The Grateful Dead encouraged trading of fan recordings of their shows. They even had a special section of seats set aside for people to tape the shows so they'd have a good spot to record from. Guess what, they made more money because of that. Their shows sold out constantly for over 20 years and they had the most loyal fan base of any band in history. How many people travel around in vans for months at a time following Prince around from show to show?

Prince needs to remember that the people who trade bootlegs of his shows and put videos of him on youtube are the same people who buy tickets to his shows and buy all his CDs. Why piss those people off by being stingy? Just something to think about.
[Edited 12/26/07 12:36pm]

Do you think you are the first to make this remark?
The people around Prince don't 'understand' this. Or don't want this. They're not hippy enough.

So Prince doesn't understand the GD situation because of the people around him telling him stuff.
Anybody remember what he said in 1993?

johnnyreeferseed said:

'The Grateful Dead'


.
[Edited 12/26/07 9:54am]

Prince is not Jerry Garcia or any of the members of the Grateful Dead.

gyro34 said:

That doesn't matter. Prince needs to quit being a miser with his music and his image. So what if a fan takes a picture or records a show? That fan is one of many who is responsible for Prince's success. Would giving a little something away kill him? Did allowing fans to trade tapes of shows hurt the Grateful Dead's pocket book? I don't think so.

You won't get anywhere in life being a dick to the people responsible for your success.

btw...what did Prince say in 1993?

Ya think but he won't and he does not want 2 "c" rock bottom!

People do follow him around and he has a large and extremely loyal fanbase that he practically adopted with all those jams.

People will always boot no matter what he does. He's not crazy about it, but he accepts it and could be doing much more to stop it if he really cared.

No matter what people want to say about all of this, at the end of the day, it's his shit.

They were an exception, though. Most artists don't allow you to record their concerts!

And as someone who's been forced to sit through countless hours of shitty Dead fan recordings, I say thank you Prince!
[Edited 12/26/07 14:57pm]

There was a band/group, cant remember the name, but they recorded there gigs, burnt them to cd and sold them at the end of the gig. I imagine this was a one off experiment.

Queen also released some bootlegs over the net, but they were bad,bad quality.

If Prince ever does release any aftershows or concerts at least you know they'll be good sound quality.

The Black Crowes used to allw fans to record their concerts (I don't know if they still do or not)

I can't think of any others that do. Certainly the Doobie Brothers don't allow it!

johnnyreeferseed said:

Yes, it does matter to Prince. You have some good questions right there. Only Prince can answer how would following such example affect him economically. I don't want to speculate because I am not a musician. Also, I don't think he's being a miser by not allowing trading music.

Ask Udo about 1993. He/she knows.

langebleu said:

'The Grateful Dead'



Just kiddin.

The OP is 100% correct.

NDRU said:

[Edited 12/26/07 18:43pm]

Metallica encourages people to boot their shows.

In 1993, Prince said "OUWAH!"
He was trying to say "Get ouwa my dreams
and into my car..." but that's all that came out.

You're welcome.

NDRU said:

Rerun found that out the hard way!

johnnyreeferseed said:

Rog helped him find his way, he always does.

I know Pearl Jam and The Who sold soundboard copies of their shows on their last tours. That would be cool if Prince could do that. I understand that it's his music and he has the right to do what he wants with it. At the same time, if I were in his position, I would encourage people to record my shows and let people share them. I would hope that if someone liked it enough they'll buy my CD or T-shirts. It's my belief that the more you give away, the more you get back. Just to prove that here's a couple tracks from a Johnny Reeferseed and The High Rollers show that your all free to download. When our single "Light 'Em Up" feat. Afroman is out around New Years, I'll make sure prince.org members get a free download of it.

"Light "Em Up" live http://download.yousendit...9974EC188B

"Man On The Moon" live http://download.yousendit...F0574E7395
[Edited 12/26/07 22:28pm]

More importantly, he should work with Ben & Jerry's to offer his own flavor of ice cream.

Seriously though, part of the reason the Dead were so well regarded as a live act was because their live music circulated among fans. Pearl Jam sees that. U2 sees that, Genesis sees that. Hell, even Jimmy Buffett broadcasts every single live show over his radio station & sells many of them as CDs later on.

Prince's status as an amazing live performer is in danger of eroding the longer he stays off tour & makes disastrous PR decisions like going after fans who are in reality doing little more than helping spread the word on how exciting he can be live.

viewaskew said:

Amen! Here's a great sight that allows fans to hear their favorite performers live and the artists get paid for the use of their shows. All shows you can listen to for free and many can be downloaded for a mere $9.99 check it out http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/

herb4 said:

Actually, after re-reading this, the key word here is "Grateful".

Prince should put out his own brand of ty-dye neckties & have a Ben & Jerry's flavor named after him.

johnnyreeferseed said:

I believe Prince learned from the GD. In the 80's, I think he was the one to allow Paisley Park to leak music, and he did it for a reason; but then it got out of control for him. Also, the GD had a large catelogue to play from and enjoyed switching up their playlists...Prince kindof got into this in the sense that he has many songs to choose from and jumps up and down his own catelogue/perhaps not enough for some. The Dead were more free, whereas Prince has people wanting to hear specific "hits" at his shows.
[Edited 12/30/07 0:36am]

Illustrator said:

or maybe get fat, bearded & strung out?

Look at Tori Amos. She releases official bootlegs. THe smart artists that love their fans do.
Prince is only in it for the money.

Simply Red sold soundboards after their/his show...SIMPLY FREAKEN RED!!!

HamsterHuey said:

I guess Im misinformed, I thought Thunderball records were official Prince boots?

sosgemini said:

Soundboards? That's an expensive souvenier! HEEEYYYOOOOH!!

NDRU said:

I think if there was one group that Prince should never look to for inspiration, it's the Grateful Dead.