Prince, Music Legend and Internet Visionary, to Receive Webby Lifetime Achievement Award at The 10th Annual Webby Awards

http://www.webbyawards.com

NEW YORK, May 31 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of his visionary use of
the Internet to distribute music and connect with audiences, music legend
Prince will be honored at The 10th Annual Webby Awards on June 12th in New
York City, the International Academy of the Digital Arts and Sciences
announced today.
The first major artist to release an entire album -- 1997's Crystal
Ball -- exclusively on the Web, Prince's leadership online has transformed
the entertainment industry and reshaped the relationship between artist and
fan. Long before MySpace and iTunes, Prince used the Web as a new way to
distribute music, premiere videos, and build his relationship with his
fans. His groundbreaking web site, NPG Music Club
(http://www.npgmusicclub.com) boasts more than seven full-length CDs of
music that are unavailable anywhere else.
"Besides being a musical genius, Prince is a visionary who recognized
early on that the web would completely change how we experience music,"
said Tiffany Shlain, founder of The Webby Awards. "For more than a decade,
he has tapped the power of the Web to forge a deeper connection with his
fans and push the boundaries of technology and art."
Prince will be saluted alongside Webby Awards winners in 69 categories,
as well as five other Special Achievement honorees -- the founders of
Myspace.com, Thomas Friedman, Mark Cuban, The Gorillaz, and Internet
co-inventor Dr. Robert Kahn -- which were announced earlier this month.
Proclaimed "the online equivalent of an Oscar" by the New York Times
(June 21, 2005), The Webby Awards is the leading international honor for
Web sites and the innovators behind them.
The Webby Awards is presented by the Academy, a global organization
with over 500 members including musician David Bowie, Virgin Group founder
Richard Branson, The Body Shop president Anita Roddick, "Simpsons" creator
Matt Groening, Naked Chef Jamie Oliver, and fashion designer Max Azria.
Over 600 winners, industry leaders, and celebrities will attend the
June 12th ceremony at New York City's landmark Cipriani Wall Street. For
the second year in a row, Rob Corddry of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
will emcee the evening's festivities.
In keeping with Webby tradition, all winners and Webby Special
Achievement honorees will be limited to five-word acceptance speeches. Last
year's Webby Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Al Gore made worldwide
headlines with his speech -- "Please don't recount this vote."

bublebath said:

I see they looked over the fact that:

a) It wasn't exclusively over the web, it was also by old-fashioned telephone mail-order, and in 1998, a considerable percentage of the purchasers would have bought the album that way.

b) The drawn-out and expensive fiasco of the ordering and shipping process for a large number of people that bordered on fraud that had people seriously talking about reporting 1800-NF to the Bad Business Bureau.

c) That 1800-NF's ordering system, or lack of it, resulted in many, many lost orders, duplicate orders and more, all of which covered by their policy that amounted to the consumer unfriendly condition of 'no returns or refunds for any reason'.

d) The fact the album was available to purchase in stores before many of the people who ordered it "exclusively" through the internet and by mail order received their copies.


Yep, well done Prince!

What's that that Imago says, 'Prince hates his fans, and they love him for it!' - Here it is, in action!!


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[Edited 5/31/06 12:28pm]

NouveauDance said:

The purpose of the award is to honor Prince for being the first major artist to do it, not put him on trial for Crystal Ball.

OdysseyMiles said:

BUT I'VE BEEN WARMING MY SEAT ON THE JURY - I WANT JUSTICE DAMMIT!!

NouveauDance said:

Obviously Crystal Ball was a bit of a fiasco and mentioning it as a shining example of Prince's business practice was not the smartest move - but as with any new enterprise or system, there are always glitches - pioneers inevitably put themselves in the firing line. At the end of the day, Prince learnt from the mistakes and eventually perfected the system, and should be saluted for seeing where the future was going, which is what this award is all about.

Amen! That was my thinking behind the award, which is why I'm really happy Prince is being honored.