in the UK

lovemachine said:

He states opinions that would appear to be those of someone who wouldn't be found within 100 miles of anything having to do with Prince, yet he can't let go. I just think he should, because it must be obvious by now that Prince is never going to be what he (Bart) wants him to be.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

BartVanHemelen said:

WHO THINK UP THAT SILLY CRAP?

OH RIGHT BART!

This tour will definitely help membership 4 the NPGMC! He'll have the $$ 4 future projects concerning the club and advertisement. I see his dream coming true as far as having multiple cd's out at the same time. A commercial cd like Musicology and others that show his versatility and musical growth&depth. That's what makes his club more unique than others.