shorttrini said:

Record labels don't know how to market anyone with real talent these days

If an artist does a clean,soulful album with real instruments,in many cases,it won't get the promotion it deserves.

Krystal666 said:

Applaud Prince for what? Lots of people know what it's all about, it's just that most kids nowadays don't care.

RepoMan said:

Applaud Prince for speaking his mind. U say that the kids nowadays don't care, well appearently, mOST of the adults don't care either, since most kids get their taste in music from what not only their friends listen to, but their parents.
[Edited 12/7/05 7:37am]

Krystal666 said:

He allowed him to cover "Head" for the "Party O the Times" tribute CD (Which was a real turd)...

VelvetJ said:

Man, I remember that shit (Also Too Short, who had a few songs I liked)... It was cool, at 1st, but it got tired, quick.

And I never listened to any new rap, since...

I was listening to rap before it was trendy for white boys to dig it... Back when Kurtis Blow, Run DMC, UTFO, and others were household names.

Hell, even the Fat Boys...

BlaqueKnight said:

You have some good points, there, but when Prince 1st came out, the stereotype wasn't THAT different for black artists.

Yeah, it wasn't as hardcore as it is, nowadays, but that is only lyrical, when you think about it. I'm sure alot of the artists back then lived that hardcore life, anyway.

As for new music, yeah, they can find more than they could ever want, if they looked for it. But most of the music audience prefers to have their music fed to them by radio.

They are too fucking lazy to take chances with their "valuable" time by downloading tracks from music sites that have an abundance of music, virtually unheard of on radio.

mp3.com
soundclick.com
funender.com
mp3.com.au
independentartistscompany.com
audiogalaxy.com

There are lots more, but I can't think of them...

Krystal666 said:

I agree with R&B observation, except that Prince is also guilty himself of producing lots of hit sensitive, unoriginal, boring R&B songs.

Abrazo said:

Exactly which songs are you speaking of? I really don't fine his stuff sounding like the stuff that is on the radio.

shorttrini said:

Glad for you, but I do find it sounding very simmilar. I am talking about loads of songs, too many to mention from the top of the head, but basically all the R&B type songs since Emancipation up untill Musicology with a few rare exceptions here and there that do sound original and not like what we are being bombared with every day. Album exceptions are the vault, chaos&disorder, the truth, rainbow children and the latest jazzy stuff of course, but in my ears on his 'normal' pop albums the R&B doesn't sound that different than what you hear on the radio. They may be better quality songs compared to most but it's the same type of sound, production and lyric style. That doesn't do it for me and I think Pricne is coatsing by producing so much of it. He writes songs like that in his sleep and I think he can do better: less R&B and when he does make R&B make it better, make it sound really original, unlike anything we hear on the radio. That would be true, creative, original, NEW Prince music imo, but that's just my opinion.

Y'all haven't learned by now to ignore Prince? If he ain't singing or playing an instrument I'm not trying to hear him.

Anyway, I count myself amongst those who don't take the time to find the truly talented musicians. I don't bitch about it though, I just don't listen to the radio. I know there's some talent out there I just have other priorities-- like wasting time on the org.

CreamyThighs said:

Hip hop culture is the cause of this degredation. R&B and Hip Hop are sunonymous at this point. There is no major R&B act that doesnt incorporate rap in the music or just flat out makes duets with rap thugs in order to stay on the charts and sell records.

But art imitates life - this is what we have become today. This is what we consider to be acceptable. We make hip hop thugs with criminal records become the role models for the children and permeate the media. All of this rudeness and ignorance is mainstream now. Some are even given awards by the very organizations that are working to counter the results of their influence. Black organizations have become infamous for this sort of contradictory posture.
[Edited 12/7/05 10:40am]

Hey, "Bills, bills, bills" was the jam back in the day, and yep men and women are talking like that to one another.

I noticed he didn't mention "Scrubs", he must've liked that one.

