Yeah, but why should youtube make money out of Prince's videos? Or, indeed, grainy concert footage?

I'd be furious if I was Prince, youtube (=google) raking it in off the back of my hard work.


Although I REALLY wish he'd put his stuff back out there in decent format. All the videos for example, the cheesy beautiful experience film, everything.

And we NEEEEED a concert DVD from London. Oh yes.

Why doesnt Prince get his own YOTUBE channel?! Why is he dawging his fans?

1p1p1i3 said:

What money? Youtube doesn't make a dime. They've never profited off anything. Only the owners have, who sold it to Google.

I have to add that I hope Prince loses all lawsuits and that after the tour is over, that we never hear from him again. He's not worth dealing with. What a loser. Just goes to show you that money can't buy brains.

oldpurple said:

that's not true .. that's why Prince is suing lol .. his videos are everywhere .. youtube: soon as they take some down.. some go right back up... other day a whole bunch of amateur videos from 02London were there..and some 'other' goodies 2 ..

C'mon. You can't be shocked that he's doing this, can you?
He's always been an ego-maniac like that.
It's just like when he went after most of the fan sites a few years ago. Uptown Magazine. I could keep going but you get the point.

Youtube isn't making money off the videos/content that they provide, they make ALL of their money from advertising.

Now, with that said I could see his point (somewhat) if he was trying to keep NEW material off of Youtube, because he wants people to buy it/go to his website, etc.

But is he SO arrogant as to think he can control ALL of the footage from his ENTIRE career? Of course he's that arrogant, but that's a losing battle and in the long run all it does is piss off/alienate his fanbase.

I've got TONS of old video footage of Prince. If i were so inclined to put it up on Youtube, so other fans can check it out who's it hurting? I'm not making money off of it being up there, and neither is Youtube really. It's just exposure. He's not going to release the birthday concert from '86 at Cobo Hall on his own and he knows that. If i want to put up the Drive Me Wild video, who cares??? The Controversy tour in Houston that was shown on NETWORK TV back in the 80's. What's the harm in putting that shit on Youtube?

It's this kind of shit that makes me say "fuck Prince".

Well here we go again.

Myspace could be next, if not already.

ButterscotchPimp said:

Xactly.
What draws people 2 the site and makes the advertising effective (theoretically)?
The content.
Prince is well within his rights 2 do this. He has and always will set trends rather than follow them.
Who's 2 say Prince wont at some stage make these videos (and many others) available 2 his fans? Whatever he wants make available.
It's just that whilst sites like this continue 2 profiteer & xploit what is ultimately his work and livelihood, Prince and many other artists (with @ least half a brain) will b discouraged from making them readily available, bcause in effect, that's just handing over their hard work 2 these vultures on a silver platter.
Prince has never asked his fans 2 take over the promotional/exposure side of his business, many just feel compelled 2 do so 4 some reason.
Leave the man 2 his own devices, and just b happy and thankful 4 whatever it is ur 4tuneate enough 2 have access 2. Prince's vast body of legitimate releases should b more than enough 2 keep 1 satisfied.

Unfortunately, I think the issue for Prince is not that others would profit from his videos but that he is NOT profiting. I belive artists get paid (either directly or indirectly) everytime their song is played on the radio. I'm assuming the same rules apply to videos. I'm not a music biz expert. Perhaps someone else posting knows better.

But that kind of makes it worse to me...it's like he's just pissed because he's not getting paid himself.
[Edited 9/13/07 16:26pm]

christos7 said:

AGAIN, if it's new material i don't necessarily have a problem with it. Youtube isn't "exploiting" or "profiteering" anyone's work/livelihood.
They are providing a service. A service that WASN'T being provided before.

I know this might come as a shock, but it's not ALL ABOUT PRINCE. Whatever he chooses to sell/provide is up to him. Again, i can see if he's trying to prevent new material from being shown, because he wants to steer people to his website or whatever. Fine. But that's not what he's doing. Just like he did with the fan sites some years back, he's going after ANYONE that shows ANYTHING that has to do with him. If it bothers him THAT MUCH, STOP PLAYING IN FRONT OF PEOPLE! MOVE TO TIBET!

BUT if a FAN has some grainy ass footage that he ISN'T SELLING, that when it originally aired was FREE, what's the harm? HE'S GREEDY. AND LAZY. And i mean lazy from the standpoint of there's a TON of footage from over the years. Stuff that's totally fallen through the cracks.

You and I both know that there's NO WAY that he'd let something like the Controversy footage from Houston from '82 out now. He'd want to do something crazy like edit out all the swearing/grinding/sexual material. It was aired ON NETWORK TV back in the day (which is why i have it). I'm not making money off of it. Youtube isn't making money off of it. (we can debate that part of the equation all day) In the end, all it does is keep people interested in Prince and his career.

I think things like this HURT the artist more than they help.

luv4u said:

I think you could be right.. they're not gonna allow anymore embedded vids on ppl's profiles..

ButterscotchPimp said:

My friend, sites like you tube and the like, P2P programs etc r not providing a community 'service'. They r not charity organisations per say, and even suggesting that is an insult, bcause @ least most charities and legitimate service providers make sure copyright owners r factored in2 their equations.
Ultimately, somehow, they profit from works they have no legal right to.

U contradict urself... "Whatever he chooses to sell/provide is up to him."
Is it really, the way things stand @ the moment?

