Hasn't prince come a long way since his laughing stock 'symbol / slave' days of the mid nineties. Most of my friends bought the MOS and are astonished at prince's musical ability, simply having no idea of his range and musicianship.
As far as I'm concerned his standing has never been higher.

Position in history secure, place sat amongst the gods - not in question.
Well done prince.

excessex said:

I don't agree, but that makes a bit more sense.

emesem said:

Prince is a musical and marketing genius #1, #2 most true artist make music not 4 the money but 4 the love of making the music itself #3 Paul McCartney, U2 and Prince have enough money 2 do what ever they want when ever they want, so why do U think it's n ur words "to squeeze out the last couple of dimes from their former glory" there glory is n the books already 4 evey1 2 C. No offense but that sounds like some1 who's never played music and was raised n the lip sync era.

MattUK said:

Well, turn in your fan card. Seriously, though, can you come up with the 46 that's stated in the article?

With 46 they have to be including side projects, so I'm correcting that number. It's much higher and his solo/band work is much lower.

Here's a slightly different cut and paste. Feel free to correct or explode all over that which you disagree with.

I'll go with 57 to 61 albums from Prince. Not bad for someone only 49.

Total # of Solo/Band Studio Albums = 28
Total # of Solo/Band Studio Albums & Compilations = 37
Total # of Solo/Band Studio Albums, Compilations & Side Projects = 61 (57 minus bolded albums)

Studio Albums [28]

[1] For You (1978)
[2] Prince (1979)
[3] Dirty Mind (1980)
[4] Controversy (1981)
[5] 1999 (1982)
[6] Purple Rain (1984)
[7] Around the World in a Day (1985)
[8] Parade (1986)
[9] Sign ‘O’ the Times (1987)
[10] The Black Album (1987) (Shelved until 1994)
[11] Lovesexy (1988)
[12] Batman (1989)
[13] Graffiti Bridge (1990)
[14] Diamonds and Pearls (1991)
[15] Symbol (1992)
[16] Come (1994)
[17] The Gold Experience (1995)
[18] Chaos and Disorder (1996)
[19] Emancipation (1996)
[20] The Truth (1997/98)
[21] Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999) (also “Rave In2”)
[22] The Rainbow Children (2001)
[23] One Nite Alone (2002)
[24] Xpectation (2003)
[25] N.E.W.S. (2003)
[26] Musicology (2004)
[27] 3121 (2006)
[28] Planet Earth (2007)

Note: “The War” is not an album and neither is “C-Note”. EPs are not counted either.

Compilations [9] (Hits, anthologies, live albums, outtakes, download collections)

[1] The Hits / The B-Sides (1993) (3-Disc Career Retrospective)
*Also released as “The Hits 1” and “The Hits 2”
[2] Girl 6 (1996) (Soundtrack Compilation)
* Includes 3-previously unreleased tracks
[3] Crystal Ball (1998) (Outtakes)
[4] The Vault…Old Friends 4 Sale (1999) (Outtakes)
[5] The Very Best of Prince (2001)
[6] One Nite Alone...Live! / It Ain't Over Box Set (2002)
* Live Concert/After Show
[7] Chocolate Invasion (2004) (Download Assemblage)
[8] The Slaughterhouse (2004) (Download Assemblage)
[9] Ultimate Prince (2006)
* 1 Disc of Hits / 1 Disc of Extended Remixes

Side Project Studio Albums [23] (50 to 100% Songwriting/Arrangement/Production by Prince)

[1] The Time - The Time (1981)
[2] Vanity 6 - Vanity 6 (1982)
[3] The Time - What Time Is It? (1982)
[4] The Time - Ice Cream Castles (1984)
[5] Apollonia 6 - Apollonia 6 (1984)
[6] Sheila E. - Glamorous Life (1984)
[7] The Family - The Family (1985)
[8] Sheila E. - Romance 1600 (1985)
[9] Madhouse - 8 (1987)
[10] Jill Jones - Jill Jones (1987)
[11] Madhouse - 16 (1987)
[12] Sheila E. - Sheila E. (1987) (Debatable)
[13] Mavis Staples - Time Waits For No One (1989)
[14] Eric Leeds - Times Squared (1991)
[15] Carmen Electra - Carmen Electra (1992) (Debatable)
[16] Mavis Staples - The Voice (1993) (Debatable)
[17] New Power Generation - Goldnigga (1993)
[18] NPG - Exodus (1995)
[19] Mayte - Children of the Sun (1995)
[20] NPG Orchestra - Kamasutra (1997/98)
[21] Chaka Khan - Come 2 My House (1998)
[22] Graham Central Station – GCS 2000 (1998) (Debatable)
[23] New Power Generation – New Power Soul (1998)
[xx] Tamar - Milk & Honey (2006) (canceled)

Side Project Compilations [1]

[01] Various Artists - 1-800-NEW-FUNK (1994)

--

Don’t count towards Prince’s total of 61.

