[Discuss Black Sweat the above subject matter here. All other threads will be locked and redirected here]

First discussion thread, which is long http://www.prince.org/msg/7/176420



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Black Sweat just played on Sirius Heart and Soul "Funky Friday's".

Not sure if it has been mentioned but Black Sweat debuts at number 19 on VH-1 Top 20 this week after only a week of play.

GottaLetitgo said:

Damn that was quick.

niiiiice

YOU GUYS EVER THOUGHT ABOUT STARTING A RADIO CAMPAIGN?

IT IS HARD WORK, BUT IF YOU WANT TO GET THE SONG PLAYED ON THE RADIO FANS HAVE GOT TO CHIME IN!

I remember when Invincible was released... (just in case, that was Michael Jackson's last major studio album...) and the fans banded together and single handedly took Butterflies into the Top 10, Heaven Can Wait into the Top 100, and Break of Dawn into the Top 100. Just on fans calling radio stations, even in cities they didnt live.

KissFM actually had to create a seperate line to take the incoming request from MJ fans. We took down thier server by hitting the site with so many request. Butterflies eventually went to the No. 1 spot on thier radio countdown for 2 weeks.

It doesnt take but a little bit of time research and some effort and Black Sweat can reach it to at least the top 40.

Once the song gets played on the radio more than likely it will catch a little spark and then you will have others requesting it and it might move itself with sales and other airplay options into the top 20.

Im in

3121...Get O-> the Boat!

GottaLetitgo said:

which other songs debuted in the top 20 did madonnas sorry also a new entry??

jlpugh said:

Sounds humiliating. We have our pride.

Aerogram said:

jlpugh said:

The difference is that most Michael Jackson fans care where he charts, most Prince fans don't.

Aerogram said:

And that is understandable...

But pride has nothing to do with wanting your artist to be successful.

alandail said:

Fair enough...

I kinda like the fact that Prince really doesnt have a standard to live up to, because he has created his own standard. He is a man within himself.

It's very difficult being a Michael Jackson fan because of so many levels of baggage that has to be dealt with around an album release. He has such a high standard everyone is expecting him to reach, as if 14 No.1 hits, 13 Grammy Awards, 300 million records, and millions of fans isn't enough, just to enjoy an album release without everyone basing it on sales.

I've noticed that Prince focuses just on the music and it is the music that sends the message not the record sales.

I do respect that!

jlpugh said:

Just don't think the song is strong enough. My radio station did hit or miss and Black Sweat was met with plenty of calls dissin' the tune. The stations are going to respond to it's listeners.

sorry if this is in the wrong thread, but the indie music website Pitchfork Media just did a review of "Black Sweat":

He's done skeletal before, and in retrospect, "Black Sweat" is almost proto-snap music. But after a decade or so of progressively schlockier soft-focus Midnight Love ballads, this song still registers as a shock: industrial pulse-clank drums, winding German whistle-synths, negative space. Prince works his sinister falsetto hard against the unforgiving rhythm-tide, gasping and cooing and screeching: "I'm hot, and I don't care who knows it," "You'll be screaming like a white lady when I count to three." All the stuff about working up a black sweat reads false; this isn't a club jam, it's a fierce display of otherness. It's harsh and alien, like he's been listening to Mu or some shit. Finally, someone cancelled his subscription to The Watchtower. [Tom Breihan]

asg said:

Sorry debuted at 20...I stopped watching after Black Sweat.

jlpugh said:

Perhaps the smartest thing Prince did in his career was his followup to Purple Rain - he didn't do a Purple Rain II type album, he went a whole different direction with Around The World in a Day. Do a Purple Rain II followed by a Purple Rain III type album and perhaps he gets more short term sales and awards, but the sales diminish and it's too late to use that initial high level of popularity to quickly establish that he can be successful with other types of music. The result is he is still selling platinum albums and still winning Grammies.

jlpugh said:

I'm yanking your chain a little bit here. It's just that Prince fans would not mount a radio station calling campaign to get a song in the Top 100. If a Prince song can't make the top 100, we figure we better keep it in the hardcore fold and not let too many people know about it. And that is where pride is relevant. Out of pride, we either don't want the masses to know Prince has released a subpar song or we tell ourselves the song is too good for today's plastic radio scene or was not properly promoted. We're too lazy to do too much promotion ourselves.

the 3121 reviews have been awesome, the album is set to be a classic (Can't wait for fury. I will start heavely promoting 3121 from the 10th of March. TO ensure that the songs get the airplay and success they deserve... anyone care to join me?

