The conflict between Prince fighting for his IP rights and his fans trying to make the most of this age of multimedia sharing and mixing has been going on for a while now, with no signs that a solution that satisfies all parties will be found anytime soon. The latest twist in this conflict is the Jill Jones case, with Prince now going after his own former collaborators.

This might be a naive question, but since some of you here have been posting a few things Prince could do, simple steps he could take to smooth things out both for himself and his fans, I wonder what is your idea of the ultimate online music distribution platform for Prince - a legal, profitable and fan-friendly business model that would make both the fans and Prince happy? What would it be like, how do you envision it?

And now Part II of my question: Can you imagine [a] fan[s]/Org member[s] creating/designing it?..

I'm still waiting for those "manufacturing issues" to be worked out on the 7-CD Chocolate Invasion set.

The year 2020.....

Prince takes his remastered albums direct to the consumer.....

Somebody's gotta be in the forefront...and not sell anything online...or else, record stores will close. Maybe a one minute portion of a song can be advertised...to support a new release...and then they can give a date, when the cd will be available to buy in a store.

Cd's that can't be copied have to be made...or else there will always be a problem.

Ad Based revenue.

Simple as that.

Nowadays, everybody knows that if you want to look up a video, you check Youtube. Nobody goes to Yahoo or Mtv, etc. Possibly look at partnering with smaller ventures like Ustream or similar.

Create a "Prince" Channel on Youtube and take in revenue from users watching and uploading crappy flv versions. Be on the edge by being a part of the YoutubeHD push that will be coming in the near future.

Maintain a "Music Club" for consumers to purchase pre-release tickets and current tour merchandise.

OFFER FREE ALBUM downloads. It worked with the The Work on Napster, Musicology concerts, and with the recent Planet Earth newspaper promotion. Take in Ad based revenue on the music/cover art download pages.

Broker deals with music distributors to get a product in stores, but realize that sales will never be what they used to be. Working with a company that has a direct relationship to Wal-Mart/Aldi/etc. and can get your product in the stores for cheap cheap would be nice.

Save money on production where ever you can. Drop the mp3 format of audio distribution in favor of Ogg or FLAC, for example. People understand how to enable different codecs for their PC music players.

Rake in money by touring frequently and tour sponsorship. To be honest, that's a business model that hasn't changed much, and still generates a good chunk of immediate income.

Well, let's see...he's already had his own websites...they didn't work too well for him or the fans.

He doesn't care for the rest of the internet much at all, so I think an ultimate online distribution platform is pretty much out of the question.

So what's left?


Eureka! I've got it!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen...I give you the Prince Verichip!



This little device can be surgically implanted right in your ear and it'll play all Prince, all the time.

It can be coded with your credit card number so you're charged for every song you listen to. Here's the best part though, Prince is the only one who can program them. So whichever phase he's going through at any given time, those implanted with this nifty device would have no choice but to listen to it and should they dare say a disparaging word against it, Prince can send them an electrical bolt that'll zap them back into submission post-haste.

So what do you guys think? Did I come up with a winner or what?

Dauphin said:

I am quite sure all of the above were presented to him, but he's not talking so we will never know what is going on between Prince and the Internet and the why's behind everything.

Flo6 said:

Why would I want online distribution?
I want usable, durable discs or other storage, if standardized

Yes, I am not of the ipod generation. I have a few shelves with CD's.

So for me: online sales: yes; online distribution (downloading, streaming) no.

udo said:

that's not going to work. the minute a CD is released, heck before its even released now, it's all over the Internet where you can download it for free.

Tame said:

Somebody is - the Beatles. (Or...more accurately...EMI.) None of their music is available legally online.

SexyBeautifulOne said:

Do you get automatically fined if you're singing along and mis-quote a lyric? Or get sued for breach of public broadcasting rights if sung out aloud in a public place?

SexyBeautifulOne said:

Why does the phrase "Microchip in yo neck" pop into my head?

sometimes i wonder if it has to do with the npg lawsuits between him and that other company npg could they take everything he owns relating to npg records, etc.? maybe that would be a reason to stop the illegal downloading of his music he may need all the money he can get as social security for his future imagine how much he has lost already I don't know what do you think?

Genesia said:

Since when???

http://www.amazon.com/s/r...es&x=0&y=0

mentalist said:

I'd say the odds are more than likely!

I just wish he put everything he's done on a site, audio, video and live, and just as download what we want.

I know that he's always wanted control over what gets released for quality reasons etc.....

but surely he's come to realise by now (especially if this sites anything to go by) that no matter how good his latest material may be, there are still gonna be those that disect it, rip it to shreds and slag it off! So he might as well be done with the quality issue and let everyone make their own minds up - like we do anyway!!!

Even the worst is someone elses best!

RELEASE THE VAULTS PRINCE!!! ITS TIME TO OPEN THE BOX!!!

