I posted this in the general just before it went down. I thought I may as well move it to music..


Remember when Prince wanted to free the music?

Do you think, now he has the option, he has?

Some people think its the music that should be free, from a currency point of view, others felt he meant artistically.

Whatever he meant, has he delivered your expectations?

As far as I'm concerned, he was talking crap and only wanted more money (number one at the bank).

My Reason?

Free, the cost of music? He often spoke about the rip off prices of CDs and other merchandise, yet now he is "Free" he charges more that retail outlets. He charges huge prices for mugs and t-shirts, that even in small quantities, should cost a dollar or two to make.

Does anyone remember the products from the NPG stores? He used to sell Symbol candles for 4 pounds. Yet they were plain candles, with a symbol sticker on then, which would have cost a few pence to make.

I used to go the the store in London on a Sunday and see the staff sticking the symbol on to plain cheap ikea candles and marking the cost up 600%!

Free, the artist? Prince used to tell us how Warner stopped him from releasing treble album this, and concept album that. He now has the freedom to open the vault up, but he chooses not to.

He gives us the new stuff, which is on his mind, but rarely dips into the vault.

I would like the old and new, but why not give us the 11 minute Computer Blue, rather than Horny Pony (again), which is an obvious attempt at breaking the law.

I look at it this way. If the bootleggers (and Pearl Jam!) can make money on small volume sales, then Prince will make the same or more.

I can understand the concerns with internet copies, but its not applicable. Those that will pay, will, those that will not, won't. By not releasing it, there is no gain to the artist or the copier.

What do you think his mind set was when he gave Horny Pony and Thieves as part of the music club?

Was he treating the fans, or using us to get back at Warner?

I've been a little bit disillusioned by evidence of this as well. When I listen to Splash from year 1 of the NPGMC, it's like... WHY on earth does he want to keep music of this quality (the other 'well known' bootlegs) from us???

It's there, and they won't release it to us despite the fact they have complete freedom to do so, and despite the fact it's well known that's what we want. As a fan I take that personally.

Even putting aside all the other controversies about the club (preaching, censorship) I just can't understand this one.

I'll just keep sticking on the cd and try to forget about what could have been.

Eye´ve been wondering about this 2...

- why doesn´t he release any Vault-material???!!
- & while on the subject: where the F is Crystal Ball II???!

tsk tsk, this is beyond comprehension. He now has the club 2 Free the Music & yet he chooses not 2.


WTF?

Can somebody please ask this 2 the man himself during soundcheck...

Saxjedi U R right: "try to forget about what could have been."


BTW: releasing Horny Pony & Thieves in the Temple 2 the club is filler: we already have those!
[This message was edited Wed Jun 19 8:39:01 PDT 2002 by talk2thejay]

Has anyone heard the song "Free The Music"? It was apparently a B-side on "Good Life" Maxi single but isn't on my version.

Essence said:

"Free the Music (1:49 minutes) is available on the remix CD of the Good Life from the NPG.

It is mainly a commercial 4 the NPG Exodus album & contains song snippets from the album.

talk2thejay said:

Yeah that's what I understood. So this was a special version of Good Life maxi from 1-800-NF?

SquirrelMeat said:

This is a great post - and I have wondered the same things for quite some time.

For a time I grew REALLY disillusioned with Prince for these very reasons.

I recently saw Prince play here in the US - as well as attending a GREAT soundcheck, and I think it restored my faith a little and made me forget a lot of this stuff.

I think Prince learned a LOT of lessons from that whole period. It was a time when Prince became far more open to speaking publically, gave many interviews, etc.

He was even open with his private life.

This now seems to have changed. He has not announced his marriage publically, and isn't giving so many interviews any more despite being on tour. Perhaps he is most open directly with the people who matter the most - his fans - and not the "general magazine-buying public".

During the mid 90s, while some things he said made him human, and made me like him a whole lot more, I soon began wishing that he would return to being enigmatic, out of reach but musically prolific. I wish he'd return to those amazng days when being a fan of his was a constant treasure hunt. He was involved in so much, and had so many "secret" projects he was involved with.

I think sometimes the concept of artistic freedom is an ideal which doesn't always inspire the best work. If artists have restrictions placed on them (such as a limit on how much music they release) then they go about creating a way around these rules (and you get madhouse, jill jones, ingrid chavez {insert favorite associate artist here}) If an artist is frustrated, this will be borne out in his or her work too - and then you have fire, passion, emotion.

But perhaps when you have no restrictions placed on you, you have little to struggle against. There is something to be said for the brilliance of a "tormented genius".

I know this well - my profession is a creative one. My best work has always come from times when I've had to work hard to overcome obstacles, personal or better still, professional.

While Prince is now "free", I don't see him working the same way as he used to. Yes, he is giving us 4 albums this year - but perhaps for some, the thrill of the chase is over.

I think for me, it's renewed my interest in buying bootlegs. There is still an element of excitement, discovery and the elusive there

...
[This message was edited Wed Jun 19 13:52:17 PDT 2002 by BloodyMouth]

and as for the inclusion of Horny Pony or the TITT Remix? I have no idea what he was thinking there.

The people who join his music club are already hardcore fans (not casual listeners). They would have Horny Pony and the Thieves Remix in some form or another already, and if not, then they should seek out the released copy (superior in sound quality and without the stupid disclaimer).

It was almost as if he was pirating his own music (and, as Sqirrel has pointed out, breaking the law). And if NPGMC's rationale was that it was "a hard track to find now" - well isn't that half the fun? Isn't that part of what makes that track special?

If making "hard to find" items available for us fans was such a priority, then why don't they re-release The Family? Make all the Madhouse CDs available for download? Or Vanity?