With the propper promotion 3121 will put prince back on the map. Currently 50% of 10 - 16 year olds don't know who Prince is. We can change this and introduce P 2 a whole new generation through 3121.

On the 10th of march i will post a host of phone numbers and e-mail adresses for varius radio station we can call/e-mail to get 3121 airplay!

Thanks,

But 4 now (UK ORGERS)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/feedback/
sara.cox@bbc.co.uk
chris.moyles@bbc.co.uk
jo.whiley@bbc.co.uk
edith.bowman@bbc.co.uk
colin.murray@bbc.co.uk
spoony@bbc.co.uk
vernon.kay@bbc.co.uk
trevor.nelson@bbc.co.uk

Mainstream Hit Radio

TW #128 LW #165

Mainstream Urban

TW #88 LW #124

CHR/POP

TW #153 LW #178

http://www.umrg.com/artist.aspx?aid=545

Universal says

Friday, February 17, 2006 - "Black Sweat" e-single in stores 2/21
Look for Prince's new "Black Sweat" multi-track e-single in stores next week 2/21.
The e-single contains Prince's new hit "Black Sweat" and Tamar's "Beautiful, Loved and Blessed" featuring Prince.

Not sure what "e-single" means, is that just iTunes then?

Is there a video for BLB? If so, I wonder why it has been released yet.

the way black sweat was "released" on the first day seems a little intentional to me...that track was flying around all over the place on the net and it was so easy to score a free download of it before it even officially hit iTunes or the club...and it was some great publicity for prince, because it was a strong track that people were getting for free, well in advance of its "official" release. if that was on purpose, it was very smart. they should do that with the album, and let a handful of rough tracks leak. that happened with beck's last album, and the leaked demos were fun on their own plus they got me excited to go out and purchase the finished product...and now i have the "bootleg" version of guero, and the "official" version of guero. good stuff! very cheeky marketing.

Aerogram said:

-----
I don't think it is humiliating. I kind of think the state of radio is sad and maybe a campaign by orgers to get this song on is not a bad idea. In urban radio this song would give us all a break from that dirty south crap. I think "Black Sweat is 100 times better than any of that stuff.

laurarichardson said:

Well Said Laura. I would really love it if all Prince fans would all come together and call the radio stations to get this song played all over the radio. 5 mins is not going to kill any of us. The whole attitude of Prince's music is too good for the radio is pure bullshit, considering what's on it today. It's even more reason why he needs to be on it. His music should ALWAYS be on the dial and we can and should do something about it. The time is NOW.

Best Dance song he has released in a while.

Video plays : 7 days ending February 19, 2006


BET : 5

MTV: 19 (#10 most played)

VH1 : 13 (#18 most played)






http://www.mmr247.com/mmr...let=BET-TV


http://www.mmr247.com/mmr...c_let=M-TV


http://www.mmr247.com/mmr...let=VH1-TV

Tom Joyner played it this morning. They liked it.
Sybil asked if Prince's album was out yet, and Tom said "No". So Sybil goes, "So this is just a tease?" Tom started laughing

lol!

laurarichardson said:

Of course you do. But the post I was responding to had lines about working hard to call radio stations to get something in the Top 100. That's why I cheekily said it sounded humiliating. But seriously, I don't think Mariah and MJ's fans got their songs to a good chart position, otherwise it would have been a deciding factor in the case of most of their singles. And to give you a good break from the usual radio fare, it has to be a major hit. I suppose a fan campaign can help a little bit, but it does not bring a song to the top 20 even if the MJ fans will tell you "they" "single-handedly" brought it there.

Of course I'll be happy if Prince does well on the charts. But that will be up to consumers unlike you and me. You and I are used to Prince underperforming on the charts and by now we're pretty accustomed to a single barely breaking the top 40 and we still love it most of the time.
[Edited 2/20/06 14:21pm]

How much radio airplay is this song getting?