Dauphin said:

That's Pretty good!, especially acknowledging that ad based revenue will continue to be an Internet staple for years to come( isn't that where google gets all those billions)
[Edited 3/11/08 14:31pm]

wonder505 said:

So you say we need DRM'ed downloads?
You must be very new.

DRM is out.
And we need storage.

An ipod is no storage.
And CDs are practical and look nice.

SexyBeautifulOne said:

I understood the reply I quoted to be referring to iTunes and the like - not online retailers.

I feel absolutely no moral obligation to prop up brick-and-mortar record stores. Unless, of course, they are locally owned and in tune with their community.

What i find funny is that he's busting a gut to get control of his music but now 7 digital are making his warners stuff available without DRM!

the ultimate prince music distribution platform is free mp3 no hype.

Dauphin said:

u get the job!

Tame said:

Actually, the CD format was not intended to, nor allowed to have copy controlled management. The white paper on the CD standard makes this a no-no. But some visionary music label execs greenlighted a whole shitload of their CDs to contain software allowing only three copies to be made. The software allowed malware and other uglies to enter the consumers computer and resulted in C&D's by the co-developers of the Compact Disc, and consumer class-action lawsuits and CD recalls.

Copy protection would have had to be used on a totally unique format for it to have worked(and been legal) from the start. But it's way too late for the labels to stick their fingers in the dike.

Dauphin said:

You make too much sense. But you should always bold OGG and FLAC.

"u get the job!"

Yes, Dauphin seems to have nailed it. I wish Prince could see this...
What still makes me scratch my head though is 1] these are simple steps to take, it's not quantum physics, and 2] P. started experimenting with free distribution of albums [Musicology, PE,..] - what went wrong? Wasn't he satified with the results? Why doesn't he pursue these experiments and take it to the online sphere?

Anyway, I agree that an ad-supported model is the way to go. Online advertising is growing fast and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. It's a solution for the future, I'm sure. Plus, it's diversifying fast and pioneering new ways to reach consumers, with video, social networking, online branding, behavioral targeting, and online gaming all expected to be the next big thing for Internet advertising.
Now, whether Prince would be interested to go for these methods... I'm not sure...
One problem though might be ad-blocking technologies in browsers, although I'm not sure how prevalent and user-friendly these are.

Speaking of these new forms of online advertising, I wonder what Orgers would think of taking part in social networks/online forums/blogs while officially promoting a brand/name/product. Would anybody here be ready to do it? Say, if Prince/his people gave you special content or information to blog about or discuss online to 'advocate' his music or name.

Where is the line?...

lottielooloo1968 said:

Sure, you may not roam virtual spaces to get your music. Incidentally, me too, I carry around [a silly amount of] CDs with me around town, to the gym, etc. The Ipod I have is the little one, 'Shuffle' and it's gathering dust at the bottom of my handbag.
But then, there's no denying that more and more people are spending time online - and by extension, buying their entertainment content there too and wanting to save or send it wherever they want. According to an Ofcom report of last fall, daily web use in Britain has risen by 158% over the past four years; and the over-50s account for nearly 30% of time spent online, so it looks like expansion is occuring across all age categories.

Maybe the 'ultimate' Prince music distribution system should be functional across platforms [online, offline,..]

udo said:

PrinceyTunes ftw

Yes, DMR is dead.

Have you heard of Qtrax? I only recently heard of it. It was meant to be a legal and free downloading site that was to piggyback on the Gnutella p-2-p network, but was supposed to wrap the song in DMR and pay the rights holders through advertising.
Qtrax announced that it had cleared rights with all four major labels and had a 25 million-song catalog - impressive in comparison to Amazon's 3 million and iTunes's 6 million.
This all ended up being much ado about nothing since the company had not really acquired those rights, and is not even running its beta version. Had this service been launched, its success, or lack thereof, would have enlightened us on the route that our imperfect and contradictory music industry chooses to take...
The last time I checked their website around Feb. 25, incredibly enough, they still boasted about having 25 million songs for download. Amazing! It's interesting to see what the desperation to find a profitable business model that could effectively compete with illegal download has done with the music industry folks...

udo said:

We've got lots of these distribution 'models' around here in Moscow:)

SquirrelMeat said:

I bet he would love it! And who knows, maybe some fans too:)
What's funny about this [or sad, depending on your point of view], is that I bet that it IS feasible. I bet those high-tech hubs and cutting-edge innovation research labs could design something like this.

Joking apart, you may be onto something with your 'Let's move beyond the Internet' suggestion. Indeed, Prince seems bored [already?..] by it and may well be thinking of other, more innovative things. Btw, I hear that the next big thing in the 'new media' sector is the convergence of online and offline spaces - a new, separate area that combines access to both online and offline content. Maybe that's where Prince/we should be looking at, since all current spaces are problematic.

And now, [bewteen us:)], what's this thing, on the picture?

SexyBeautifulOne said: