http://news.yahoo.com/s/a...WHlZCVEhkF

Prince Continues to Chart His Own Course
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody

NEW YORK – At a celebration/concert for Prince's new book, late night had turned into early morning, the bar was closing and party organizers were deciding what decorations to pack up first.

But Prince was still on stage — and still captivating the exclusive group of about 200 fans who had gathered in an intimate penthouse loft to hear him perform.

Though he had taken about a two-hour break between sets, Prince was entering hour four in what would become a nearly five-hour musical extravaganza that not only included his own seminal hits like "Purple Rain" and "Little Red Corvette," but also interpretations of music from Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, The Rolling Stones and even Janet Jackson and India.Arie for good measure. (Fans paid $1,000 for the first jam session and $300 for the second: Proceeds went to charity.)

It's this kind of magic that Prince tried to capture with "21 Nights," a glossy coffee-table book published by Simon & Schuster that documents the glamorous rocker during his record-breaking, 21-night run at London's 02 Arena last year. The book not only steals glimpses of his onstage performances, but also behind-the-scenes moments of the star and his band during the unprecedented concert stint.

"No one had ever sold out 21 nights in a row," said photographer Randee St. Nicholas. "So I thought, 'We should do a book surrounding this point in his life, because this is a great point in his life.'"

While his three-decades-long career has been meticulously chronicled, Prince is quick to point out, "Not by me — never by me. That's someone else who's on the outside looking in." This time, it's Prince — with St. Nicholas — telling the story, through his own frame of reference.

"This was a landmark event," says Prince, sitting on the rooftop with the Manhattan skyline as his backdrop during a break from rehearsals before the evening's musical marathon. "No one believed that it would do what it did. ... Everyone tried to talk me out of it."

Of course, Prince is used to proving skeptics wrong. These days, he's regarded as a pioneer for artists' rights and known for releasing music over the Internet. But when he left his longtime label Warner Bros. nearly two decades ago after a protracted battle over his creative path, and abandoned major record labels to release music on his own, he left everyone — from fans to musician insiders — wondering if he had lost his mind.

In recent years, he has re-linked with major record labels like Sony and Universal Music Group to release his albums, but isn't sure any record is worth putting out in this era of piracy and illegal downloads. Though the book includes a CD, it contains no new songs, just classic hits and other songs from one of his signature jam sessions.

"Today, it's not realistic to expect to put out new music and profit from it. There's no point in trying to put new music out there and keep it from being (exploited)," he says.

And he now has disdain for the way the Internet has, in his view, subverted artists' rights.

"The powers that be are abusing the copyright infringement," he says. "You can't sample Steven Spielberg; you don't see his stuff up there, just old tapes of the Ohio Players, who can't afford to defend themselves."

But while Prince exudes hints of frustration, he's hardly bitter: These days, serenity and good-natured fun seem to be his mantra.

Though he professes shyness, the diminutive artist gives a warm hug as a welcome, and during his show — which had Spike Lee, Anderson Cooper and Dave Chappelle in the audience — he had fans laughing as he cracked jokes throughout (among his more memorable was referring to himself as Rihanna, an allusion to Internet gossip that the statuesque singer had been mistaken for Prince).

St. Nicholas, a longtime friend, says Prince's conversion to the Jehovah's Witness faith several years ago has helped him evolve into a more spiritual person — and a more open one, in comparison with his reputation as a moody recluse. But Prince's public image has never been the real Prince that friends see behind closed doors, she adds.

"He's shy. But he doesn't necessarily hide or shield himself and attempt this mysterious persona that he has," she says of the twice-divorced star.

"You know children? You never know what they are going to do one minute to the next? ... That's very much how he is," she explains. "In a way it's very open, because if you can just hang in that moment with him, and just go for it — you're not worrying about the past."

And at times, Prince isn't even consumed with the present. While he talked about biblical implications to the recent stock market plunge ("that's why I had to bring back this song," he says as his band rehearses "1999" in the background), when it comes to a recent milestone, he's decidedly nonchalant.

"How old are we really?" asks Prince, who turned 50 in June. "It's about ascension. It's not the other way. There's nothing down about it. Everything is better."

As an example, he points to the 21-night run in London: "I couldn't have sold out 21 nights in London in the peak of my career; it would have been an impossibility," he says.

"I look forward to these years where everything is just open sky. I wish this for every artist: freedom."

"Everything is just open sky." I love that.

i think this is just stinkin' thinkin'.

even if the planet earth album didn't burn up the music charts last year, he did profit from the newspaper freebie deal and he did win a grammy for a song from that album. is that not profit?

meanwhile, i don't see anyone trying to exploit any of prince's new music. maybe he means this more on the level of the music industry and less on the level of illegal downloading/bootlegging/trading, etc. - but even if he's talking more on an industry level, the last i recall, prince got the upper hand over the record label with the newspaper distribution deal.

so who's exploiting who? i'm not mad at him, but come on now. he made out pretty good with his last album, i wish he could appreciate and take pride in that fact.

