I read that Prince is going to lose his record company contract. Is this true? Maybe they're mad at him for the UK Mail fiasco...

2Jay said:

How can he lose a contract when he doesn't have a label? Sony/BMG's UK division pulled out of distributing PE, but everywhere else, I believe he is cool.

isn't the 'deal' with sony/bmg just a distribution and marketing deal ? prince isn't signed to any label as a traditional recording artist.he goes out in the market with a finished product and selects the best and most attractive agreement he can, on a project to project basis. he owns the masters, the masters don't own him.isn't that what he said as he wiped the word 'slave ' off his cheek ?

in the uk the mail on sunday paid prince for the licence to sell and distribute HIS recording, that's why sony/bmg were totally unaware that he had made the deal, and could do nothing about it except forget about trying to sell it themelves.sure, this strategy will only work until the record companies stop chasing him, but if they can smell a dollar they will still want to do business, and who knows what other plans prince will have for us and them by then !

Prince does not need them, they need him.

wlcm2thdwn said:

Lets not go crazy ... He needs them (a little bit more) if he wants to make $$$ - He could easily go the same route he did in the late 90's but I guess he needs them or he wouldn't have signed 3 contracts in 3 years (with 2 different companys).

If you think about...their not making a lot off of P (3121 only sold 500,000) but he needs them to pump it up so he can hit the road and make the REAL money.

JMO

Peace

2Jay said:

Why was it a fiasco?

I think the widely held opinion is it was a masterful piece of promotion.

I think the question shoud be ' will he get another contract in the future?'

oldpurple said:

If he keeps releasing these SO/SO records folks are going to be "we need more then one year" but is the record company like every other company? Will they look at Prince and say "Look your good but your 57 years old and we don't want to invest in a 57 year old." "We'll give you this small amount for a life time contract but we aren't paying millions."

Maybe that is why he is doing everything now $$$$$

I read somewhere (maybe here) that the model for artists these days is to make money off tours. Album sales are decreasing and now that you can buy songs one at a time online, probably will decline for the foreseeable future.

So smart artists are using their albums as a means to get people to see them in concert. Prince is not the only person who gives away CDs or packages them with concert tickets, but he's better at it than anyone else.

It's no coincidence that ticket prices have gone up as album sales have gone down.

prime said:

SHIT.... only 500.000?`in the USA? I DON´T GET IT....

myloveis4ever said:

What - that it only sold 500,000 copies?

prime said:

Prince needs who? he doesnt need a label to get money.. Prince has made more money than other artists (Beyonce, Timberlake) without a label (Forbes published it) .. he just needs to kick in a huge global tour..

Well thats how it goes for every artist who has an actual CAREER. And when i say career im talking more than 5 albums and 10+ years in the business, not one or 2 hits here and there like so many people think. Prince is beyond a record contract at this point, labels make PLENTY off of him, regardless of sales. First reason is that they arent paying Prince to record for them, they are just paying to distribute and be associated with him, thats the deal, Prince owns his work at this point so if he wanted to turn around and give it Planet Earth here in the USA to he could, sure the label could pull out of the deal, but there really isnt a deal to pull out of. It is unknown what PRINCE's cut it is for selling copies of 3121 or Planet Earth or Musicology, but trust me the label is getting paid big time for really doing NOTHING but putting it in stores for him. PRINCE made a ton of money off Rainbow Children and he was one that got it into stores, he had a deal with RedLine entertainment which was owned at the time by BestBuy and Sam Goody, it wasnt a real label but it got Prince into all those stores, and Prince's cut was very high on that record, some have said that he was getting close to 5-6 dollars per cd sold/delivered, which is unheard of.

As far as touring, thats every artists bread and Butter that has been around, mainly because the younger acts CANT PUT ASSES IN SEATS! So whether its Elton John or Manilow or Madonna or Billy Joel or Prince or Jovi, they might not sell millions like they used too, (though no one can) but they can sell out a show which is something that the top acts today cant do. Just think back to the 80's when Madonna,MJ,Bruce and Prince were owning the charts when they toured those shows sold out in SECONDS. Today look at your top chart makers, RIhanna,TI,Beyonce etc, they cant even sell shows out without lumping 5-6 acts on a bill and even then dont sell out.

Flowerz said:

Why does he keep going back to the record companies? I am not knocking him but I think we need to be real about it. The big companies can not be making that much money off of someone who sells 500,000 (or less), takes a lager cut and demands a lot. I believe that he needs them a little more.

I am sure that he has made more money then the artists you listed above because they are puppets and they don't run the meetings they are in BUT they keep them around and pump them up because they make more money off of them.

I am just as much as a fan as anyone and have been for 20 some years but lets not be foolish and thinking that Prince was happier doing business between 98-02 then he is now. Since '04 Prince has gotten a lot more pub, press, mag covers, #1 album and has more sucess. Let's be real.... He wouldn't have changed practice if it was "all good."

JMO