"In the end, all it does is keep people interested in Prince and his career.
I think things like this HURT the artist more than they help."
That's ur opinion, and ur entitled 2 it, however misguided it may b. Personally I trhink Prince may have a better grasp of his own marketing machine than us.

"He'd want 2 do this" and "he should b doing that".
Hello.... That's his PEROGATIVE. It's his CAREER.
Who is really being the GREEDY 1 here? and @ the end of the day WHO'S MORE NTITLED 2 B?

ButterscotchPimp said:

to all of what you just said. He is such a fucking control freak looney tune, it's hard to keep supporting him.

VickiWaiting said:

As if that little shrimp doesn't have ENOUGH money already?

Yeah, P, that's so "spiritual" of you.

I blieve Prince prefers friends 2 fanatics.

Flowerz said:

but then there's facebook. there's always gonna' be another site. always.

christos7 said:

Let me clarify.

WHEN Prince has a website, "Famtube" or "O(+>tube" or some other lame ass thing he'd want to call it, and it has access to EVERYTHING, THEN he can sue. He shouldn't sue someone for providing a service THAT YOU AREN'T WILLING TO PROVIDE YOURSELF.

When he does that, and if the purple kool-aid kids want to pay some MONTHLY FEE to have unfettered access to everything (and i mean everything), then sure go ahead and sue anyone that's taking "some money" out of your ALREADY RIDICULOUSLY LARGE POCKETS.

BUT, until that day happens he shouldn't be going after ANYONE.

If a fan in IDAHO has the Madhouse video, why can't he put it on Youtube IF Prince isn't providing it?

If Suzy in Podunk, Illinois has the "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad" footage from American Bandstand, and she wants to share it with other fans WHY CAN'T SHE?

We're not talking about BOOTLEGGERS, we're talking about FANS. Which is ALL Youtube is. Don't get me wrong, i hate how networks like NBC are all over Youtube suing to take down footage either but will look the other way when it serves their purpose. When "Dick In A Box" was all over Youtube BEFORE NBC had it and it was the most popular thing on the internet, it was great. RIGHT up until, well now we have it so TAKE IT DOWN. Which was shady, but fine. AT LEAST there was some other place to see it.





That's the basis OF THE ENTIRE INTERNET. People are linking to and trading information. Smart business people (Myspace, Youtube, Google, etc) figure out a way to provide a service that isn't being met and make some money (but USUALLY don't start out that way).

This is where the hypocrisy of some artists like Prince, bothers me. If it were his Super Bowl performance that was the #1 video on Youtube and it translated to album sales, he would sure as hell look the other way for a week or 2. If he were starting his career today, he'd LOVE the exposure and the fact that people were talking about him.

That's where artists like Prince, Metallica, lose fans when they get big. Become at some point it becomes ALL ABOUT THE BUSINESS, when it's not about that for the fans. People aren't putting stuff up on Youtube to make money, they are FANS who want to share their love of an artist WITH OTHER FANS. Youtube is just providing the venue, because they came up with it. Why doesn't Prince just SUE THE INTERNET then? Because if Youtube gets shut down over something like this, people will just go somewhere else. It's only when sites like Myspace and Youtube get popular enough, do greedy ass artists see an opportunity to try and squeeze some more dollars out of someone else to put in their pockets.

or here's a BETTER idea?

Instead of worrying about who's showing antiquated videos on Youtube, WHY DON'T YOU PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR CATALOG!!!!!

The state of your back catalog is SHAMEFUL!!!!!

alright, i'm done.

he's happy to give away his music for free but disappoves of ebay and youtube? sometimes I just don't get this guy. Just when you think he's taking a step towards progression, he purposely jumps 4 steps back. This is the kind of shit that makes people stop being fans

Well, this dashes my hopes of Prince allowing his past music videos to be shown on YouTube.

bboy87 said:

Agreed...I like Prince as much as the next person, but the guy is a dick at times.

happyhappy said:

Somebody already got a message from Prince on facebook tellin them 2 take down pics so of course the vids are next.I dont think Prince is weird 4 humping microphones in panties but this shit makes him weird 2 me.Its very annoying

ButterscotchPimp said:

I think I love you.

PleasurePrinciple said:

about your sig ... somebody thinks u'r Cat?

ButterscotchPimp said:

Ur glass can b half mpty, or it can b half full. Whatever way u wanna look @ it.
This is not a personal attack on 'fans'. It's confronting the serious issue of larger consortiums XPLOITING & PROFITEERING the artists hard work. If u wanna 'share' the music/videos with ur friends, invite them over and play the darn things 4 them. By all means turn it in2 some kinda celebration. DANCE.
If upcoming artists chose 2 lanch their careers based on these loose business models which offer little if no control over their output, that's up 2 them, but lemme tell u... From my xperiences, people don't generally appreciate something 4 nothing. I mean really appreciate it.
This whole "you tube is just providing the venue" nonsense doesn't quite cut it with me I'm afraid.
Sounds 2 me like ur the type of person who'd agree with public 'shooting galleries' as well.

I'll leave u with a couple of thoughts.
When people put s*** on others, it's usually bcause they don't feel 2 good about themselves..
When u c a worthy person, endeavour 2 emulate them. When u c an unworthy person, xamine ur inner self.

LOL...what happened to the guy who "gave away" his music....

Im just pissed that I never got the 86 Detriot show on DVD and now never will....

FREE THE MUSIC AND VIDEOS PRINCE! I'LL GLADLY PAY FOR IT!

Flowerz said:

people have,b/c I know alot about her and her pic is on my profile(totally understandable)...but Im not