Anxiety said:

What I got out of that is the money in music is to be made in performing, i.e. touring.

So tour!

RodeoSchro said:

and i think he's right. i think he's at a point in his career where people are more interested in seeing him play live than to hear new music from him. in terms of the average music listener, prince has already released all the music they care about - i feel like everything he's doing these days is mostly received by his fans and by critics and music geeks who recognize or appreciate his contribution to pop music/pop culture.

but i don't see that as the same thing as his music being "exploited". just the opposite, really.

Thanks for the article. I like that Prince is speaking out more these days.

Anxiety said:

Yeah downloads were rampant on 3121 and Musicology....im glad he has decided to release his music in a new fashion. Thats why he really didnt PROMOTE P.E.

I totally agree with Prince. "It's about ascension".

Quote:
"Today, it's not realistic to expect to put out new music and profit from it. There's no point in trying to put new music out there and keep it from being (exploited)," he says.

Ermm...so that means, for Prince, putting out new music himself nowadays is only / mostly about the profits?

What about the (oldfashioned?) idea of an artist writing, recording and releasing new music as a creative process, a way of selfexpression? Good sales and profits might be nice too, but what about the main aspect of (good) music: artistic expression?

I am affraid 2009 will bring us bland album nr. 4 in a row...

.

He has a point there. Musicians/Artists have to eat too. I feel sorry for today's artists expecting to make a profit from their music, when you could download so many songs for free. Unless you really stand out as an artist and have good promotional backing, then you'll be able to make a good profit. Just my two cents.

Riverpoet31 said:

I think hes speaking specifiaclly about artists themselves

great interview!

Prince is a very smart man. He will always figure out ways 2 put out new music. Who would have ever thought to put a cd in a newspaper but him. I think that explains why he has slowed down his out put lately. Until he figures out new ways to distribute his music. Like how revealing he is with each interview.

Eye agree with him 2 whatever that word he spoke of means!


'

DakutiusMaximus said:

if prince opened a new decent website and charged 100 dollars per year he could put his music out 2 the fams direct with downloads n the vault n pasley park has thousands of songs unreleased.
if he really cares about us he will look after us...we all bought the 21 nights book n we all love the man regardless.
respect is a 2 way thing...always has been.
WOLFY
[Edited 10/23/08 12:27pm]

Anxiety said:

I want both New music AND concerts

I really admire Nekesa. She does great work. My one quibble deals with her point about folks thinking Prince crazy during his squabble with Warner Bros. A lot of that had to do with the symbol.

Of course, a lot of folks always thought he was crazy.

TenQ.

DakutiusMaximus said:

And then to think that he already played 1999 summer of 2007. What did he know that we didn't?

paisleypark4 said:

see, i don't think the downloads were so rampant with musicology, partially because with the concert giveaways, if you even kinda sorta wanted to hear that album, it was easy to get your mitts on. if you wanted to see him play live, you automatically get the new album. easy peasey.

3121 did have a bit of a massive leak, but partially because of the ticket contest, it still debuted high on the charts and i'd hardly consider sales of that album to be a failure. it may not have sold purple rain numbers, but who IS selling purple rain numbers these days?

i feel like the biggest reason PE didn't get a lot of promotion was because he had his fingers in so many pies at the time. he was wrapping up the whole tamar mess, there was the supposed chelsea rogers fashion launch, there was the 3121 perfume dealio...it almost feels like PE got buried in a clusterduck (to use prince speak ) of projects. still, that album paid off for him at the end of the day.

isthisdadawn said:

he was HOT in 1984 but kids were more into watching videos than going to rock concerts at that time, though meanwhile the internet wasn't around yet to mess with album sales (bootlegs hadn't really made a big impact at that point either). so really, he probably had a complete carbon copy experience with his success at that time - he probably had concert sales that were just fine, but his album sales were astronomical. how WB messed with his profits at that time, i don't know...but i bet he wasn't hurting.

rbrpm said:

purplecorvette1 said:

purplecorvette1 said:

me too!

i Love a Good interview, i wish Prince would do more interviews. i LOVE Prince

Is that true?

ToraToraDreams said:

i don't think it's true, but who knows? maybe the purple rain tour sold more modestly than we think. boris?

PRINCE HAS NOT BEEN ON TOUR IN GERMANY SO LONG THAT I GOT USE TO IT :::I HAVE MOVED ON TO OTHER ARTIST :::MAYBE HE EVEN LIKES IT THAT WE DONT LOOK UP TO HIM THE WAY WE USE TO