apart from the brits, one or articles in the press, there has been, yet again, little to no promotion of the album in the uk?...where is the media blitz?..tv appearances??..concert dates??..singles with b sides??..songs that get airplay??...nothing...yet again...and this was a good prince album in my view but there u go...sank without a trace....
[Edited 4/24/06 2:39am]
[Edited 4/24/06 2:46am]
[Edited 4/24/06 2:46am]

so typical. always the same.

I KNOW, ITS TERRIBLE

I SAW IT IN ASDA, DEBUT AT NUMBER 9, THEN SLIPPED TO SOMETHING LIKE 18, 27, 36 AND ALL OF A SUDDEN ITS GONE COMPLETELY, I ASKED THE MUSIC COUNTER TO PLAY THE CD (I WORK THERE) AS SHE SAID SHE WAS A FAN (WELL SHE HAS THE HITS/B-SIDES), AFTER ABOUT 20 SECONDS OF 3121 SHE TURNED IT OFF SAYING "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS".

PEOPLE WOULD RATHER LISTEN TO JAMES BLAND AND G4, WHATS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY

THE MARKETING OF THE CD WAS PATHETIC, SAME WITH MUSICOLOGY, RETAILERS ARE NOT INTERESTED, EVEN WHEN THEY ARE THEY PROMOTE THE ALBUMS AS A "HUGE COMEBACK" -PATHETIC, GET IT SORTED GREAT BRITAIN

I think Prince is just bored with this album.He's probably already moved on to something else.

I DONT THINK HE IS BORED, JUST BUSY WITH TAMAR'S ALBUMS, LETS FACE IT, HE DOESNT NEED THE MONEY SO WHY SHOULD HE BOTHER PROMOTING IT, AS LONG AS IT REACHES THE FANS, HE WILL BE HAPPY

Happy to see it drop off the charts, like so many others recently.
I'd rather people think about his earlier stuff when thinking about Prince, rather than lackluster samey unimaginative albums which have been P's stock in trade lately.

The lack of promotion here is no different to any other country in the world, including the USA. It's not like the UK is being singled out for lack of promotion! At least we had the Brits performance and the ticket promotion competition on Radio 2!

Artists are making far less money on albums these days and far more when they tour. You could argue that Prince doesn't really care how well 3121 does now. Going to number 1 in the USA was job accomplished, it's diminishing returns for Prince - he could put a lot of effort into new promotion but only sell a few thousand more copies. Whereas he can set off on a new tour and rake it in without doing any more promotion.

Don`t know about the UK, but in germany we didn`t had much promotion except
many articles in the papers and the album does quite well.
Debuted at #4, then # 7 now at #11.Without a hit single or much radio play.
What is interesting is that may hip papers and radio stations give probs to Prince again.He is coming back as a "cool" artist to some degree.
Also frieds of mine don`t mention the name change anymore, but his music again

I think it`s still a long way for Prince to come back.

p0et said:

AGREED !!!

DavidEye said:

That is possible David. I like it...but it doesn't seem like something he is really passionate about...like challenging/exciting enough for him as was the Rainbow Children.

Promotion is way overrated. After all P did promote the hell out of both Emancipation and Rave.
Fat lotta good it did back then to prop up album sales for those two, huh.

prettymansson said:

yup, make that 2.

I totally understand someone who is familiar with only the hits/b-sides turning it off in 20 seconds, at least we die-hards got kinda used to todays P standard, check the last 8 albums (Gold Ex/Rainbow Children not included) and yes, maybe than you even like 3121 , but don't blame the girl who listened to the b-sides for the last couple of years. Imagine what a shock that must be!

you think thats bad, the el presidente (whos influence is prince and t rex) album dropped of the chart after entering at no.57 then fell to 127 then dissapered!!

their a good band, brilliant live but people just aint got time and dont want to give em a chance

So let me get this straight.....promotion is the ONLY thing that sells records?

I just think that it's sad-afterall it is still his art and work so why would he just let it fade into oblivion like that? It is a good CD. What a shame .

metalorange said:

I agree. Let's face it since downloads have become so much of our daily lives no one will go out and by a cd. If I can find it on the net, that's how I'll get it. I wouldn't be shocked at all in 5 years or less cd's will be a thing of the past. The music industry is losing millions on a daily basis due to the internet.

A great tour is the only hope for most musicians.

SexualSuicide said:

Everyone else seems 2 sell albums by the bucketload and u can download
their albums as well so downloading music 4 3 is not the reason why 3121
isnt selling in Britain. The above statements from other members is why its not selling. Craig David 4 example who I think is talentless..when he has a new single out, everyone knows about it, he's everywhere promoting it. The bottome line is, prince got rid of his manager in 1992 and its no coincidence he's been battling 2 become successful again. His own ego is destroying his career, commercialy and creativly, commercialy because he went independent for years, creativly because he got rid of wendy and lisa 4 fear that they would leave him and he would b unabale 2 write himself again. Prince also needs a producer, someone 2 disagree with him and say no this aint good, thats good, give me a better solo on 'Fury' etc...

matrixrox said:

Good point! The general public IMO gave up on Prince years ago. When he changed to he lost the pulse of a lot of people. I play Prince all the time at work and everyone is like "Is that Prince?" That's really good. Can I get a copy of that? Everyone I know only listen to what's played on the radio.

To prove my point even better when I'm talking about Prince most people ask "Is he still making albums"?

SexualSuicide said:

True

SexualSuicide said:

There's a flip side to that coin though. Very few artists can succeed in making a comeback following such potentially career destroying decisions of the calibre that Prince habitually makes. But Prince has managed that feat time and time again.

Handel said:

you ain't lying. I'm honestly amazed that he still has a career sometimes based on the choices he makes.

matrixrox said:

The thread title is not 'why the album isn't selling' but 'Where is the promotion' ie. why isn't Prince doing more to promote the album himself? He's made some odd decisions in the past but at the same time, he's no idiot especially when it comes to business. He'll know that promotion helps sell, so the question remains, why is he seemingly not bothered?

metalorange said:

[Flame snipped - BananaCologne]

Handel said:

[Invalid now, so snipped - BananaCologne] Secondly, your surmising as 2 why P isnt promoting, from what I last heard P isnt getting sued over his 3121 house and there has been nothing but gossip over his alledged marriage with Mani. Remember after all Prince went through with the death of his child, he still appeared on Oprah and done the freedom concert. He is a strong character.
If u will let me surmise 4 a second I think its a case of Prince doing whatever
the hell he feels like or perharps its no coincidence that Tamars album has been postponed, perharps universal asked prince 2 re-record it again or 4 more stronger parts, maybe after the tamar tour prince felt the songs done live gave more way 4 the songs 2 grow. I dont know! I was only giving an opinion. And please dont resort 2 name calling...arent we all adults here?

matrixrox said:

[Flame snipped - BananaCologne]

Handel said:

[Invalid now, so snipped - BananaCologne]

metalorange said:

[Flame snipped - BananaCologne]

Who would have thought a discussion about the promotion of a Prince CD would arouse such passion?

Don't go near P&R, you'll explode!

Number 15...What do you think of the promotion for 3121?

BTW...the album IS selling. Let's just get that out there.