All I can say is I'm going to miss TLC, they brought something special and unique to the table, and they were cute too.

R. Kelley, his stuff has been pretty good, but I won't buy it. Taking a piddle on little girls just went way over the line for me. Is that what happened to Dave Chappell, talking too much?

Of course there was junk back then also. There's always going to be something considered junk by people because everyone has different tastes. However, there was plenty of good stuff back then also. Today, there is NO good stuff and all of it is junk.

Back then, you had R&B, funk, disco, rap, and ballads. There was something for everyone and if you didn't like a current style, no need to worry because styles changed about every five years or so. Styles have not changed at all for fifteen years now. And if you don't like hip hop or ballads, you are left out in the cold.




Someone's controlling what's being played. If good music is available all on the internet and these other places that you have to "find" it, that obviously means someone is making it. Why is it not being played on the radio then....because it's not popular? It can't get popular if no one plays it on the radio to give it a chance to get popular. These record labels and radio stations can't let it get popular because that would be a threat to their cheaply made form of music going out of style. The more something costs to make, the less the profit.




From the business end of it....yeah, that's true. But the profits are much larger for the record companies now because the music is cheaper to make. They are making more money now than ever before. The last thing they are going to do is let the style change. If a new style costed more to make, their profits would decrease.




There's more to it than just going out and "finding" music that you like. That means no one else knows about it and it's not popular. If it's not popular, then it's not being playing in clubs either so there are no nights out of enjoyment. Horrible music just makes for a dull life altogether. I used to go to clubs to dance and have a good time and if I got lucky, fine...if I didn't get lucky, that's was fine also. Now, when I go to clubs, I go strictly to get lucky because there's nothing worth dancing to. Actually, there's nothing "danceable", it's all too damn slow.

brothaluv said:

True, but do you really think any of the people you just named are really that spectacular?

shorttrini said:

Speaking his mind, that's it? The internet is full of people who speak their mind. Besides, I think it's ironic Prince speaks on this. Wasn't he one of the people who started this mess in the first place with his skank ass ho's dancing around in lingerie to highly sexual songs? If that isn't "lack of romance" then I don't know what is.

RepoMan said:

That has more to do with giving the people a show than it does the music. That has nothing to do with the music. Prince has been around long enough to know how to play the game. Mind you,that was Prince before he really found himself.

He was Using SEX to SELL RECORDS...HE is VERY SMART.

XxAxX said:

Then keep buying that crap "the man" feeds you and live in blissful ignorance of better music. There are so many independants far more worthy of the cost of a CD than their more popular radio-friendly counterparts. Yes, its always been about money for labels but there has been a considerable change in standards. I assume we are to ignore the majors' hand in that change and just pretend its all the artists' fault, right? GTFOH!
This decline has been slow and deliberate and you think we are to be stupid droids and just accept whatever we are handed? Very corporate-minded of you. You go right ahead and play good little girl and let them tell you what to do but PLEASE, let the independant thinkers think independantly. Sooner or later everyone gets bored with repetitiveness. "What cha gone do with all that junk; all that junk up in your trunk" Who writes this shit?

BlaqueKnight said:

You tell em Blaque Knight!! I agree 100% !!

APPLAUD PRINCE FOR WHAT?
Not only providing us with some of the most mind blowing music ever, but for standing up and acknowledging how Rhythm and Bullshit has degenerated into the pile of steaming turd it is today. Prince tells it like it is, hes a modern prophet what record companies need to do is 2 get over themselves, find some real talent like Alicia Keys, Norah Jones did and market that shit like a motherfucker, dont even waste our time with your Akons and Chingys, theyre a dime a dozen to quote a deathless cliche. Theres the keys use them! and ThePunisher you drop some mad science I hear u!!!
Like Aaron Neville said "Tell it like it is, I aint gonna play with it"
PRINCE U R AND ALWAYS WILL B THA MAN

BlaqueKnight said:

turn that thing around and point it at yourself where it belongs, trantrum boy

if you actually read what i posted ,and i mean ALL of it (which i know you didn't) you'd see i make the same argument you're making about independent music. so take a deep breath and cool down

look, all of us/you. whjen we market our work we make a choice.

if you want to sell your stuff either you go with the biggest publisher you can find and surrender a larger portion of your earnings to your publisher and agent in exchange for promotion or you take all the risks yourself and make more of a profit after investign more on your own.