Significant-Contribution Albums [5] (Consisting of at Least 1/3 but less than 1/2 Prince-penned/Co-penned tracks)

[01] The Time - Pandemonium (1990)
[02] Elisa Fiorillo – I Am (1990)
[03] Ingrid Chavez – May 19, 1992 (1991) (debatable)
[04] Tevin Campbell – I’m Ready (1993)
[05] Martika – Martika’s Kitchen (1991)

Corrections
[Edited 7/19/07 15:32pm]

I dont see the SHEENA EASTON record The Lover in me with 2 tracks, 101 and cool love. would this also count?

emesem said:

that's the point, no matter how great the music is the general audience really isn't interested in it anymore. popular music is for teens, and teens ain't into old folks. Prince knows this, and knows the money isn't in record sales it is in concerts. it doesn't matter how great or bad his music is, it will sell the same no matter what, save for a couple of thousand copies.

guess what, the rest of the world isn't waiting for a great Prince album. they simply don't care. but they know he rips the shows, and are more willing to drop a couple of bills to see him live, where his real star shines, than buy a $10 album, regardless of whether they would like it or not.

New Power Soul A Side Project? Only by name. Prince wrote every song, sang lead vocals on every song, and played either guitar, bass, or keyboards on every song, and he produced every song. He's also on the cover, and he took the cover picutre, using a timed 1998 polaroid, and ran back and posed before the camera clicked. Other than that he had absolutely nothing to do with it.

emesem said:

May I ask again... Who in the hell is gonna even know the album is good enough to buy if it's not placed in their laps, considering the current state of affairs in the music industry??

This article is right on! This guy gets it!

It used to be that tours were a way of selling albums, but now it's the other way around: albums are a way of selling tours. And that's where you make the money -- selling tickets and merchandise. The more you can promote yourself -- God forbid make your music available for free! even if it might be the next Purple Rain -- the more people will want to check you out, buy tickets, merchandise, and your back catalogue.

Prince ain't trying to squeeze dimes out of his former glory. Have you seen him perform live? He'll give anyone MORE than their money's worth. He's as exciting to watch now than he was 20+ years ago. So then, what's wrong with giving away music to get people to come to your shows? People gonna have a good time, and that's a promise you can take to the bank, literally.[Edited 7/18/07 23:21pm]

musical genius ? yes
marketing genius ? nope

He's brilliant!

krayzie said:

10 years ago, I'd have agreed with you. I'd add that he was one of (if not the) first major artists to use the internet to market his music. He just didn't have all of his stuff together.

Now? Man, he's counting those stacks. He's able to jump from label to label as he chooses. He got a No. 1 album without really moving units in the record stores. He can demand top dollar wherever he plays. And he gets just as much press about HOW he does these deals as he does for the PRODUCT itself.

He may not be the biggest marketing genius, but he (or his handlers) certainly has marketing bona fides.

Nope, Prince is not and never will be a marketing Genius. NEVER


If you ask me to name a marketing genius in the music industry ? I'd tell you Master P.

krayzie said:

Master P, true. But you deny Prince's marketing acumen when the evidence mounts against you and you can't (or don't) refute it.

namepeace said:

I deny nothing, I only tell you that Prince has done nothing that allows P to be labeled as a marketing genius.

There's nothing genius about what he did.

That's why I brought you Master P. That's a real marketing genius right there.

krayzie said:

what did master P do so good? I dont even know who he is whatever he did wasn't so significant after all

I deny nothing, I only tell you that Prince has done nothing that allows P to be labeled as a marketing genius.

There's nothing genius about what he did.

That's why I brought you Master P. That's a real marketing genius right there.

krayzie said:

You can tell me whatever you want. But again, the evidence of late builds against you. Of course, you could use the 10 years preceding Musicology as powerful evidence for you. But since then, your absolute statement loses weight.

And, krayzie, you mentioned MP. You didn't "bring him" to my attention. I'm from the South. What he's managed to do is impressive. But that mention avoids the point.

You say Prince isn't a marketing genius. Cash that check you wrote.

Don't worry. I'll wait.
[Edited 7/29/07 19:54pm]

\

Evidence ?

What evidence ?

krayzie said:

How about starting with the article? How about Prince's chart successes as of late? How about this latest UK stunt?

Let's maybe try starting with that, huh?

Let's be clear, I'm not saying you're absolutely wrong, but if you have a basis for refuting the current CW that Prince isn't a marketing genius, then speak your clout. He's being hailed as a genius by topping the charts without in-store sales and making arguably more money giving his album away as he would have selling it in stores and using his own cache of goodwill to drive his marketing engine.

Tell us why he isn't.

Better yet, for those here unfamiliar with Master P, tell us why MP is and P isn't.
[Edited 7/30/07 13:30pm]

There's NOTHING genius about ot. P still tops the charts because he got a BIG hardcore fanbase that has supported him since the 80's. Don't forget he was one of the biggest superstars of the 80's with Madonna and MJ.

That's easy to sell records and sold out when you have thousands of fans around the world.

You talk like if P was nobody, EVERBODY KNOWS HIM.

Master P made ALL by himself, he started from ZERO. With no major label behind him. And he made more money than anybody else. NOW that's genius. Controlling and producing from A to the Z your music, your masters, and making the BIG majoruty of profits on each album, That's genius. The No limits label has sold 75 million records. NOW that's genius.

There's no comparison,