this thread is inspired by something lotusflw3r said in another thread, about Prince and "overexposing":


I think it's a documented fact that Warner Bros. felt Prince was "overexposesed" in the mid 1980's - to the mid 1990's, WB felt Prince was releasing too much music, right, and WB. wanted to cut Prince's output ?

Once Prince got free from Warner Bros. (1996 and on) most of us expected him to release more stuff, that he would continue to release a string of really strong albums, like he did 1980 to 1988.

Unfortunately it didn't happen:

from 1998 and on, a lot of weaker, average albums followed like Newpower Soul, The Vault.. Old Friends 4 Sale, Rave, Musicology, 3121, Planet Earth.



My questions, inspired by a post made by lotusflw3r:

1. Do Prince have the same fear of "overexposing", like Warner Bros. had back in the day, and could this be the reason why Prince these days doesn't want to fload the market with re-mastered albums - or yet another big-projected album, like he actually did with the 1996 Emancipation 3CD?

2. and could this "fear of overexposing" be the reason these days, why he is not releasing as much quality albums as we expected, once he became a "Free artists" ?

3. is fear of "overexposing" the reason why Prince is holding so much material back - into his vaults.... for instance the Musicology Live DVD and also the London 2007 DVD ?


ps:

I hope my questions makes sense?

But.. I guess some of you won't agree with me that the Musicology, 3121 and Planet Earth are weak/ average albums
[Edited 9/26/09 22:00pm]

I cannot reply to whether that's why Prince is doing any of the things you're saying, but it's a valid fact that over exposure can have a negative effect.

Bohemian67 said:

outside the prince circle is red circle. No shades imbetween.

No. fear of overexposure was Warner's idea back then. I don't know what Prince's motives are now.

thedance said:

I think the lack of quality is more because his inspirational well has run dry.

He just released a 3 CD set.

Prince...overexposed???

Let's get real...we are skewed because we come here everyday and read about Prince, but the real world doesn't even know he's still around.

If his CD releases were a lifeline, they would hardly cause a blip. He's chosen this route, by lack of promotion for any of these CD's (and I don't agree that this is medicore music...I love all of his recent work, with Lotusflow3r being the best, recently)

Beyonce, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears...definately overexposed.
Prince, no way.

1. Do Prince have the same fear of "overexposing"?

No, it appears to me, and of course I could be wrong, but Prince simply doesn't care for huge advertising campaigns for his projects & the spotlight doesn't interest him. I don't think a 51 year old with rumored hip problems would like to be chased around by paparazzi anyway. & I think he has never been interested in being a huge super star in the first place, but of course wanted to experience what it was like for a while during his "Purple Rain" days. Nowherdays only his fans buy his music since he isn't in the mainstream, and they will buy anything he has to offer really. So I don't feel he's over exposing at all. I think he is very happy with that.

2. and could this "fear of overexposing" be the reason these days, why he is not releasing as much quality albums as we expected?

This is a silly question because I feel the quality of his music hasn't lacked whatsoever. Just because most people feel "Planet Earth" is not as good as "Purple Rain" doesn't mean it's a fact. I am 18 & have listened to most of his albums, with an open mind, & feel he is & always has been trying his hardest to create music that is true to himself to the best of his ability. The reason most people on this site feel his new albums are not as good as his previous albums is because his old albums contain not just music but also their youth, his new albums simply remind them that Prince & themselves are getting old & nobody likes that, therefore they reject his new music. Since I didn't listen to his music until 2008 I am very unbiased with my opinion in this way. To say certain sounds are better or worse than other sounds is simply absurd and embarassing. Grown adults treating their opinion as fact is just ridiculous as well.

3. is fear of "overexposing" the reason why Prince is holding so much material back - into his vaults.... for instance the Musicology Live DVD and also the London 2007 DVD ?

I don't know Prince's reasonings behind his decisions & I can only take a wild guess which would probably be far from the truth. Although I won't bother guessing his reasons behind the vault, I feel the fear of "overexposing" would be low on the list of possibilities behind it.

Hey! Thanks for creating a whole Thread based on my post!!!!

Yes it's ironic that Prince wanted freedom from WB to release what he wanted when he wanted, then once he 'went solo' he realised that it's not that easy to sell records without a powerful label behind you.

I agree that he should own his masters etc, but let's be honest we'd all love for prince to have co-ordinated marketing campaigns with quality albums/videos released worldwide to wrecka-stows/TV.

But alas we have strange half-hearted promotions to half-hearted albums.

Overexposure? he doesn't really have any now. I don't think he has a fear, just the cold facts that brokering one-off deals with labels/distributors takes a shit load of effort on his part - effort that he's chanelling away from creating amazing music.

What with the music industry being as it is today, and prince's age (and willingness to sell his soul), i don't think we'll ever see him hit the heady heights of popularity again.

I think if the music is good then over-exposure isn't really a problem. it's just the way prince is now and we have to except it.


.....

i think it has to do with new avenues of marketing that he's been trying since 1996.

To me ,it seems he's strategically moving his product ---not because of overexposure or lack of...unfortunately it conflicts with the followers thirst for his potential output.

I think he should release live and or rehearsal cds/dvds of his past ---this way it preserve his vault tracks that are to be used for his potential yearly releases, and the sicko-fans can feel treated rather than slighted.

He's in an interesting position in his career, I agree with live/rehearsal cds/dvds, maybe a vault album would be nice too or even low-key releases of more experimental jazz, techno or instrumental stuff. (this can all be done on a website or independently).

Big major release albums should be every 3-4 years (mainly so he can use the best material, but also to get the best distribution/marketing plan in place.) do proper promo with singles, videos, tours etc. Team up with the majors for these.

Then make sure the For You remaster is released asap after he gets the masters back (2013 i think) - and each following album is re-released on schedule (use one dedicated major label for all the remasters). problem is the cursing, hopefully he will see sense not to alter/censor lyrics, but i doubt it.

.....

problem is the cursing, hopefully he will see sense not to alter/censor lyrics, but i doubt it.

I thought about this aswell..if WB do reissue the albums would he censor them?
Maybe that's why he refuses to remaster and re-release them and the tinkering Prince did with certain tracks on Crystal Ball to update them ruined them. Would be nice to hear the early albums the way they were intended.

MyNameIsCally said:

I can't believe your only 18 yrs old...you mentioned grown adults treating their opinion as fact is just ridiculous....yes and its embarrassing...

MyNameIsCally said:

GREAT post indeed!!!