It used to be that a band/musician with any artistic intergity would never to rarely allow their logo/name/likeness to be plastered over boxer shorts, posters, lunch boxes etc. That type of thing was only for pop idols and KISS. However, nowadays you can find Pink Floyd/James Brown/Jimi/Eminem/Beatles/MAdonna/Nirvana/Springsteen/U2/etc merchandise at damn near every mall in America.

This heightened marketing/visability leads to curiosity which leads to new fans which leads to larger fanbase which leads to the release of (mostly) high quality remastered DVD's & Box Sets etc.

Should Prince do this? I used to think "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" but if it maintains his legacy and helps to get his stuff remastered and reissued I am all for it. I mean, how many of us would kill for a double disc DVD of the "Parade" tour? I would. Lesser musicians/bands have gotten their stuff overhauled and re-released in spectacular fan appreciative fashion. Should Prince? Was has he got to lose?
[Edited 11/14/05 11:44am]
[Edited 11/14/05 14:57pm]

some people think he already has sold out at points in the past.

NOPE! Glad he HASN"T! STILL I WISH they had a PRINCE DOLL So I COULD SLEEP WITh IT{HIM}

Yes of course he should!

NEVER NEVER NEVER NO NO NO.
It's the fact he still has that mystery around him, despite his lack of output these days that still keeps us hooked. We still wnat to know, is he??? isnt he?????will he?????won't he?????

Selling out??? We'ld get bored
No more threads to read or reply to
The org would die a slow death

We like talking about him...guessing....waiting.....even moaning and slating him occasionally (not me).

Don't sell-out (not that I can c him ever doing that). Stay wierd, silent , BUT HURRY UP AND RELEASE MORE STUFF!!!!!

Did Santana "sell-out" with Supernatural?

i think the only way someone can sell out is if they sell out their own standards and ethics. if he can live with his decisions, he should do whatever he wants to do.

he never sold out, well, he sold us a lot of junk

through the internet but that's another story

DAMMIT!!!!! He has sold out. But dont take that as a negative conotation. Success takes selling out. I hate this fucking term. Everyone sells out if they get the opportunity to make a little more bank. Fiddy is doing it now. Someone please give me the chance to sell out...I could use the money.

Prince never sold out! Prince never sang for Pepsi commercials or Coke commercials or Gap commercials like Michael Jackson and Madonna have.

BOB GEORGE!!!.
let me see you dance..
new coat huh thats nice
did you buy it..you seeing that rich motherfucker again
you know how i am talking about
that slick back patty with gold in his mouth
dont play me for yestruday fool
cause i'll slap you ass in the middle of next week
im sorry baby but those are the rules
i pay the rent in this raggady mother fucker
and all you do is suck the food
and heat
say what..for someone who can't stand the tv dinner you sure eat enough of them

who bought you diamond ring..yeah right since when did you have a job? you seeing that rich motherfucker again..whats his name bob..bob aint that a bitch..what he do.manage rockstars? who? prince..aint that a bitch that skinny motherfucker with the high voice..

I see nothing wrong with T Shirts and merchandise. During the "Purple Rain" era, there were T Shirts, posters, and buttons galore. I've even seen buttons as far back as "Controversy". I've still got my "1999" and "Purple Rain" mirrors that I won at the fair back in the day.

I'm cool with merchandise. It's selling out musically that I don't like. Performing with Beyonce on the awards show last year was a damn disgrace.

This thread is getting filled with dark sided stuff!!!!

They sell Purple Rain shirts in Hot Topix. Perhaps he isn't quite big enough to get his merchandise into the Targets and Kohls of the world. Every band you listed probably has more merchandise appeal then Prince.

rudeboynpg said:

TRUE!

EVERY major artist HAS SOLD OUT except ---PRINCE.

EVERY ONE---madonna, zeppelin, beatles, U2, etc.....ALL

Remember the McDonalds happy meals that had Purple Rain figures like Prince on his motorcycle and Big Chick with his arms crossed, and Billy Sparks with removable sunglasses.

Now Prince almost sold out at that point.

Well, Prince has sold lots of merchandise with his name/NPG all over it, but he's making the dough himself, so it's not so much a sellout. Personally, I'd love an NPG metal lunchbox.

Musically I think he's had a couple of sellout points - Batman, Diamonds and Pearls mostly. But he always redeems himself.

jeff

www.jeffreyanderson.blogspot.com

AsianBomb777 said:

She is so hot.

DarkKnight1 said:

i think she's really pretty. i want to know how she gets her hair to be like that.

If Prince "sold-out" that would be him shedding the every essence of him. Im sure he's had many opportunites to do this but his soul just couldnt embrace it. Come on ya'll, we have to think like him through what he tells us from the music. He shouldnt sell out, although people have different views of what selling out is.

Snap said:

NO!!!!!1

And to answer the original question.....no Prince shouldn't sell out.....UNLESS he's flat broke, and then that would be okay.

But IMO, (start bashing me now) he did sell out by making certain music only available for download!

origmnd said:

Ya'll don't remember the chevy commercial? The Corvette billboards?

Yeah didn't he already let them use "LRC" and "Baby i'm a Star" for ads?

talk2bill2 said:

Yup LRC was used in a Chevy commercial with a clip from the SOTT movie. Baby I'm a Star was in a Target commercial, I think Tina Turner actually sang it.

It makes you wonder how much money Madonna actually needs ,Versace ads ,Gap and now a UK mobile phone ad ..i'm glad Prince is not advertising crap like that ..that woman is greedy and so over-exposed

Universaluv said:

Is it possible the Sign movie clip was used WITHOUT his permission? Or he didn't have the rights to kill it?

He DID say the Target commercial income would go to charity.

origmnd said:

Considering he actually asked fans what they about the idea of Chevy using the song well before the commercials ever aired, I seriously doubt it. Oh, and the Chevy Billboards using LRC lyrics and the symbol. Trust me, he got paid.
[Edited 11/15/05 15:07pm]

Universaluv said:

Prince does not own Little Red Corvette and Baby I'm A Star. Warner Brothers does. Universal released the Sign O' The Times film in 1987. It was released on dvd in Canada distributed threw Alliance Atlantis and Network in the U.K. . And his symbol was not on the Chevy billboard. 2001, Chevrolet put up billboards with a picture of a red 1963 Corvette Sting Ray that said, "They don't write songs about Volvos." In 2003, Chevrolet used Little Red Corvette in a commercial that aired for the first time during the Grammys. The ad showed old footage of The Beach Boys performing "My 409" followed by Don McLean singing "American Pie" ("drove my Chevy to the levee"), and then the clip of Prince from Sign O' The Times singing Little Red Corvette. The camera then goes outside the club to show Chevy's latest model.

The last thing I wanna see is a bunch of "thats hot" girls
sporting Prince stuff like they do Bob Marley and The Stones.

Half of them have never even hear of the person who's face is plastered
on their chests

rudeboynpg said:

The symbol most certainly was in the Little Red Corvette billboards around the same time as teh commerical. There are pictures floating around the web and I saw them with my own eyes.

Here is a copy of the magazine ads they ran (with symbol).



.
[Edited 11/16/05 7:49am]