By liberating himself from the shackles of what he had deemed a restrictive employer, has Prince become the equivalent of the very establishments he rebelled against in his stategies as an independent businessman to maintain his brand, celebrity status and competitive edge? What do you feel the effect has been on Prince's music by his having to focus on the business side of the music industry?

No, his whole fight with Warner Brother was over ownership, just like it is now. This thing against youtube/fansites is because Prince wants to be 100% in control over the distribution of his work.

It's 1995 all over again.

Paris, I disagree. Prince's fight was for independence and not the mold the record companies try to package you in.

Fighting for this indepedence has definitely made an impact on Prince's music, because Prince broke free, from the "Slavery" of what businessmen wanted Him to be, for their financial benefit...

This of course made Prince a Clever man. Prince learned how an artist Has every right to sell Her or Himself.

Paris, you make a very good point regarding ownership and control over distribution, however, Prince has employed numerous strategies to maintain his brand, celebrity status and competitive edge since his emanicipation from Warner Brothers; it would be somewhat misleading to focus the discussion on his stance against YouTube or fansites. On a different tangent, for example, how do you feel about his likely ploy in recent years to minimise the length of his albums to that duration considered optimal for a popular audience?

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[Edited 1/13/08 17:58pm]

I don't know how to respond to the duration of an album...
I just wanted to come back and say, that my previous statement could have been better said, I did the best that I could, However, I should have added, the, respect of a Management that gives an artist a chance to be heard and distributed....I believe that respect comes down to a fair percentage of what they deserve, especially, if the artist's grows more popular...That money talk is over my head....
I believe that Warner Brothers, deserves credit of course, and Prince's emotional and financial credit, for his introduction is only 4 Prince to decide.

Paris9748430 said:

yet instead of seeking his fan's support to side with him in his battle
he's now turned his attention to those who supported him since forever.

i understand his wishes to control his image and music but it seems to
have gotten out of control. it feels more like he's trying to set yet
another precedent for alternate media vs creative ownership. all good
and well but he's treading a very fine line right now imo.

he stepped up in the early 90's to make people aware of what was goin
on with contracts and major labels and a lot of other artists have had
nothing but praise for him since then. he was a pioneer of sorts back
then, altho perhaps not the first one to adress the issues, he was a
"superstar" and the first one to go public and battle for his cause in
such a bold and public manner.

perhaps he's got a good point now, time will tell. the internet is a
free haven now for theft and copyright infringement.

it would all just be a bit more understandable if he wrote something
about it on his website. something in depth, explaining his reasons,
and his aims. instead of just lashing out to everyone online, as it
seems now.

I'm sure he wishes he had become WB...but got to keep all the money, being #1 at the bank being so important to him.

We'll never get a serious interview from him. The most we can home for is that he continues down this path of idiocy & winds up on 60 Minutes or something, talking about how he "was 4ced 2 resort 2 legal akshun" against his fams & offering answers about as coherent as "Sometimes it snows in April."

In reality, he's just a largely washed up, one-time icon, seeking to hold onto some fleeting whisps of glory. But since he's not a very intelligent man, he's going about it in a way that is going to do much more harm to his career than good. You don't agree? There are many more people lamenting Prince's current business practices & methods of "fan interaction" than there are celebrating them.

prince is and never has been a mastermind at his business relations. because he wants control over his music so much, thus u have out in the market, no DVD's that truly show off his talents as a musician. the leadoff singles 4 his albums have been terrible ever since emancipation something that warner bros or any real record company would have talked him out of doing. so if anyone is 2 blame 4 this, it's prince now that he is independent and not having people around him 2 challange him and go against him 2 make the RIGHT decisions.

It's a bad analogy. WB is about controlling someone else's intellectual and artistic property. Prince seeks to control his own.

Genesia said:

Good point, Genesia, however, whilst Prince was under Warner Brothers less of his time and energy was spent managing the business side of his affairs, which meant he was able to focus firmly on the music. By becoming independent, he's necessarily had to spend considerable time and energy learning how to manage his business in order to maintain his brand, celebrity status and remain competitive. The question is, has this shift in his attention impacted the music?

IstenSzek said:

not only that but in the process he forgot about the most important aspect: the music.

sosgemini said:

What are you talking about? He put out a record less than a year ago, and alot of this stuff was going on when he was in the middle of a tour.


How many of the U.K. orgers sold their concert tickets when this whole thing started???

Paris9748430 said:

oh, im sorry...i meant: good music.

sosgemini said:

i was going 2 say the same thing ..just cause he put out a record didn't mean that the music was great cause it wasn't! it sucked big time!

Tame said:

sosgemini said:

Prince hasnt put out anything decent since... shit Exodus?