On the British chart mid week Album Sales it shows Lotus Flow3er to have sold only 266 in its 1st 3 days.... if this is just mail order .. it doesn't matter it looks really bad in the music industry.

I think the whole Lotus Flow3er release has been a mess.

Surprised that imports even show in the chart.

All this proves is that over the last 10 years PRINCE NEEDS A PROPER RECORD COMPANY!!!!!


He cant release himself in bed, let alone release his own CDs!!!!!

what difference does it make if it gets to number 266 when it wasn't even officially released in this country, and i'd imagine most people would simply download it from his official website two weeks before import copies arrived in the country?

if it's 266 in the charts, no-one is going to know about it as no normal person looks at chart entries over the top 40 or even top 100, so who is it going to look bad to, and who cares?

it's not proof that he needs a proper record company, it's the other way around. he sold 180,000 copies in the states in one week alone, getting to almost number one, and as he did a direct deal with he retailer he gets the lions share of the profits, with less than normal advertising, distribution and other costs

this shows the music business that artists can do it alone without them. he's made a fucking fortune on this set, with little costs. just like he did with his daily mail deal with PE

and how much has he made from fanclub memberships?

Desire2006 said:

is there such a thing?

oh dear. but i couldn't have expected any better as you can't buy it in ANY shops.
Went into HMV in Middlesbrough on monday, they said that they'd ordered it, but hadn't received any.

I haven't even bought it myself, I got a friend to get my copy from the states.

I dare anyone 2 compare Princes last CD sales over the past 5 years or thereabouts, to that of a band like Coldplay, whose last CD, Viva La Vida sold virtually 10 million copies worldwide all because of being with a Record Company and pulling out all stops in promotion in all avenues of the media and having FREE advance downloads of all the tracks on their FREE official site and touring their asses off in also promoting it(their VLV Tour is still going strong around the world well up to the end of this year, with many return visits back 2 certain places by popular demand).

I doubt very much whether Prince has got many members on his site due 2 the EXTORTIONATE membership fee and the worldwide recession we are all in right now!! I for one wont b joining, cos I have other more important things 2 spend my money on now(hmmmmm, lets see, shall I pay for my husbands medications or shall I join some pathetic online club that wont b of any benefit 2 me ????? ). I know quite a few other Prince fans who wont b joining!! Again, a band like Coldplay comes up trumps in that they recognize that their fans are not multi-millionaires, like Prince seems 2 think that we all are(just like all the Hollywood A-List freinds he seems 2 have now!!!), so they have refused 2 charge a membership fee for their offical site!!!!

Coldplays hearts and heads are in this real world, unlike Princes!!!!!

Desire2006 said:

For what?

He records songs, puts them out on CDs, and you buy them.

What else do you want?

Desire2006 said:

A perfectly reasonable post, and then you bring up "heart" and it all comes crashing down in a mess of flakiness.

This is business, folks. Heart has nothing to do with it.

Desire2006 said:

i have to raise my hat to coldplay, as they manage to make god damn awful music, sell shit loads of it, and get loads of people to go to concerts. i'd rather hear good music instead and i don't give two shits if i'm the only person listening or giving a fuck, or if millions of people hear it. the main difference with coldplays sales compared to prince, is that they will be lucky if they get £1 per album sold, and that's split between band members after managers take a cut, and they deduct recording, advertising and other costs. in other words, prince doesn't have to sell 1/10th of the amount of records that other artists have to sell in order to make as much money as them, and he can release what the fuck he wants and his fanbase will still buy it

he did pretty well with his fanclub that charged $100 a few years back, so taking into consideration inflation etc, i imagine he will do just as well with the reduced fee of $77, especially as he doesn't have to supply any physical items with the membership fee, in fact he hasn't promised anything for the money. plenty of other artists have fanclubs with a membership fee that don't give much of note apart from the odd thing here and there, but the main draw is better seats at concerts. for those who got concert tickets to LA, they got thier moneys worth already. like with the ONA tour and good seats and soundcheck entry, those who did that thought the $100 was well spent too

prince's music may not be the same, but his bank balance is a lot better than it ever was. when he sold a lot of records he could only afford to stay in minneapolis, now he has a nice beverley hills pad with the rich folks and charges $3m for a concert

I reckon I could make better more funky music than Prince does now and I am not even a musician!!!!

Oh yeah, I forgot!!! Princes first online club did SO WELL when it was $100, that the Better Business Bureau had 2 investigate its business practises, which is why it had 2 b reduced 2 an indefinate fee of $25!!!!!

the issue of whether Prince needs a record label in order to sell cds is old. find something new about Prince to talk about.

Desire2006 said:

That is not true..the reason that the club lowered its membership price is because the club was nearing its end.

oh..and can't wait to hear your first record (should b entitled) Bitch Baby Bitch!!!
[Edited 4/15/09 11:36am]

DiscoMafia said:

Desire2006 said:

it was npgmc v2 that had the $25 fee, but didn't include any cds or monthly downloads. very different to reducing the fee from $100 to $25 as what you got for your money was entirely different, just as it is for your $77. it's only £1 per week. isn't your favourite musician worth that? if not, why would you come in a site like this?

Desire2006 said:

exactly!!!!
truth is unless your really a prince fan majority of the time you wouldnt even no he was putting out an album

Not surprised...the album is very ordinary anyway.....

Desire2006 said:

true but coldplays music is shit

Well and truly predicted this, the only people who even know it's out are those who already got it off the website or from america.

Even 1 advert in a newspaper would have at least given it a starting point to spread through word of mouth.

Milty said:

true.. Might be old, but nevermore legitimate.

I've got his album, i've been naughty and grabbed it from non-legit sources, first time i've done that in all his career (barring bootlegs). He did the O2 twenty-one times at 20,000 capacity in the UK, i'd suggest i'm not alone.

he's losing out. We've all got our £30 still and feeling good. A realistic pricce in the UK and he'd have my money.

Prince needs a reality check, no different from those 'fat cats on Wall St.'

Marrk said:

You know this is an import sourced by HMV and Prince hasn't set the price?

TheEnglishGent said:

exactly. in fact, i remember TRC was finally officially released in the UK and the price was way below the import price - which i paid for.
[Edited 4/16/09 6:39am]

Desire2006 said:

Come back in 25 years or so and tell me where Coldplay are

its only import so why so negative so fast?

vivid said:

They'll still be around, and they'll still be making that same song.

Damn, all of their songs sound alike.

Desire2006 said:

...and U are on this site ..because..?

sheer ignorance as to why people keep insisting about record companies etc and Prince. He CHOOSES to try new avenues...

Accujack said:

The thing is I never used 2 say that about Prince!!! I used 2 think that every one of his songs were totally unique and different from each other, but now 2 me, over the past 10 years, every CD he brings out all sound the same and I just cant tell one CD from another!! PE sounds like 3121 sounds like Musicology sounds like TRC sounds like Rave, etc.!! And I am convinced its all just one CD with different covers on!!!!

Desire2006 said:

Come on now. You know you are stretching it big time. Musicology sounds nothing like Rainbow Children.
3121 sounds nothing like Lotusflow3r.
Planet Earth sounds nothing like N.E.W.S.