Flowerz said:

umm, I'm all for putting Prince on top but he did not beat out the Stones, unfortunately. At least not in 2006.
see here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16385870/

Rolling Stones: $138.5
Barbra Streisand: $92.5
Tim McGraw/Faith Hill: $88.8
Madonna: $85.9
Cirque Du Soleil - “Delirium”: $82.1
Celine Dion: $78.1
Kenny Chesney: $66.0
Bon Jovi: $59.7
Dave Matthews Band: $51.3
Elton John: $48.9

Source: Pollstar. All figures in millions of dollars.

Forbes said this in 2004...

"Musicology marked the end of his six-year hiatus from touring, and fans jumped at the chance to see him perform. Prince sold a whopping 1.4 million tickets—more than any other touring act in 2004. The simultaneous release of his Musicology album made it an even more lucrative year for the artist whose name continues to confuse".

They listed his earnings that year at $49.7 million, ranking 12.
http://www.forbes.com/lis.../4L20.html

To be clear, that means he sold the most tickets that year, but was not the highest earner.
[Edited 6/2/07 21:00pm]

paisley16 said:

Prince didn't have an official tour in 2006.

http://www.rollingstone.c...ney_makers

Prince took in the second-highest gross earnings in 2004, behind Madonna, but his lower overhead per concert gave him the highest net profit of the year. He took home 85% of the profit on each night, averaging a take-home profit of about $910,000 per show.

My bad. I didn't pick up on the differing versions of Guitar. Sorry.

That said, the point still remains. Yes, buying singles etc were part and parcel of music purchasing, but a single had a b-side, remember them?, and there was a time when Prince used to put non-album tracks on his b-sides... which was cool. He also used to do these 12" remixes of the a-sides too, which were also cool. I seem to recall his intention rehards the internet as being a quick means of release for the plethora of tures WB didn't want him to release. That has not manifest and I find myself buying songs that then reappear on albums... and not in a promotional kind of way, remember that singles also used to have 'from the forthcoming album' on them, so we knew the deal. Now we shell out and then shell out again for a product we already have. Like all Prince's intentions, it seems the delivery fails... by and large - huge generalisation there I know. I'm merely frustrated by this, and expressing my frustration.

BoySimon said:

I think you're a victim of old marketing vs. new marketing and you're just not seeing it.

Many of the "12-inch" mixes of singles in the 80s and early 90s were simply unedited versions of songs, with an edit of the track appearing as the album version. (Take "Gett Off" for example.) You might end up with an edit-of-an-edit for the "radio edit," an edit for the album version, and the full studio track as the 12" mix. What you think is an extended version of a song is likely just the full studio version, just labeled "extended" on a CD maxi or what have you.

The traditional "single" and b-side is a thing of the past (for Prince, anyway). If this were 1989, you might have found a CD single for "Guitar" featuring:

A Side:
Guitar (from the 4th coming album "Planet Earth")
[this would be the version available to Verizon customers]

B-side:
Guitar (less string remix)
[the version sold for $1.99 on 3121.com]

You're just living through a change in the way Prince is releasing music. Simple as that.

Also, many of the releases in the 80s and early 90s were not unedited versions with an edited version appearing on the album; take America, for example, or Pop Life, or Hot Thing, etc.

You may be right about the manner in which music is being marketed and supplied, but that does not alter the fact that what appeared the implied intent, as far as Prince and the internet was concerned, is at odds with what we have now. Personally, I find this a shame, that's all.

BoySimon said:

I'll agree with you there -- most of your original post was dedicated to paying for Guitar twice, which wasn't the case, so that's where I was coming from.

As to the subject at hand, the proliferation of the internet not resulting in a larger quantity of released music from Prince isn't exactly the first idea Prince has had that hasn't panned out...

• Emancipation will be a multi-year project with many, many singles (oops)
• I won't be playing any "Prince" material live any more (uh huh)
...I won't go on.

But he's a free-spirited artist with grand plans and a relatively short attention span, so what can we really expect?

The "internet age" certainly hasn't slowed releases from Prince, anyway.

GiGi319 said:

Prince always hated "the charts" information. He doesn't NEED that to grade him or his music, much less NEED it. We love him and always will. The charts are pretty crappy lately!

BoySimon said:

Things don't always work out like we think they will. Especially with Prince. I doubt anyone here could withstand the scrutiny of someone fact-checking their goals and ideas from 10 years ago. He's used the internet quite a bit to the benefit of his fans. Hopefully he'll continue.