I dont understand all this fuss about Prince debutting at #1. Now, dont get me wrong, I'm glad that he is connecting but had he not debutted at #1, that would have meant what? "3121" is hardly a masterpiece recording so he has a #1 album or mediocre music. That means what? What is the big deal with the #1 debut? Credibility from mainstream press? Another Billboard accomplishment? Why is it that people dont focus on the integrity of the music as much as they do on chart success, which means NOTHING as it relates to the actual music?

Chart success means absolutely nothing to me, especially in this day and age.

I dunno...could be that there are multiple aspects to enjoying and celebrating an artist's work and career...could be that many longtime Prince fans have heard him being described as an '80s has-been...could be that there have been many who said he'd never have chart success of any kind ever again...could also be that the number of people/critics who feel 3121 is very good far outweigh the number of people/critics who feel 3121 is mediocre...

Take your pick.

it's good bragging rights for prince, and good for him. but yeah, when you see the junk that's on the top 10 these days, it's like he'd BETTER debut at number one.

Byron said:

To me, its kinda like Kanye West and his big mouth...let the music do the talking. Prince is an artist that is not gonna connect with the mainstream all the time and thats fine. I just think that is a bit warped that people validate Prince(or any artist) and his artistry based on Billboard sales. That doesnt make sense to me. There's NO correlation between the 2

LoveAlive said:

You should be English, Prince debuted at number 9 here. You'd be so much happier .

We already have a few so what , who cares , big deal threads.


http://www.prince.org/msg/7/183501

Anx said:[quote]it's good bragging rights for prince

to me, bragging on Billboard chart success is like a realtor trying to sell a house and bragging on the beautiful mailbox in the front yard..

brag on the guitar riffs in the music or a new arrangement...Billboard positions are nothing...but a way to take the focus off the quality of the music...

newpower99 said:

Im sorry to repost on the same topic..I didnt see this .

LoveAlive said:

Anx's politeness is contagious

LoveAlive said:

Wrong..

Your average 15 year old is gonna be far more likely to give Prince's music a try if it's given the official status of #1 CD for the week than he is if it doesn't even chart but, by jingo, we're all talkin' about those great riffs here at the Org cuz we're the only ones who bought the thing.

LoveAlive said:

Hey when you have no other life but to follow this board daily , I tend to catch everything

PurpleRein said:

There goes my rep!

Wrong..

Your average 15 year old is gonna be far more likely to give Prince's music a try if it's given the official status of #1 CD for the week than he is if it doesn't even chart but, by jingo, we're all talkin' about those great riffs here at the Org cuz we're the only ones who bought the thing.[/quote]

thats sad if u think that the only reason we can look at the musicality of Prince's catalog is cuz we're the only ones that bought it...sad sad..

LoveAlive said:

What?

LoveAlive said:

I don't understand all the 'Prince debuts at #1 SO WHAT!' threads.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm as realistic and semi-cynical as the next semi-cynic realist, but these threads are hardly original - so why try to hack it with mediocre diatribe. What's the game? Another negative nick on the naysayers notepad? Why is it that you don't realise that most people realise '3121' is what it is: Prince has managed to put out a pop album of decent, enjoyable material of mainstream appeal, secured the promotional support he's been looking for, and sold more albums according to the pollsters than any other artist for one week.

I've yet to read a thread which suggests that Prince's latest opus is the best thing he's ever written, arranged, produced and performed. People enjoy it, and people are also enjoying the fact that lots of other people are doing the same. That's what 'all' the fuss is.
.

langebleu said:

Thank you.

langebleu said:

There it is.

The charts do not mean anything at all to artist(s) that is up in the same range as Prince. Most of them do not even see #1 at all anymore. The best thing about this for him is.... that this is the first time he ever had an album released to debut at #1. He had 3 #1 albums from what i do remember. Purple Rain, ATWIAD, & The Batman Sound Track. None of them debuted at #1. It may mean nothing but it's a great accomplishment...considering he was not making good music anymore to some.

mellow1 said:

You know what I don't get. If Batman didn't debut at #1 after selling 1 million copies in its first week what in the heck beat it out that week

The comments regarding this being P's first record to debut at #1 seem dubious. I mean seriosuly after Purple Rain you mean to tell me the first week ARTWIAD was out it didn't outsell everything? That is totally unbelievable
[Edited 4/1/06 17:18pm]

Prince has been testing marketing strategies for a few years now.

Releasing great music with no promotion,
releasing average music with alot of promotion , releasing mediocre music with even more promotion, the download thing, the concert giveaways, and the purple tix.

I'm still waiting to hear the culmination of his studies. Maybe he'll do a Trump series and revel in it all.

He's kinda flippin his bird to the music industries, but does anyone really care unless they can learn from him?

2 an artist of P's calibre it might not mean anything to him but it does show that he can do it (if that's what it is he wants 2 do) Again 1 of Prince's problems with Warners was lack of promotion & now we C with a little promo from both Artist & Label what can happen. There is enough room in the industry & world 4 Prince's music. Another thing Prince never debuted at #1 because he always had a new album out and nobody was anticipating because they were still trying to digest the last album, new B-side & current spin off band. So in some ways it might be a so what, it just shocking that it's never happened before esp w/Batman

BEAUGARDE said:

Of course it means to him to be #1 or he wouldn't have signed with Universal in the first place; if it didn't matter to him, he'd been content with releasing music through his website.

That said, I'm still happy he has the #1 album!! He should have had at least 7 #1 albums by now (he's had 7 albums peaked at #3 or better) but this is a great exposure for Prince and for his music!! Hopefully, there'll be a new generation of Prince fans from this album and will discover his masterpieces as well!!

BEAUGARDE said:

He can do it?

It means ANYONE can do it , regardless of the quailty of music, as long as SOMEONE ($) has an agenda with that particular artist.

But to retain respect is another thing.
That's where Prince has everyone beat, even with the tragedy that is 3121.

langebleu said:

we have a winner!

Alexandernvrmind said:

Music at that time period (80's) was a total different thing. It seemed as long as you had a hot single your album went straight to #1. Selling 5 million then was like selling over 8 million now. The charts now you can have the hot single & still not get to the top of the charts. Or as Prince proved really no single doing well at all. I do think you are right about ATWIAD. My sister told me she think it did debut at #1. It is hard to believe that Prince did not have more than 4 albums go #1. This is the first Prince album in 20 something years to debut at #1.