well, some of you claim that Prince has never had his tour sponsored by corporate companies. Then please tell me what this Coca Cola neon sign was doing above PRINCE's stage during the Act II tour in Europe in 1993? Or why this tour was so much covered by MTV at this time in their segment "Coca Cola Report"?

there is nothing wrong with that in my opinion, but let's not kid ourselves... he has used corporate companies... even recently his ONA tour was sponsored by this radio corporation, whatever its name is...

the fact remains however that he never really sold himself to these companies... I always had a feeling (and still have) that he remained true to his art. It's rather like he used his popularity to get the money to convey his art to more people. and that's alright with me.

agarze said:

I had heard something about the coke sponsorship for the ACT II tour, but living in America we were never subjegated to that. I've actually heard that it's more acceptable for stars to do commercials overseas.

As for the radio corporation sponsoring his tour that's not really the case. As far as I know Clear Channel has bought exclusive promotional rights for certain halls and they get their name on the ticket and a fee for any artist that wants to perform at the arena or hall.

The reason I know this is because Cher is performing twice in the Twin Cities with different promoters and there was an article in the paper explaining how the rights to one arena were owned by Clear Channel and the other arena was owned by someone else.

Abrazo said:

I guess i'm just as stingy with prince's songs as he is! i agree with abrazo. it's probobly silly for me to be of that opinion? plus it's HIS business, but i'd rather he didnt. i love that song too. always did!

grandebelle said:

Oh yea, the thing he has with corporations of late, makes it rather hypocritical too! if prince cant back up his words with his actions, maybe he shouldnt put the words out there at all, then it wouldnt be so hard to digest. sorry prince!

I was watching Survivor, and suddenly I hear the unmistakable piano of a live version of Little Red Corvette.

I think "I know this..." ... then they show Prince at the piano. I scream. Millions of Survivor fans are watching this and the SOTT live video is kick-ass! Prince looked great. His hair and vibe were arty and great. The song was a stylized version. The crowd was ravin'...

Then the door opens and shows a brilliant high-level special edition Corvette. The voice over says something like "great artists need great inspiration."

I was floored ... smiling long after the commercial was over.

They did my man proper. He didn't sell out; he was put on a pedestal and praised. I hope it nudges people's memories and awakens more fans.

Like someone else pointed out, he was, like the'Vette, equated with an American Icon. Thems mad props! Plus, he did not cater to Chevy and do something new. He granted them permission to use a masterpiece.

Look, this no more denigrates Prince than the jag commercial did Sting.

The Corvette is a quality, class act all the way. It's not like this was some low-brow product.

Anyway, why is profit always maligned. This is a capitalist society. Damn straight profit is the American way. This is not socialism. So if Prince made some bucks off the commercial or Chevy sells more cars, great. If an artist or manufacturer can create something of quality, they deserve to sell widely and make lots of dough. That doesn't mean quality is sacrificed. Just because profit is made, it doesn't mean it's at the expense of other values.
[This message was edited Fri Oct 11 21:48:54 PDT 2002 by SynthiaRose]

I hope he didn't give the green light for this...if so, well he was the LAST
hold-out for this kind of commercialism.

Every other MAJOR artist has sold out already.

Bladerunner said:

track down the "diamond&Pearls" Outtakes this Song is on there with Prince's Version of "5 women","Player","SchoolYard"&I Can't think of the Other track but Prince sounds like He was listening to alot of Guy&Teddy Riley it's a Very New Jack Swing Sounding track.anyway Prince got like it was rumored 2 Milion.remember Prince had a Spot during the Super Bowl with the Bills&Redskins where they showed Him&the NPG doing "Willing&Able"?He also did something for Coke as well it was reported in one of the Books on Prince I have.

mistermaxxx said:

From what I've read Prince used the "Uh Huh" and "You've Got the Right One Baby" refrain to create his song, but it was after the commercial had aired.
[This message was edited Sat Oct 12 13:25:36 PDT 2002 by lovemachine]

Consider this. Chances are the song could have been used for the commercial if he did the commercial or not.
Which would be better? Him only getting residuals for having written the song they were using while some souless Michael Bolton sound alike over-emotes it, or he himself doing it and making the majority of the money from it?

mistermaxxx said:

Do you know how often musicians perform the ditties they hear elsewhere while goofing off in the studio and sometimes during thier soundchecks? Prince saw and heard the commercial. He didn't write it for Ray Charles. Find that Pepsi song with the name of the copyright holder of the lyrics to prove Prince wrote it. Or else it's all speculation. Plus if he had written the song for Pepsi they would have had a clause that prohibited him for promoting Coke. Which he also never did. Corvette is his first tie-in.

Haven't seen the commercial. But at least the songs is acually about a corvette and the footage of him performing 15 years old. It's not like he's hawking Dorito's like Enrique Inglasias (sp?), or soda like Earth Wind & Fire.