I can't find the quote, but someone upthread mentioned Madonna. Let me just point-out a few little contradictions concerning her.

1. She says she can't stand television because there is nothing worth watching. Well, that's quite interesting since she has made a career as a music-VIDEO artist and used MTV as a promotion tool.

2. She edited her American Life video because she didn't want to be Dixie-Chicked(her words), but now since the politcal climate has changed, she is re-releasing the video in its original format. I read that on another thread.

3. She is constantly "re-inventing" herself it would appear to remain relevant. Who and/or what is Madonna anyway?

4. She uses shock value(in that way she has remained the same)to promote her music. Gimmicks Galore being passed-off as art. She pretends to start trends when the reality is that she follows them. Madonna is the queen of selling out because it doesn't appear that anything is at the core of her image. It's just about remaining relevant for relevancy's sake. Well, maybe that is her essence.

5. She charges an arm and a leg for her tickets, and her faithful American fans don't even hesitate to pay the price. However, when Madonna performed in Great Britain during the Re-Invention tour, she said that even the most untelligent Brit was brighter the any American. Does that statement apply to American her fans who have supported her over the years? They try so hard to "get" what she does. Does that statement apply to her?

So don't even bring up, Madonna. Hey, Prince may have performed on A.I., but at least he was Prince. At least with Prince, there is something recognizable.
Sure, performing on that show seems contradictory, but then again, maybe he was trying to prove something. I don't know the guy. But I think that he would care about selling-out according to his standards not ours. Maybe there is something that he knows about A.I. that we don't. Just as an observation, it appears that people like Kelly Clarkson aren't held-back by their recording contracts. Maybe the contracts that A.I. offers are fair as far as Prince is concerned considering what the winners get in return. Winners or losers, these kids leave that show with a built-in fanbase. They have the opportunity to build a career, and it would appear that they work very hard on that show to have that opportunity. They put themselves out there for abuse and then again some constructive criticism, but if they can hang-on, well they might have a shot.

And once again, maybe to someone like Prince, it's all about the music. I must admit that I was pretty impressed with the American Idol contestants. I was VERY impressed with Clay Aiken's voice even though his look shocked me. The dude is weird-looking,but he can sing. No the kids aren't Prince, but very few people are. No these kids aren't Stevie Wonder, but very few people are. However, I think that many of these young people are very versatile VOCALISTS, and to me that's an "artform" in and of itself. They know how to interpret a song or are well on their way to learning. I think that they are worthy of an appearance by Prince and Stevie Wonder even though most if not all of them will ever be in the same league as Prince or Stevie Wonder.

So in Prince's mind, maybe he isn't selling-out, or he just doesn't look at it that way. But whatever the case, I have a strong feeling that he doesn't feel the need to justify himself to some of his disgruntled fans and critics. He's not going to explain his choice--or maybe he will one day. Who knows? It's Prince after all.
[Edited 5/26/06 4:59am]

vainandy said:

SquirrelMeat said:

gosh.... does it really matter?
at the end of the day....Prince is no less a diamond than u or i....we all have flaws....
i shutter to think how this man must feel when he visits here to read all the negative opinions....
it's gotta take courage....
in conclusion...what's done is done....
save ur opinions for what really matters...
"stop those who make war in the name of
death making greed".

As much as I dislike AI, If P was gonna do AI,I think it would have been better for Prince to do a full show and mentor (or scold) the contestants. That show he would have really owned!!!

Watching the appearance over at HQ, it looks like a 5 minute ad for 3121. I don’t see how he did it his way, it didn’t seem like he had any control over the proceedings, he didn’t bring out any instruments, he didn’t talk to the crowd, lick lips at Paula….What was badass about that performance? They choose the worst cameras during some of his steps!

It really bothers me that Prince had to perform in front of Simon Cowell. That man probably thinks he can get Jesus on stage now…and I don’t want any of the “he didn’t sell out crowd” to get mad if Cowell says something not so nice about Prince in the future.

I love Prince and Prince fans , but I don’t wanna hear anyone say he’s not as commercial as some other artists.

NDRU said:

A wee bit pretentious there i think.

It's not sell-outing out to show up and do 'your' thing. It's a sell-out and to do someone elses. He did AI on HIS terms. No sing with the contestants, he did his NEW songs, AI probably wanted When Doves Cry and Kiss.

He did what you'll see on tour. Remember his is the only voice in Satisfied and Lolita are studio songs with Prince doing every vocalpart. He showed the world you don't have to lip-sync, the man did a live arrangement and delivered!

:hangbang:

Some fans feel he's lost credibility with this appearance...

The fans have lost their sick minds once again. He chose the biggest TV spot of the year--and got it.

If he sells cars or other commerce, THEN u can call him a sellout.

Problem is Prince is not sifting thru the fans quick enough to dump them...

origmnd said:

thank you, ann coulter.

Isel said:

To be honest, i couldn't care less what he does, but why should any of what u wrote concern Prince? Does he really still think he has to stay relevant? It just seems like a desperate ploy to get sales, as if he still cares about sales LOL

Not even the ultimate sales obsesser, jacko, would go on a karoke show.

More than most artists, Prince has put his artistic integrity and what he wants to do ahead of doing good business. However, calling performing on "American Idol" selling out is too much. Prince "selling out"? If that's what you wanna call it, it's nothing new. Past examples of Prince "selling out" :

-Purposely making his 2nd album more radio friendly and chart. Performing on American Bandstand, etc.

-Performing "partyup" on the popular late night TV show "Saturday Night Live."

-Making music videos like "little red corvette" for MTV.Again, performing songs on various TV shows like "Solid Gold".

-The biggest sell out of all, Purple rain. The whole project. The movie, the tie ins,the tv appearances, the videos, the more easily digestable music for the masses.

-Prince said he was not doing any videos to promote around the World in a day, then he releases "raspberry beret". What a sell out.

- Under the Cherry Moon, MTV, Sheridan Wyoming. Sellout anyone?

-Sign 'O' The Times at the MTV awards.

-Another huge sellout---BATMAN!!!

-The pimping of Diamonds and Pearls. Arsenio, Special Olympics, etc.

-The pimping of the album. Again, Arsenio, ABC TV special,etc.

-Signing a HUGE deal with Warner Bros.

-"The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" ad, the video, the TV appearances like World Music Awards.

-The Gold Experience/Exodus era promotion. Letterman, The AMA's, Vh1 appearances/Love 4 one another, lovseign on the Today show,traveling over seas as Tora Tora with the NPG. Again, a sell out even as a slave.

-Chaos and Disorder--letterman, Today show, video for "dinner w/Delores" etc.

-Emancipation: Various tv appearances, specials, interviews,etc-including Oprah, Rosie, Emancipation Celebration Simulcast, Muppets.

-New Power Soul: various TV appearances including BET video premiere, VIBE, Good Morning America, Tonight Show, etc.

-Rave promotion: Again, selling out all over TV. TRL, etc.

-Rainbow Children/ONA: Tonight Show,etc.

-Musicology: You were all there for this. Enough said.

See to be fair, Prince has been "selling out" for a long time now. That's his job. What do you want him to do? Not promote himself. It's his job to-

A. Make music
B. Promote/sell the music.
[Edited 5/25/06 6:25am]

American Idol? Is this not the man that is against record companies and how they handle artists???

We claim we want him to be a success and then we shit all over him when he gets out there for the world to see.

Just because Prince performed on a show does not mean he has to support the ideals of the show. Prince also performed at the Grammys and Brit Awards, even though he does not care too much for awards

for 6 years from the mid 90's to early 00 Prince stayed out of the spotlight,

Today, no one makes good music any more except Prince.

wonder505 said:

Prince said he didn't care about awards shows because he rarely won anything. Just liek he said that he didn't care about record reviews when those started to become almost unanimously negative, yet funnily he thought they were worthwhile when there were a handful of positive ones some time later.

BartVanHemelen said:

That is not true.

In his own words Prince and many other artists believe that awards or reviews do not necessarily speak of the quality or the art behind the music, however, ofcourse if you win an award or get a positive review, you will, out of respect and courtesy, appreciate and be thankful for it.

My thing is Prince has appeared on these shows and hardly anyone raised an issue, but he goes on AI and all hell breaks loose.

I just don't see how he can be a sellout when he continues to own masters of his current music and continue to not sign traditional contracts.

It's like you people just want to condemn Prince to only do concerts and not appear on shows that involve industry or record companies.

As long as Prince is operating on HIS terms, he can go wherever he wants.

i'm sure there's a lot to prince's relationship with universal that we don't know about, and i'm sure it's less than kittens and sunshine.

DenverMoon said:

Yup. And most fams still don't get it. A typical quote:

Romera said:


See, I want Prince to make it... ON HIS TERMS. Just like he did in the 1980s (though plenty of that success needs to get co-credited to smart tactics from his management and his record company).

