I am sorry, I have been a Prince fan through thick and thin, but why does he STILL talk about Warner Brothers (WB) and how they screwed him over...

Hello Prince...U SIGNED THE CONTRACT...U DING DONG!!!!!
If u r going 2 be mad still, be mad at your legal team who did not read the contract or yourself for signing it. Welcome to corporate america this type of stuff happens everyday to the little guy, including yourself.

Get over it already, u were still getting paid in full and u got wanted. Freedom.

bds70 said:

what a silly comment
Prince has moved on from then and has absolutely no animosity with WB.


through thick an thin huh?

actually, prince has been badmouthing WB in concert lately. MTV, too.

Anxiety said:

thank you..

bds70 said:

im sorry i stand corrected

that wee shite

bds70 said:

Let's see now, last time I checked, this was still America, right?

Or maybe I'm wrong?

muirdo said:

it's okay, Prince has exposed the music industry for what it is...shady. But why didn't he say anything before the contract of 91-92?? it just seems hypocritical

Avenger said:

yes it is, and i am proud to be an american.

bds70 said:

Maybe the same reason that a lot of people don't speak out about dangers of HIV or breast cancer until it happens to us or someone close to us.

bds70 said:

This is pretty tangential, but I'm reading Hernando de Soto's book "the mystery of capital" at the moment - it's thesis (I think...I've just started it) is basically that the reason free market capitalism thrives in the west while failing in Latin America is because developing countries don't provide the legal framework to enforce property rights and contracts. I certainly think it's true that part of the reason the developed world is such an economic miracle is because individuals can enter into contracts knowing that courts will enforce the agreement should the other party reneg.

That's my very long-winded way of agreeing with you - Prince should shut the hell up. He didn't have to sign a contract - he could have sat in his bedroom and made tapes to sell out of the trunk of his car, or signed to an independent, or just played clubs for the rest of his life.

bds70 said:

I have felt the same way...well not that extreme. But it is getting old. We all get it. The recording industry is bad and it sucks. For someone who keeps saying this, you wonder why he keeps at it...trying to win over the companies. He has blamed WB since Lovesexy for his non-selling woes. Some of it founded, some not. He has done quite a bit of the damage himself.

Funny, even though I am super happy he is getting the renaisance he wants, I am yearning for the days where he goes back to being semi-exclusive. Weighing the two, I think that's when he had more freedom (he has some now) to do as he pleased...even if it seemed as though he had less. Then again I don't equate freedom with sales and major airplay either.

bds70 said:

i'm afraid of americans

bds70 said:

You know, you do gain wisdom with age. When you're young, you have no comprehension of how things will impact you later, it's all about today. There are some silver-tongued devils out there, and at that time, there weren't a lot of artists who could do any differently contract-wise. (I imagine there were some, but that was/is not the industry standard.) Unless you were sitting in the office during the negotiations, you can't say for sure what was said & promised. Also, he didn't get what he wanted when he was let out, since he didn't get the Masters.

If you have that attitude, then labor unions, pro athletes, etc., should never be able to re-negotiate contracts, and I guess once you marry, you better stay with that one person FOREVER, eh? So for those guys who bitch for years about how they were wronged when their wife got everything, STFU!

interesting how he talks bad about MTV in concert and sure enough they dont add his new video to their playlist hmmmmm

And here I was ready to give it up for Housequake


Ahh, what the hell...

We do! BULLSHIT! I mean realllllayyyy!


.
[This message was edited Thu Jul 15 3:06:54 2004 by CalhounSq]

Sorry dude but Latin America is in its situation not just because of legal frameworks for property rights and contracts! Situate that in the larger context of unfavorable terms of trade, years and years of political and military intervention to institutionalize those favorable terms of trade and a lot of crony leaders and you'd be a little more on track!

And is Prince bitching because he regrets a past decision or because he's also trying to get out a message that other people need to hear? Record lables have changed just because Prince is no longer signed to WB! Big business STILL has a stranglehold over the music business. None of that has changed. Why stop talking now? I think we should all just get used to the fact that Prince has become more politically aware and more politically involved. Just saying "shut up and get over it" in my opinion is siding far too much with those who are exploiting these musicians and performers daily and not taking into consideration enough the situation of recording artists vis-a-vis these moguls whether they've become wealthy or not.

Serena said:

Also, you have to remember that when Prince signed initially, he had so much creative freedom. They allowed him to experiment with his first few albums, and even though he hadn't really "found his sound", they still released his albums. It wasn't like today where you have to be an instant star or not get signed. He experimented, came into his own, then continued to release great music. The contract he was in was not allowing him to do that anymore. I agree that while he matured, he began to get really frustrated with the way he was being "played" by WB--they cared so much more about the quantity than the quality, and that was the exact opposite of the way things had been when he began. Instead of being a creative outlet, they had turned into a money-making machine, and Prince just doesn't roll that way! I think that in bringing it up now, he is protesting the fact that WB and other companies have the ability to do that to people, to back people like Britney that have no REAL talent, but turn away others with the enormous potential to become amazing musicians, just because they are not instant paychecks!

IMO, anyway...!
[This message was edited Thu Jul 15 5:45:12 2004 by alhiyh]

I think the reason MTV and WB are still bothering Prince, 10 years later, is that part of him would still like to be courted by a big record label and flashed all over TV like he was in the 80's. For all the complaining about it he's done, there has to of been some benefits to it as well...

Tho he's done pretty good this year getting back in the limelight...

Supernova said:

good answer. see only you could come up with that.

First off, He did not badmouth MTV as a company.He bad mouthed the lip singers on MTV. They just happen to play the videos. 2nd,Most of you keep talking about Prince signed the contract and he should keep his mouth shut, but yal don't know what was in the contract that WB didn't honor.Don't you think that Prince was promised more control of the songs that were to be released, and he was promised that he would be able to release albums at a more rapid pace. And most importantly he walked away from a 100 million dollar contract. I don't care who you are or what you say but you would have to be one very mad MF to walk away from that kind of contract.Like Prince said ,it wasn't about the money and heproved that by walking away, it was about more control of his own music. He put his money where is mouth was and you will not find many people if any that would do that.He lost tons of money standing by what he believed in. And now he is free do do whatever he choses with his mucis, and he is free to say whatever he wants to say about whoever he wants to say it about. Based on what you all are saying I guess that Jews shouldn't talk about Hitler, or blacks shouldn't talk about slavery.Yes it happened and there are still alot of people pissed about it. He has a right to express his displeasure with his former company, just like we have the right to talk about our former bosses, or girlfriends , or former wives, well you get the point. Bottom line is that he kept his part of the contract and WB didn't so stop with the he should have read the contract crap. What is he stupid, you don't think that he and his people read over that contract 5 or 10 times. You don't think that he made sure that the contract had everything in it that he agreed on? He can say what he wants to about whoever he wants to just like we can.

adorable2 said:

Bull said:

No. Prince is ALWAYS at fault. Never forget it!

dawntreader said:

you're not afraid of me, hunny bunny!!!!

Either you disagree or agree with Prince. I can honestly say when he is wrong. This does not make ya stop being a fan. It is time for him to shut up... still hatin on Warner Bros. Also he needs to stop making comments on artist(s) about cursing & barely wearing nothing. He is the one who started off doing the same. To me he is also bad mouthing himself too. We all know record companies are only about making money. Prince is also. The difference is he does it his own way. The past should be left in the past. He preaches this but he still can't move on when it comes to WB.

Give me a break. He should move on because you think that he shopuld move on? Wait until something of importance happens in your life, weather it be you having a baby by a woman who tricked you up or your boss firing you even though you were the best imployee in the business, trust me you are going to talk about it for a long time. If only to educate people to not make the same mistake in the future. He is just telling the truth and weather you like it or not there are alot of musicians that are benefiting from what he is saying. Just wait until someone breaks an important deal with you and we will see what you are saying then.

Parden the spelling I was going to fast.

waaann waaaaan, I want my masters back.....stfu prince!

man

there's a lot of hatin going on here. I think P should be able to say whatever he wants. i'd only like to speak to the point about this talk of WB being some sort of publicity booth or P wooing a record company. He obviously has not been hurting financially over the years, even through the 90s when he was not selling a whole lot of albums. i have much respect for an artist who turns down money and publicity to make his own music. he has led other artists by example over the years and so when he talks, maybe we should listen up. we might learn something. the fact is not a one of us here knows exactly what happened between P and WB. So if he wants to preach on them a little, that's fine with me. I'm all ears, as always.

peace and love