I am enamored with all the bitching about Prince "cheating his way onto the charts."

If the album wasn't being given away at the concerts, do you think ticket prices would have been less? No. The tickets would have been the same price. The tickets for the "Musicology" tour are no more expensive than his previous tours. Essentially, the Cd's are given away.
He isn't trying to scam the fans, he is trying to bring the people stuck in Prince 1984 to Prince 2004. Bottom line is that all the people who went to the concerts now own a copy of "Musicology".

I said it when he didn't have a "hit" record, and I'll say it now that he does: What do the charts prove about anything? They prove how well someone is being promoted.

Usher and Ashlee Simpson's record labels advertise and promote them excellently. If Prince had his own show on MTV (yeah right) he'd be #1 on the charts too. Why do you think "purple rain" is his best selling album? MTV and his label promoted the hell out of the movie, the singles, and the tour. Same with "Batman" and "Diamonds and Pearls."

skywalker said:

I really think that he would have given them away anyway. Ticket prices would have been the same. He did say get this out to as many people as possible.

If this built in thing had not been done...it would be billed as free CD with every concert ticket purchased.

in my opinion i think Prince spoke too soon about the free cd's...at the time he was looking for a record company to distribute Musicology 1st we heard Warner Bros and then a few other record companies were rumored and then a few weeks went by and we heard nothing about it and then i think Prince got fed up and didnt think he was going to find a distributor because the tour was coming up in a few weeks and just announced they were going to give them away free at the concerts and then just before the concerts he finally struck a deal with Sony...so just maybe the free cd's werent in his plans it just worked out that way..

skywalker said:

WOW!!! Someone's being nice for a change. Aren't you in the minority, but I ain't mad at ya!!!

Timeline of giveaway saga
-----

*He had all along wanted to giveaway the CDS!! he said he would give them away free since his dedicated fans have been with him for 20yrs

*The people in the industry were saying that it will bring down retail sales sharply!! However they felt it was a good move becasue he had been away for so long

*he talked to soundscan about including it as sales


* soundscan was thinkin since the sales at retail will be reduced however they thought the impact on the charts would be minimum Since he hadnt had a big tour in yrs


* soundscan agreed


* Prince changed his tune to say that the price was included into the ticket! and he was gettin paid $9 per CD from the tour. Bascially manipulated the CD and tour price!! not real money though


* Intially soundscan was saying its such a great idea!! Saying why ppl were making a big deal outta it!! since the price of the tour was much bigger then the cost of the CD

* industry execs finally got the rules changed!! Agreeing on having an option and also making sure the price of the CD option wasnt too low

skywalker said:

I'm not quite sure of what side you are taking. at first you claim he is not cheating, yet you acknowledge he is giving the cd's away. if he is giving the cd's away, how could they possibly count as sales on a sales chart?

if I burn one hundred copies of Musicology and hand them out, should those count as sales as well?

personally, I don't feel he is cheating, mainly because I don't care. but your argument seems to be playing both sides of the field, so it seems to have no validity.

I alwasy see ppl complain how he is cheating but ppl forget he is sellin out arenas and he doesnt care if he sold more CDs. since they dont bring in more money as a tour does!!

I just looked at jessica simpsons concert grosses and they look so bad she is only sellin out 1/2 to 1/3 of capacity with cheap tickets

6/20 - Alltel Pavilion, Raleigh, N.C.- $113,346- 6,894/20,000
7/18 - Journal Pavilion, Albuquerque, N.M.- $116,105 - 4,932/12,125
7/20 - Universal Lending CityLights Pavilion, Denver, Colo.- $110,264-2,630/4,454
7/21 - USANA Amphitheatre, West Valley City, Utah- $98,522- 4,305/7,000
7/23 - General Motors Place, Vancouver, B.C.- $106,495- 2,986/8,449
7/24 - White River Ampitheatre, Auburn, Wash.- $112,237- 6,691/19,976
7/25 - Ampitheater in Clark County, Ridgefield, Wash.- $109,555- 6,236/17,780
7/27 - Shoreline Ampitheatre, Mountain View, Calif.- $141,856- 6,739/22,000
7/28 - SleepTrain Ampitheatre, Marysville, Calif.- $137,240- 6,219/18,500

skywalker said:

"enamored" means to be in love with, to be fond of, or the be inspired by love of.,,???

The issue with Prince's "bundling" is that it isn't an option for the consumer therefore it doesn't show that the consumer actually had INTERERST in buying the product.

It's kind of like Going to Planet Smoothy and buying a Mango Smoothy, and being offered a free viatamin boost for all drinks 32 oz or over. Yeah, the boost was bunldled into the sale, but you went there for a smoothy, not vatimin C, beta cartine, and friggen L-glutamin.

skywalker said:

Say what? That's one of my favorite words, but you're not using it the right way. I demand you use my favorite word in the correct way, or not at all.


Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!