Where do you think all the recent actions by Prince and his camp will leave Prince? Do you see it affecting how fans will relate to him? Do you think it is even relevant or not? Please be honest-thanks in advance

Well, he released 2 videoclips and a rerecorded song within 2 weeks.

I say: it isn't that bad to be a Prince fan.

Not that serious to even worry about. Prince will always be famous.

I lost interest in him years ago, but, I still keep an eye out every once in a while to see what shenanigans he's been up to.
He's being a cranky little (and I do mean that to be mean) bitch about all this. I honestly can't see how anyone can say he's a good man after threatening YouTube over that video clip of the baby.
He just doesn't seem to understand that there's no money made by the person who posted it and, for him, it's free advertising.
Just because you (generally speaking) have the money to throw around and threaten people, doesn't mean you should.

I think this is making Prince very disliked among the internet world and I don't mean just fans, he's stepping on the toes of some powerful people cause he's messing with their world. In reality us poking our lips out being angry at him doesn't count that much to him, most of us will get over it, and don't have the financial resourses to fight his people anyway.

as soon as he releases ANYTHING or puts the word out that he's going to appear anywhere..Folks will be taking a bite of his Purple Rock !

nurse said:

okay okay! he's gay. OR not. that is, in my opinion it isn't really any of my business whether he is or isn't but just for the record, maybe. actually, i don't know because he flirts with women a lot so it really seems like he is hetero but then he wears heels and lace so i can see why people would be confused. dang. it's hard to be a prince fan.

for some he disappeared in2 obscurity 4 ages & has managed 2 re establish himself with superbowl & O2...he's on top of his game but is acting like a tart.. we all know he's strong on principles & there will always b the diehards & most people love 2 love a rebel but this will leave a bad taste.
i think he should letitgo & put his energy in2 the music & more tours! & getting himself a girlfriend, maybe a boyfriend would sort him out

it might add another occasion for 'eye-brow lifting in the general public,' but it doesn't surprise me at all.

he's just an eccentric dude, and he'll probably always "look" that way, no matter what he does or did.

he oughta hire a good publicist for damage control IF he cares how he comes across.

but maybe he really doesn't care.


ultimately, it's his boat to float, eh?

I can only speak for myself, but I have to say it does not affect how I relate to him. As long as he continues to make music, and I continue to enjoy it, our 'relationship' is fine.


I respect his right to control his image, his music, whatever, even if I don't fully agree with the way he is doing it - It has no real impact on my life overall.

These actions will hurt him, unless he explains. All he has to do is say that it has nothing to do with his fans or the innocent use of his songs. He should even admit that he's seen some of the fan videos and that he enjoys them (but only if it's true). He should then ask that we understand that it's not about us because he knows we aren't using his songs and video for gain...but it's between him and the the guys that do seek to profit.

(Not that I think YouTube is a profiting machine...I don't think they've completely figured that out yet. )

He has to say something! Silence isn't always mystery. Silence isn't always golden. Sometimes all it does is give someone your power. If he doesn't want to make an official statement, he can put it in a song. People are waiting for something. If he takes too long, they won't want to listen because their opinions will already be formed.

Oh and he has to somehow let people know that he didn't personally target the baby(or any specific videos)...but that YouTube simply went after all Prince videos. You would think people would deduce this but they won't. It's better if they hear it from him, or his camp.

I can't help but feel that I chose a bad time to become a fan...Uck. sometimes I want to just leave the fansites so I can live in ignorance. Bliss, right.
I'm so confused how this cat can have his little come back and his two successful tours and all this incredible stuff and yet it seems like he's trying his hardest to drive people away.
I really hate what he's doing, so I just end up falling back on his music and even his words and actions that he did a long time ago. That's the one I love, the one who REALLY only cared about the music. What happened to him?

Apollinaire said:

I agree but there are some that are entitled to be eccentric to this degree and some that aren't. For some, people would even get a kick out of the foulness but with someone with the "Prince"persona, it doesn't work. If Princes music were eccentric and non pop and his public image was one of someone that didn't care, or if he were rude as a rule, then it would appear to be a gimmick or people would accept him as a foul genius. You can tell by the response that "foul genius" doesn't work for him.

Yep, he needs a good publicist.

i dont think it will have too much of a lasting effect, think things will simply be forgotten as his music is what truly does the talking. those who do cling to such things and do leave him, well, not much of a loss really if they can be so easily swayed by such trifles.
i for one think its silly to attack a source which can offer such an amount of free publicity, but at the end of the day its not really that big of a deal...he puts out a hell of a lot of material to make up for absences in sites like youtube

I believe that what Prince is doing is just a rung on the ladder to where he is going in a business that is newly being paved into society. The internet is a new tool for communication. We have to realize, that Prince was a leader, and following through, even if trivial mistakes are made, are Prince's way of establishing a line of courtesy rules. The baby video may be the far end of what is acceptable, and distributing his video's or image without permission is the understandable intolerance.

I'm not quite sure what impact it'll have.

If Prince gets what he's after, he'll have one less thing to keep him up at night (besides his music of course)... can't say I know for sure.