NO ONE CAN FORCE anyone to sign on with any major record labels.

it's a CHOICE.

hate the system? then market your own stuff on the internet, wherever you can find a way. make a stand and change things for the better

vainandy said:

Krystal666 said:

We from the same generation and I can feel your pain, girl.

As for me I like mostly rap, funk, and r&b from like 1976-98, and i feel that good music died in 1999. i tried to get into today's music but they are the same rehashed crap.
[Edited 12/8/05 18:08pm]

jone70 said:

That our Princey always contradict what he says.
[Edited 12/8/05 17:42pm]

drums31 said:

Go and do your thang and keep us post on your plans.

I also like to see black girls into rock too.

It's funny because really Prince broke down so many genres and at the end of the day it's the music that it's about.

Pop, Rock, Funk, Hip-hop, R&B, Grunge, Indie, Goth, Electro...

I mean what is a genre anyway? It's just segragation.

Now I here people talking about genres like Emo-Punk (emotional),

I mean crikey it says a lot about music when you have to have a sub genre called Emo (emotional).

Does this mean other Punk isn't emotional ???

No one has to stay in any fixed catergory.

People bring all sorts of things to the mix.

Prince was into James Brown AND Joni Michell - They seem pretty far apart yet it's what he liked..(plus dozens of other things no doubt)

Sometimes I listen to songs like "Starfish and Coffee" and I think 'What the hell genre would I put that in' ?

Prince has such a cross-section of music himself "Parade" is as diverse as they come.

And Around The World In A Day seems to be less like R&B than anything else I've heard or that I can think of ?


Prince created HIS sound from all that he saw around him and finding out how he wanted to sound.

It bothers me when I look up Prince on the MTV website and I see him in an R&B
catergory.

But then goodness knows what catergory I would put him in.

That's the problem with catergories.
[Edited 12/8/05 18:43pm]

Well, I preferred the days when radio stations were segregated. The reason is each genre was stronger because of it.

On R&B stations, you only heard funk and R&B with an occassional rap song being played. However, the only rap played on these stations, was the kind that fit in and flowed well with the funk on the stations. As rap grew and swayed further away from funk, it had it's own underground audience and eventually it's own seperate stations in some areas. It was no threat to killing off funk or R&B and both funk and rap/hip hop fans were happy in their own little separate worlds.

Actually, the problem started before hip hop merged with R&B. It started in the mid 1980s when R&B artists purposely tried to crossover to pop radio. It takes a lot of watering down to cross over to pop because pop listeners at the time didn't usually like something if they considered it "too black". Look at funk from 1985 to 1989 compared to 1980 to 1984.....the later years are much weaker. What's even worse is after artists like Shitney Houston came on the scene, they weren't happy with just crossing over to pop, they wanted to conquer the extremely dull world of Adult Contemporary also. R&B radio in the late 1980s was flooded with balladeers during this time. It felt like an era full of black Barry Mannilows.

All this crossing over let these record companies know that money could definately be made with black artists. When they learned that white kids liked hip hop, they immediately jumped on that genre, milked it for every dollar it was worth, and are still milking it today. Also, since the music was cheaper to make, they figured why not focus only on the R&B "singers" that have the hip hop sound. It's still singing but the music is cheaper to make. Once again, weakening the R&B/funk side.

The music world was definately better when each genre had their own separate worlds and people were free to roam from station to station if they wanted something different.

vainandy said:

Your response intrigues me. What catergory would you put Prince in ?