Prince at times is an odguy. He makes any album named anunpronounceable symbol, He changes his name to a symbol. He tore up his wedding papers. Then he voews to sign no more contracts.

I thought i odd and unwise that Prince wouldn't sign anymore record contracts.Your record company is your life and blood. AN album is more than just hte work of an artist but of boff camera and corporate people. How was he planning on getting airplay,,money for touring,andadvertising. SOmehow Prince thought it would be wise if he sold albums on on MP3.

Perhaps thebiggestmovement in MP3 but I can't see everybody downloading and I definetly can't see any artist without a record company. SO Musicology comes out and it's on CD in The US. Does this mean Prince realized he can't do without corporate sponsors> 3121 went the same route.

Yes corporations are evil and wan't money, yes artists wan't to make music and be free. It's one of those paradoxes corporations can't exist without workers and workers can't exists without corporations. Till the average person gets a million dollars we're stuck with eachother.

Prince has been without a record company 4 a decade. I think he's done pretty well dispite that fact.

The only thing he does with record companies now is use them as distributors... and I do believe there is a "one-record deal" contract with the label to do that.

The big factor being, he is not bound to a record label any longer, and he has owned his own work since Emancipation. That's pretty remarkable.

so many words and so few facts. impressive

June7 said:

well said.....

fluid said:

Sounds to me like you work for a record company going through hard times or something. Are you trying to recruit Prince?

ElCapitan said:

So even before The Rainbow Children he was doing his own thing?

I know he changed his name to a symbol to get out of a contract but he was on his on not long after that? I thought TRC was his first on his own without a contract.

IS he under contract now cause he's getting video and airplay.

fluid said:

He's been doing his own thing since Emancipation in 1996.

fluid said:[quote]Prince at times is an odguy. He makes any album named anunpronounceable symbol, He changes his name to a symbol. He tore up his wedding papers. Then he voews to sign no more contracts.

I thought i odd and unwise that Prince wouldn't sign anymore record contracts.Your record company is your life and blood. AN album is more than just hte work of an artist but of boff camera and corporate people. How was he planning on getting airplay,,money for touring,andadvertising. SOmehow Prince thought it would be wise if he sold albums on on MP3.

Perhaps thebiggestmovement in MP3 but I can't see everybody downloading and I definetly can't see any artist without a record company. SO Musicology comes out and it's on CD in The US. Does this mean Prince realized he can't do without corporate sponsors> 3121 went the same route.

Yes corporations are evil and wan't money, yes artists wan't to make music and be free. It's one of those paradoxes corporations can't exist without workers and workers can't exists without corporations. Till the average person gets a million dollars we're stuck with eachother.


Ok, I'm addressing all the areas of your paragraph that are highlighted green. No offense here, but where do you get your information from? Forbes magazine listed Prince making 50 Million dollars for Musicology (look it up), money he would have never gotten from a record contract (your average contract is 20 Million, depending on the artist). On the Housequake site, there is an interview with Prince on Jay Leno (2001), he explained how Mariah Carey was ripped off from the label and explained how the business works (look it up). Prince can do whatever he wants and will make more money (2 and 3x more) than his peers..and why? No Contract.....The man has been in the business literally for 30 years (1978) and YOU think he doesnt know what he's doing? Honestly dude, where did you get your information from? Prince needs no corporate sponsorship ..he is doing quite well.
[Edited 8/12/06 1:12am]
[Edited 8/12/06 1:15am]

fluid said:

Wow - not only does this post show a complete lack of understanding of the music industry and artist/lable realtionships, it mostly ignores what Prince has been doing and his acheivments over the last decade!! - Well done

damn, good stuff ya got dude, how about sharing??

Well to set the record straight, Record Companies are not 'the big bad wolf'
that people make them out to be. Many many artists have excellent relationships
with their record company. It's all down to the details of your contract and
the people you deal with.

In Prince's case, he used to have a great relationship with his record company.
Warner Bros gave him a huge amount of freedom, and when it came to control,
Prince had more say than most. He had final say over pretty much everything.
Prince and WB in the 80's worked great together.

However it all went wrong in the 90's due to two main things. The new contract
which Prince signed (after his original one had expired) and a major change
over in management at WB. These two things combined to create a situation where
Prince was under pressure to deliver 'hit' albums rather than being free to
follow his muse. His new contract would only really benefit him financially
if he shifted units like Madonna and Michael Jackson, if he didn't, he would
be in danger of not recouping his costs. So there was a financial burden to
maintain a 'Diamonds And Pearls' level of mainstream success (something that
Prince hardly had a track record for previously). The other major problem was
the management changeover ot WB, which meant Prince was left on his own,
without the support of those high up who appreciated his music and talent.
He was left with a very business orientated team of people to deal with, and
that essensial rapport was lost.

So as you can see the reality was that it wasn't all WB's fault, but it wasn't
all Prince's fault either. Yes, in retrospect he should've known better than
to sign that contract, and he has no-one but himself to blame for that, but
it's not his fault that his record company changed into a more faceless,
corporate unfriendly place. Truly a sad situation all round cuz there were
no winners, only losers.

fluid said:

that is because you lack vision


free mp3 is the way of the future / already happening now .


artists with no record company - already happening now .

BorisFishpaw said:

Thanks for breaking it down without romanticizing the situation or demonizing the parties involved.

BorisFishpaw said:

because music and money dont mix

Flowerz said:

Prince would never make 50 million with a tour today (BTW, you're somehow confusing money that artist get for their contract and money earned from touring, I think), had not a major label made him successful and famous. To say he makes 2 or 3 times more than his peers (who exactly?), no matter what he does, is way off.

calldapplwondery83 said:

Not if they are selling the same amount of records, it's not off. Let's say Chamillionaire sells 500,000 records at $10 a pop. That's $5,000,000 in sales. His bitch ass is obligated to the record company for 75% of that.
Now, Prince selling $5 million worth of records, he keeps the lions share of that.

sacredwarrior said:

Yes they do... but it's all about the balance.

BorisFishpaw said:

great post.

sacredwarrior said:

Major artists couldn't do it on MP3. If you or I made a record without a company and released it on the internet MP3 would help us. Someone like Mariah Carrey or Janet Jackson need the support of their record companies.


BTW Prince signed a billlion dollar contract from what I heard. He shoudl have made some money off of that even if he didn't sell largley. TLC onthe other hand I don't see how they screwed. They made million but only had about $50,000 to take home with them and lived with their parents. They said to pay for videoas.and tours. 1st of all I thought companies pay for all that. Other artists tour and get on TV and they don't go bankrupt. They must have spent a hell of alot.

Revolution said: