I know this was old news but it's true news so it is worthy of posting.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...re=related

Yes I agree, this was riduculous! And he does need to get back to his horny freaky side. And get nasty with it Yeah I bet that woman threw all of her Prince shit out after that. He should be ashamed of himself. Just out for the almighty dolla

Yeah ummm...damn shame I aint scared of Prince huh?

At the end of the day, it's his music and his property.

Do I agree with some of his methods? No, but an artist should always have the right to control how their music is heard, seen, and distributed.

He says that Prince is keeping people from buying his albums. People aren't buying music anymore because of sites like Youtube.

People aren't watching T.V. like they used because of sites like Youtube.

People aren't going to the movies because of sites like Youtube. People are posting movies on Youtube before they even come out in theatres.

Paris9748430 said:

F*ck the internet! Where are the times that you can proudly buy new cd without hearing "hey, you can download it for free!"..

zaza said:

U know something...that reaaallllly pisses me off. They say it so condesending like as well and occasionaly with an eyeroll...as if ure some sort of moron for waisting ure money and ure too stupid to have the ability to understand the intricate workings of free internet downloads Its getting to the point where its almost embarassing to be seen in a music store and Im starting to feel like I have to sneak in like I was in a porn shop, slip my cd into a plain brown bag and sneak back out...Good Grief!!
[Edited 7/11/09 2:24am]

oops!
[Edited 7/11/09 3:09am]

chillichocaholic said:

I think it's better to "waste" my money on cd's rather than on alcohol, cigarettes or drugs. At least, cd's will be yours for a long time..cigarettes not - that's the waste of $. I can understand Prince's reasons a little..and those who say "if there were P's videos on youtube, kids will buy his music more"..do you really think that modern kids would buy cd? No..they would download it..it's such a shame.

zaza said:

Im with u on that, and pointelss in my case considering I dont do all three of those

zaza said:

I'm a modern kid, but there's no way in hell I'm buying an album for $35 when I can get it for free and there's no loss to me if it turns out to be the worst goddamn crap I've heard in my life.

I download and if I love every track, I'll buy it later.

chillichocaholic said:

Me too!

i couldnt even sit thru the whole thing.
but i bet you prince sues him for
showing his symbol on the video.

purplesweat said:

Well, I'm 19. IMO when you buy cd, you have "more respect" for it..you're trying to "get in2 it". I'm sure you have some cd's so I'm not talking about you.. I was pointing on those who drink and smoke and then say "you're crazy that you waste your money on cd's! It's so expensive!" and they spend much more money on Cig.& Alco.. I'm from Czech Republic and the cd's are quite cheap, instead of buying 5 cigarettes packs you could buy 1 cd..

My brothers are 24 and 25 years old and I am 32. One of them owns a few cds but he stopped buying since he can get everything for free from internet. The other one doesn't own any cds. Most of their friends do not own any cd either. In my town (a small town population 80 000) we used to have around 7 cd stores 10-15 years ago. Now there are only 2 left. The one is in the process of clearing its stock in order to close and the other makes much more money by renting and selling dvds, cd players, laptops, dvd players etc than with selling the actual cds. This is because of the effect of free downloads from the internet (a bad thing) and websites such as amazon and play (a good thing).
I think young people do not appreciate music when they can get their hands on everything for free. There doesn't seem to be any wow did you see that music video? or wow did you listen to that song? (except Boom Boom Pow lol) anymore. It is sad really

Why do kids today think that Prince owes them something? You get what you pay for, that guy needs to grown up,and turn his hat around. If you don't like Prince, leave!

It's interesting that MJ is all over the charts with his back catalog (ok he's dead and he won't get a penny) but, It proves people will still buy music (downloads and cds) if there is a big enough reason and apart from the consistent quality of the music and TV/concert performances, prince hasn't given the main population a reason to buy his music in the kind of amounts they used to.
There's no controversy anymore! and I know prince doesn't want to be that guy with assless pants anymore, but he's got to market himself better for the internet age and he's slipping big time. I believe he should allow his videos on YouTube as it's a great promotional tool, he's not bothered about the videos being on TV so why not the internet? they're called promos for effs sake!

And his site should be user friendly and have some free content to draw in casual surfers. 'nuff said.

