Went there to check out some oldschool videos, all gone....

So.., Prince? If I want to check out your performance of "love bizarre" with Shiela E. at some 80s MTV event, you think its best we just have no source to check it out?

Come on.....

An artist attacking his fans so consistently is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard of.

It's idiotic.

ThreadBare said:

It is idiotic. People worship him and buy all his music, why we he attack fans who don't profit off his stuff? It's free publicity. Prince is horrible for doing it.

it is disgraceful. we are some of the most loyal fans around and we deserve a lot more than that...

You'd say something if you could buy the video clips, or concert footage somewhere, but he wont release it. Its like he just doesnt want us to watch it!

IRISHFAN said:

adorable2 said:

It's a God complex.

We are not the chosen...the rainbow children! The muse hates us!

ThreadBare said:

this is strange, but i do believe if he had the power to wipe out all the data stored in our brains he'd start with the stuff posted on housequake.

I can agree with Prince with the use of his material however he should have a plan to make this stuff available to his fanbase.The perfect situation would be for an agreement with the Org. or Housequake to be used as a clearinghouse for his material.

MikeMatronik said:

Y'all are crackin' me up this morning.

muleFunk said:

yeah offer downloads for a small fee..

ThreadBare said:

We raided the digital garden... we are The Resistor's dream

We are shameful because we come from Mendacity!

MikeMatronik said:

Dude, I come from D.C.

There is only 1 consistent thing to Prince over 30 years, and it's not even his music. It's his need for control. Control of everything and everyone around him.

Sites that show(ed) his material like HQ or Youtube are outside his immediate control. He certainly feels it absolutely necessary to control this output otherwise he would not have continued trying to stamp it all down for so many years. In his defence, I'd say he may feel that it disrupts possible revenue streams for the future which he understandably needs to protect. Though I personally think it would do him more good than harm overall if these videos were available and he did not try to hurt his own fan base.

IRISHFAN said:

Dont get your knickers in a twist jeez

It's a BAD thing!!! I understood his point when Housequake videos had to progressively download to the viewers computer but Housequake did the right thing and changed that!

Now we can't even view them at all and it sucks! Now we can only TELL people about the some of the coolest highlights of Prince's career because for the most part, we sure can't SHOW them!!!

machinegun said:

Some one.....UNDERSTANDS.

Look if I had a product that people wanted I don't want people to steal it or sell it without me getting my just reward. I think that he should get his money.
Just he needs to contract with folks that really want to promote him. The ideal situation would have been with Uptown but that bridge has been burned down.

it's disgusting!!

Prince is a truly selfish human being

muleFunk said:

What is ideal about that? He sued Uptown in 1999.

Graycap23 said:

And the rest of us understand this to be an oversimplification: Prince always has been the one to whine about needing the freedom to release the product, to free the music that so long had been held captive by the evil Warner Bros.

But, he has taken pains throughout his career to muzzle that very thing. And, MachineGun's point about disrupting possible revenue streams hinges upon the sales of later products being hurt.

But Prince never releases those products. So, ultimately, it comes off as him wanting to exercise whatever control he can over people and their image of him. So, he attacks the few people who care about songs like Wally's Sunglasses or Splash or Roadhouse Garden...

It's idiotic.

We all understand.

It's wrong, WRONG.....WRONG!!!!!

I'm indifferent.

ThreadBare said:

Neither you nor I know for sure what Prince may decide to release or even re-work in to something else in the future. From his perspective, the less of his image and material bandied about by 3rd parties, the better. And from a personal perspective it may actually offend him. He has decided to draw the line at the most unabigious point - no material out there. Sure, he may never ever release Roadhouse, or he may one day, we don't know. But he still needs to protect his revenues for all eventualities including relying on these very tracks come the day he completely stops being able to create new material, or tour anymore, a bit like a pension. I don't think we have much right to call him selfish or worse. We have soooo much official material, the man is still out there performing, to whinge when we can't hear every note he's ever played is somewhat selfish.
However, I'm still of the opinion that he should looks for ways of working with his fanbase rather than against and it would not hirt him as much as he thinks to let a few things exist out there.

Another strange decision ...

machinegun said:

No, seriously. I hear what you're saying. But, if you contrast Prince's behavior with that of other acts (Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam come to mind immediately) who take the opposite approach with their fans and still command decent sales, fan loyalty and market interest, I don't see how we're left with any other conclusion but to call Prince selfish, greedy or idiotic.