Everybody knows or should know how innovative and groundbreaking Prince's music is and his legacy musically is etched in stone for future generations to come. However, it may not be obvious and apparent to the casual Prince fans or by mainstream media and by the general public at large, P should be after he's gone (hopefully that will be a long time from now) remembered for his risks and breakthroughs in business. Think about it: for years since he was signed to Warners as a teenager P always craved ultimate control over his music, career and intellectual copyrights so much he waited years for a record company to allow him to produce himself, release an album every year, produce for other artists under his production company until he declared war against WB (and the industry). After his departure from Warners he made risks (if made by others would have ruined their careers) like:

1) by becoming the first major pop artist/and artist period to release his music exclusively on the Internet CRYSTAL BALL.

2) Having enough clout and business savvy via Londell McMillan to negotiate one-album deals, therefore keeping his master recordings, paying the company to promote and market the record while keeping the lion share of the profits and not committing to a company for mulitiple albums.

3) Grandfathering the "CD included in ticket price" clause during his 2004ever Musicology Greatest Hits tour. By selling as many as 250,000 CDs to fans on their way to their seats he ensured himself a platinum plaque and pissed Billboard off so much that changed the way CD sales are accounted for when charting CDs. Now artists have to give fans the choice of paying for the CD at the venue. That's why i call changing the game.

Prince has had a love/hate releationship with the industry for years. But hopefully when the talk about his legacy they will talk about these accomplishments along with the salacious controversies.

More and More frequently, people have been comming out with these "when Prince is Dead" themed threads.

One can't help but ponder if this isn't some subconscious collective knowledge taking place.

I'm not wishing death on him. That is sick and sadistic. The title of the thread is misleading. I was trying to convey that his legacy continues to grow more enriched and wonderfully complex because of his great breakthroughs in business. All i'm saying is he should recognized more for his business model as well as musical innovativeness.

bashraka said:

Yes I was aware.

However your model assumes the world to be a fixed place, that is itn't.

bashraka said:

Ya then the internet evolved in2 P2P file sharing and all that's out the window...
He has tried his hardest tho, U gotta give him that much.

That said... he will always maintain artistic control of his work, which is great, but in terms of business...it's a system designed 2 fail, and he aint 2 far gone 2 c that yet.

He'll be remembered as a groundbreaking musician, but not as a businessman.

The three examples you gave are not true anyway...
1) Crystal Ball was NOT exclusive to the internet. In fact this point caused a
backlash from the fans as the album was made available in stores before most
fans who'd ordered it direct from 1-800-NEW-FUNK had recieved it.
2) Having one album deals is hardly a indicator of anything. Firstly, owning
your own masters has nothing to do with whether you've signed a one album deal
or not. And having albums spread over many different companies just causes
problems with licensing and availability, plus it makes the creation of any
kind of collection of this material virtually impossible.
3) The 'free CD with concert ticket' thing was just a cheeky idea that he
managed to get away with. It was seen as an unfair or underhand way of charting
and was effectively banned from any future use, so I'd hardly call it
groundbreaking. More like exploiting a legal loophole which has now been closed.

Groundbreaking musician... well, he's known as that now... and, even though I DO often comment to the contrary, he's NOT done yet.

Groundbreaking businessman? No. Possibly: innovative, creative, risky, dumb, BUT not groundbreaking.

That said, I believe his exploitation of the 'loop-hole' that allowed Musicology to chart with the freebie at concerts WAS genius. Incredible that no-one considered it before.

bashraka said:

And making a complete and utter balls-up of it in the process.

Official history is very selective.

sacredwarrior said:

Let's pretend we're married...

I don't believe I will ever have enough money 2 pay Prince a worthy sum, 4 the comfort & joy the sharing of his talent has brought, and continues 2 bring me 2 this very day... Even if Prince were never 2 release another single piece of music, what he's already shared, is priceless.
So, if I had 2 equate his worth 2 a monetary amount, from a 'business point of view' he's well beyond my means.
Other than that he will always b in my heart as well, remembered 4 being there, at the touch of a button, just when I needed him most.
Thank U Prince
Brotherly love

BorisFishpaw said:

I'm in complete agreement. There's more tidbits in Alex Hahn's book that indicates Prince's business sense is lacking. I agree with him being a great musician.

Speaking of business, what's going on with Paisley Park?

He'll be remembered for his music and some of his internet innovations (which were way ahead of their time to his detriment). But even his internet excusions that have been hailed, were actually a disaster ie Crystall Ball. He will be known as someone who used the rules such as changing his name, which freed him from WB to the Musicology/tour tie in which changed Billboards rules (though in about a few years this will have been forgotten). However he will be known as a bad business man when all is said and done. Just becasue you buck the system and find loopholes, doesn't make you a good business man. SOmetimes working with the hand that feeds you is a better business strategy. Alienating your fans as well as the record companies is NOT good business. So, basically he'll be known as someone who BUCKED the business.

BorisFishpaw said:

Number 2 is going to have reprocussions beyond our comprehension later on. He should have kept it all via NPG and distributed in house. If Columbia or any of the others wanted to distribute...specail arrangements could have been made, but I would have kept everything in house!