If Prince were to set up a soundboard to CD ripping station at the London shows for direct sale to attendees, how many would purchase these?

Other bands have done this over the course of a world tour, for every single show that they played. It's a tried and true concept.

Now, typically a 2-CD set would cost $25. As Prince tends to play longer shows, maybe a 3-CD set at a slightly higher price.

Now, the tastiest part of this scenario for both sides, would be worldwide sales of those same CDs via his website, or a "DiscLive" type middle man.

I'm in. Jeez, the shows are going to be bootlegged anyway. Put the money in Prince's pocket, or towards Prince's favorite charity... whatever it takes.

C'mon Prince. The band is rehearsed. All the shows are going to be different. It's time.

i probably wouldn't buy all of them, but i'd get the ones with the most varied set lists, probably like everyone else would do. and i'm sure there'll be fan favorites ("you gotta hear how he tears up 'shhh'!", etc.) and i'll probably go for those too. i don't think i could deal with recordings of ALL 21 shows. that would be overkill for me.

squirrelgrease said:

I would buy an instant CD of every show I go to. Its the ultimate take home. Sod the programme.

I went to see (don't laugh) Wet Wet Wet last year, and it was great driving home, listening to the CD of the show you had just attended.

I did the same at a concert by The Feeling. It adds to the whole night.

Maybe Prince could go one step further and offer download stations on the night, straight to MP3 players. Cut the discs out!?

Unfortunately I doubt this will happen, although it's a wonderful idea that's been discussed at the announcement of every tour since the 2000 Hit'n'Run tour...

Prince is too much the perfectionist - while he likes to improvise on the spot live, he likes to overdub live performances for release. He knows the shows will be bootlegged anyway, so it seems like it would be easy for him to make money off it, but it seems that he likes to pick and choose the bits he likes, and make changes to the bits he doesn't. Live At The Aladdin was less than half the show, for example...

oddly, i enjoy these insta-live recordings more when i wasn't able to go to the show, like when friends buy or burn me a copy. i have a couple of CDs from shows i've been to - bauhaus and pixies, if i recall - and i'm not terribly enthusiastic about listening to either.

though when someone copied me their pixies post-show CD (before i had a chance to see them myself), i was all over it.

Anx said:

I hear ya. Though, I'm a sad case. I would get them all. A chance to get soundboard shows direct from the source, un-polished and guilt-free... priceless.

squirrelgrease said:

you know every one of those shows will be circulated around the 'net so damn much that it'd just turn into one big downloadable mess eventually.

still even with the bootleggage underground or whatever, he would make a HEFTY profit from collectors, and from concertgoers wanting momentos.

SquirrelMeat said:

I picked up a bunch of Pixies shows that they did with DiscLive. It was very cool to listen to the Pixies show that I went to right after seeing them. DiscLive offered downloads as well, shortly after the shows.

Program booklets and T-Shirts tend to go unsold, and end up years later on P's website for pennies on the dollar.

CDs sell out very quickly, and would most likely be cheaper to produce.

booyah said:

All true.

A guy's gotta have dreams, though. I haven't heard a live soundboard show from P in soooo long.

squirrelgrease said:

you know how it works, though - the more fans want prince to do something, especially if they can justify how it would be to his advantage, the less he will want to do it.

Now, if he wants to be really clever, He'll add an extra disc from the days soundcheck....

Anx said:

Yeah, the bootleggers will always do their thing. Prince could make hella cha-ching off his core fan base.

Anx said:

SquirrelMeat said:

Stop it. My pants are getting tighter just thinking about it.

Anx said:

yeah me too. and i'd get the ones of the shows i would have attended.

Milty said:

Between you and me. But if Prince asks you... you'd buy them all.

squirrelgrease said:

haha ya prolly.

I'd buy them. Not all, but some and especially from shows I'd been to. I started a thread about this subject not long ago after reading an article titled "Beating the Bootleggers", thread title was the same.

Due to the amount of shows and, consequently, the cost of buying the cd's after the shows. Wouldnt people just copy their own copies trade them online anyway? Cheers Prince, now we got crystal clear bootlegs!

3121 said:

which is why after the shows a box set of the best recordings would be compiled, with a pretty booklet and enviable packaging, and he'd sell it at some ridiculous price that he knows we'll pay, especially if it's released around the holidays.