A lot of people here seem to be having a hard time with this whole thing. Keep talking about it and flaming Prince for whatever it is he did.

I just look the other way because what he does with his free time is his own personal business. But why should everyone else care about everytime Prince "sues somebody"? Wouldn't be the first time he'd done something that nobody understands the reason behind. He lost some of his fanbase with the name change because it went over their heads. The same thing could happen here, but I think its a little less drastic.

People here seem bittered by Prince's actions. But I don't think they should pay too much attention on that. We come here because we love his music and like talking about it. So his music is "sub-par" right now and this is more interesting?

I think I've pretty much failed to understand the mindset of the people who constantly complain about "Prince suing somebody" for whatever reason. But at the same time, those same people might not understand how I can look the other way and still think that Prince is beyond incredible and I still admire/respect him as much as I did in the beginning, maybe more.

Tame said:

Trivial can be subjective. In this climate it doesn't seem trivial. More importantly it doesn't appear to be a mistake, but very deliberate.

Prince isn't the only one that wants this courtesy and there will be many that will want to take things back to the way things worked, pre-internet, but that's not going to happen. What will happen is that a new generation will come that will understand that "once it's out there, it's out there" and will use things like YouTube to their advantage. Really, even if he had the courtesy of the YouTubes, you can't stop the new pier to pier networks that pop up each day or the bootleggers in the streets. It's become the new norm.

anon said:

yh prince needs 2 get with it! btw is he still seeking the light etc etc? he got some morality issues re this utube stuff. he's not a good advert 4 jehova w right now.

I don't think it'll have much of an impact, at all. Let's face it: for the average person, Prince isn't even on the radar. Every move he makes is magnified to us because we're interested and keep track of such things.

But honestly, John and Jane Q. don't give a rat's ass about Prince or what he does. I can pretty much guarantee you that when Bill O'Reilly did his bit on that fugly Let's Go Crazy baby spat last night, half of his audience said, "Who?" and the other half was already asleep in its collective BarcaLounger.

Meanwhile...Prince will continue to sell out small and medium-sized venues and play for the faithful...while selling almost no CDs.

In other words, it'll be business as usual.

Genesia said:

i think you underestimate prince's impact on the mainstream...musicology and 3121 were big albums...his concerts were big (lets not forget that he was one of the highest grossing live acts of last year in america) and his planet earth uk tour has been huge - record sellouts and i know many people who disliked him has even been to see him live and were converted (and of course..the whole superbowl thing wasnt exactly a minor thing). true, he isnt as on top of the world as he deserves to be in my opinion, but i think he'll be an artist who becomes more appreciated over time...a true long term artist.

zsasz said:

I am fully aware of all that. But the question posed by the author of this thread concerns the recent actions of Prince and his minions -- and how they might impact his popularity -- not his overall relevance in the musical world.

I think he's a musical genius and have said so any number of times. His music will be studied long after we're dust.

That said, I don't think Prince really impacts the mainstream, at all -- except as a cool concert to go to because people still want to hear him sing Purple Rain and wave their arms back and forth like they did in high school.

Our experience with Prince (talking about him, buying every album, seeing every concert we can) is not typical. I think a lot of people forget that -- and view the general public through their own very narrow lens.

prettymansson said:

Most definitely! Prince does no wrong in my eyez.

sexxydancer said:

Then you need to get your eyes examined!!

Genesia said:

i see...but surely that therefore means that the public arent seeing this 'negative' side to prince with the youtube thing and arent affected by it, their view of him is only from a musical perspective. i do think that the majority see him as a musical genius, and although they would most likely want to do as you say, listen to purple rain etc. they would still appreciate him as a modern day artist and take notice of what he is doing these days, if only out of curiosity.
i admit though, i hadnt thought about this...i was, as you said, looking at the public perception through the eyes of a fan, thinking that they also saw the sides of prince we know more about.
[Edited 11/1/07 9:33am]

zsasz said:

I think a lot of Prince aficionados don't understand that the average person between 35 and 50 maybe -- maybe -- owns a copy of Purple Rain (the album) or saw the movie. And that's it. I know plenty of people who bought PR when it was #1 on the charts in 1984 -- and never bought another Prince record of any kind.

To them, Prince is a nostalgia act. (And a weird nostalgia act, at that -- the guy who cut the ass out of his pants and changed his name to a symbol.) Any of us who've been in a concert line recently can tell stories of people who couldn't tell you the name of his latest CD and still call him "The Artist" -- they're just there to hear him do Purple Rain.

And they still hope he'll sing Darling Nikki -- completely unaware that there are huge parts of his catalog that he doesn't do anymore.

haha...im kind of glad there are songs he doesnt do live anymore...being as i saw him at the 02 arena with my family...think hearing pussy control,darling nikki, jack u off or come would have been a little wierd lol.

FunkJam said:

this isnt new for him. look at history. did it affect his fanbase when he sued uptown? did it affect his fanbase when he threatened all the other sites years ago that ran scared?

....it's no secret i dont agree with his bullying tactics, but that doesn't mean I won't go see him perform when he comes near my city. you can bet i will be at each and every show.