If Prince wants to rage against the record industry: fine, but then don't be a hypocrite. Despise contracts? Fine, but then don't force your employees to sign gag orders. Etcetera etcetera.

Like someone said: the Prince of the 1980s would look at today's Prince and shake his head, mumbling something about a "damn fool". Remember how Prince once upon a time dissed Santana because that musician was too influenced by his guru -- yet there he is hanging on Larry Graham's words. Remember how Prince back then looked at James Brown et al and said how he didn't want to become a sad greatest hits act selling out in Vegas? But I guess that's "artictic growth".

Cue the usual off-topic BS -- like comments about the poster and not the post -- and ridiculous excuses, because those fans cannot bear to talk about the matter at hand.

Anyone who claims AI has got anything to do with music needs to wake up and smell the manure.

Yes it is. The proof's in the pudding: he goes to plenty of award shows because when push comes to shove he really wants to hang with the popular kids.

Oh you must know Prince personally to know who he likes to hang out with and besides what is wrong with that. That's his business not yours.


Baloney. Prince's late-1990s anti-reviews stance was about ALL reviews. Yet that stance only came about at a time almost all reviews dissed him, and that same stance was reversed several years later when he started getting good reviews again -- suddenly those worthless reviews were good enough to become the artwork of his atrocious Days Of Wild-single. Of course, mere days after his "all reviews are worthless", Prince's official site posted a link to a UTCM review which happened to be ridiculously positive. Coincidence? Nope.

You mentioned a crazy time in Prince's career and if I were him I wouldn't give a fuck either, especially because he is so close to the music.


Award shows are rubbish, AI is evil. It represents everything that is wrong about the music industry.

Prince used AI for marketing/entertainment purposes only, just like he is using Universal for 3121 and Sony for Musicology. Both companies operate in "evil" ways as you would put it, but nobody raised an uproar because Prince signed agreements with both companies. Why now, after a five minute performance?

I suggest you look up the word "integrity". Stop parrotting that ridiculous "I own my masters" nonsense: those things are virtually worthless.

I suggest you learn what it takes to operate a music business because obviously you don't have a clue. Prince signed agreements with Universal and Sony (for which you would call "evil") to promote, market and distribute his CDs on his terms (this is based on the Te Amo Corazon press conference and Musicology interviews). He used AI for marketing. His integrity is not being comprimised because he still comes out as the winner when it comes to sales and the owner of his creative work.

Also, ownership was the core of Prince's fight with his record company, and one of the major issues with the music industry so now that he owns his current masters, how is that worthless?


Don't make stuff up, I never said that. I only pointed out that Prince isn't following HIS OWN RULES. That's called hipocrisy.

Oh and you know first hand what Prince's personal rules are? Do you have evidence that he had a rule to never perform on AI, MTV, the Grammy's, VH1, etc.. Entice me, what are Prince's personal rules and when did he specifically state that he will never perform on these shows or market his music?

What is so difficult to get? All we do is point out that AI is the antithesis of everything that Prince claims to stand for.

So is Universal Records, so is Sony, so is Columbia, for which he worked with in the past few years, again, why the uproar over a five minute performance that was done for marketing/entertainment purposes.

It's clear that there was some "coercion".

Again, you must have first hand evidence of what went on behind the scenes. Prove the facts that Prince was coerced or are you just guessing like everyone else.
[Edited 5/26/06 17:40pm]

wonder505 said:

Well, maybe you need to find another artist that you can support. I can't support Madonna, obviously. I've tried, but in the final analysis, I can't support her. If Prince has disappointed you. If Prince is a sell-out as far as you are concerned, then find another artist that isn't. That's your choice. I think it's on over-reaction, but if you can't rectify his choices, then move on to someone who doesn't disappoint you. It's as simple as that.
[Edited 5/26/06 17:51pm]

I was watching the AI performance again, and I think the choice of songs may be symbolic :

Lolita aka Idol-ita -- you'll never make a cheater out of me.

Yep, I think he picked it to say that to the whole AI concept -- he'll flirt and tease but won't consumate the ralationship, not fully anyway.

Satisfied

Well, that's why he would do it -- to keep you satisfied.

Maybe I'm crazy, but after I've heard about what went on backstage, Prince arriving at the last minute, and doing those two songs after all the specualations, the lines suddenly made sense in the Idol context.