Dayclear said:

Oh jeez....why does he think WE owe HIM anything. People ain't gonna pay him if he keeps shitting on them. Prince owes fans EVERYTHING. Without us, he wouldn't have his house, his studio (s) or his multi-thousand dollar guitars. He should be doing EVERYTHING HE CAN to please his fans. You can't alienate people who are writing your paychecks. I think the whole point is, he IS leaving. And that's one less fan Prince has.

Anyway, while it is Prince's art, it's just an amazingly STUPID business decisions. When he's in MJ's debt boat eventually, he's gonna wish he did everything possible to keep his fans. Instead he's doing things to make people hate him. Hardcore fans ain't enough to keep you afloat especially when you alienate them by cancelling LIFETIME fan club memberships, and not giving refunds. Or taking months and months to ship out CD's to people who paid for them.

Prince is a musical genius, but when it comes to business, he's kind of a dumbass. Especially during his internet era. Can't be genius at everything I suppose.
[Edited 7/11/09 5:26am]

jiorjios said:

Totally agree with you..I still remember the times, when I was small and I sat all day in the front of tv, watching music channel with my finger prepared on the "record" button awaiting any U2 video Good ol' times As you said, record shops are closing because of the internet..and in the Czech Republic one political party wants to make illegal downloading "legal"! WTF..

Volitan11 said:

Prince dont owe his fans nothing they either buy his music or they dont besides he aint the only Artist not allowing his music on sites like youtube others have followed suit for example my girlfreind has posted pink videoes on youtube and they were removed with youtube emailing her saying its due to copyright infringement and people just want things for nothing these days if people download songs for free its bullshit to say they will buy it if they like it.

Prince isnt a charity hes gotta make his dollars and protect whats his or he will end up like MJ BROKE.

cream72 said:

Ok, so how is he gonna make money with no one buying his records?

Volitan11 said:

no ones buying records full stop thats why the way he distributes his music works for him for example half a million from the Sunday Mail for Planet Earth and he didnt have to lift a finger god knows how much he got for Lotusflow3r i could guess around the same not to mention his Live Performances weather its festivals or residencys its where the money is thats why he can afford to give albums away with tickets. MJ died broke cause he spent his money on shit not to mention lawsuit one after another.

It is sort of sad. The music and artist (Prince) that we appreciate so much can only be played under certain circumstances. I don't play much of his music on any given day. I hear it on the radio once in a great while. How many times do we have to pay to listen to his music and watch videos. His music expresses him though it also expresses us. Prince is very hard to understand at times.

the trust is gone,if people just bought the product instead of free downloading (personally don't know how to do that, and don't want to know either), happy to pay for something I would like to listen to. However, it's like anything you purchase it's nice to touch it, try it on, see the craftsman ship etc. before you buy, that's how most business is done and if you have a good product shouldn't be a problem (surely there are better ways around this problem so that the artist does well and the listener in this case does too). And yes I paid to join lotusflow3r.com,and I don't download, probably won't do it again, price a little too high, but I'm not complaining thats my choice and he has his. I would have liked to have had the option to buy the c.d. in Australia.

Paris9748430 said:

I totally disagree. If it wasn´t for bootlegs and internet sites like youtube, I never would have bought so many official Prince CDs or other CDs. Youtube and similar sites help you to get to know certain artists a bit better,introduce you to a lot of stuff that you weren´t familiar with in the first place and then you can go and look for the original album at your record store or order it somewhere from a legit internet site.

If Prince wouldn´t be so narrowminded he´d still have the amount of fans he used to have before the Crystal Ball fiasco and before he shut down most of the fansites.

As an artist, he has the last say and he decides what´s going to happen with his music and whether he allows to let it remain on youtube but, as a listener and longtime fan, I can decide whether I´m still going to buy legit releases even though his attitude sucks. I didn´t buy any tickets to the Montreux shows and I still don´t own Lotusflower because the website sucks ass and the album is very hard to get and expensive ( import only), so I might as well wait and buy a second hand CD or wait til he decides to release it over here.


Again, I disagree about youtube being responsible for the decline of the music industry.

I have listened to almost all tracks from Mos Def´s new album, The Ecstatic, and have downloaded the tracks here and there, bit by bit. But, in the end,I still have the original album and I´m happy about that because it is much better to have the best sound quality and to be able to hold a decent CD in your hands, with cover art and liner notes.

The same goes for Prince´s music and videos. I would still buy every single song even if I already have it as a bootleg version but Prince´s business attitude pisses me off to no end and he will no longer get my money again as long as he chooses to act the way he acts ( bullshit website, unavailable album CD, unavailable videos , no decent live concert footage except for The Undertaker and those 80s concert videos).

Prince and his camp don´t have a clue when it comes to keeping the fanbase ( and paying customers) happy, nor do they have the slightest idea about bootlegs, the internet , unofficial songs, live footage etc.
Some of them might be nice people, and they all want to make some money etc. but,really,none of them have any sense or feeling of what´s good for Prince AND the listeners.
The only people in Prince´s camp who understood these things were the Leeds brothers, Alan and Eric Leeds, and believe me, I have spoken with people in Prince´s camp, including Eric.
If this situation doesn´t change, he can no longer count on milking his last remaining and loyal fans.

The lotusflower site is a crying shame, IMO, and after all these years, Prince and his people should know better.

I think prince wants to be respectected for who he is as a artist 2day...

Not the crazy son of a bitch he used 2 be...It probably bugs him 2 death

THaT his legacy wiil remain as the the strange, sex obsessed, little man,

who can play a lil' guitAR....
[Edited 7/11/09 8:16am]
[Edited 7/11/09 8:17am]

zaza said:

True, they probably won´t buy CDs anyway but, look at it this way...they won´t buy legit CDs or pay for downloads anyway but if you keep your legacy alive, they might come to your concerts and leave their money there.

I know many kids who went and bought tickets for either a Prince show or some other musician´s live show after I hipped them to the music.

If it wasn´t for bootlegs and internet stuff, I never would have bought all the legit releases that I´ve bought over the years. I see those things as appetizers, not as a threat.


The music industry should have stayed more consumer friendly instead of making CDs more and more expensive and the booklets and album cover cheaper and uglier.
Vinyl, despite being much more expensive in the production, is still selling here and there because some people,including myself,like the nice artwork and the medium.
CDs never should have cost more than ten dollars, or maybe 5 or 7 Euros...that´s what killed the music industry, not some cheap ass sounding site like youtube. Youtube is like watching 1980s MTV..a couple of live clips and low-quality audio.
Back in the day,people still went and bought their vinyl or CDs event though they could watch clips on TV or hear them on the radio ( or record from radio or their friends).

Youtube is really not the problem. On the contrary, if it wasn´t for youtube and samples in rapmusic, most old school artist would be broke and forgotten by now.With Youtube, they remain relevant and get the exposure to younger listeners, who may or may not buy overpriced CDs but who will definitely want to check out live concerts.
If Prince keeps acting like he´s acting then he´s going to piss off a whole generation of new listeners, potential ticket buyers and CD buyers.

nyse said:

What a better way to respect Prince and his music than to play any or all of his music and videos. Instead he's controlling the heck out of it.

I understand the laws of supply and demand. This seems a little extreme.
It would be nice if Prince could be proud of his life's work and see it as a journey and not just good or bad. If in fact that's how he feels.
[Edited 7/11/09 10:14am]

Sharing music, pictures, movies, software etc. has become so increasing easy over the last few years that while it is great for us consumers, its not so great for the folks who put all that effort and recourses into getting it to your grubby little hands or usb flash drives.

The point is, we must allow for people to be able to have viable businesses so that product continue to be produced.
I hear I lot of net-tards bitching about the death of the music industry and who killed it,. Look in the mirror net-tards its you.
[Edited 7/11/09 10:58am]

The kid was holding up a copy of Emancipatioon and threating to throw it away in protest,...i kept thinking, regardless of your point of view, throw that damn thing away already, most prince fans already did years ago!

To quote his nibs..."Let the baker make the bread"
http://www.youtube.com/wa...vfG4Y&NR=1

After all of this shutting down of the availability to Prince's music and videos. I fear it may only make others go underground to pass along Prince's music and videos and unfortunately make even more money off of Prince all together. It sort of balances itself out.
It just seems futile to chase such a fluid thing sometimes.IMHO
Leave it to Prince to take all of this on.
On the other hand it sure makes him much more "exclusive" and people will pay that much more to see him perform. Maybe he just wants to spread music the old fashioned way.