Back in the good ol' days, it seemed like Prince was very ambitious, like he wanted to be the "best", most influental artist,

and Prince did succeed, with a string of 9 excellent albums, ha WAS the most influental artist in the 1980s, imo.


What ambitions do you believe Prince is having today/ these days???


Your guess is as good as mine, I can't figure out anything, he doesn't seem to want anything with his career now... He doesn't seem to be very ambitious anymore.

Has Prince given up to impress the world..... ?
[Edited 10/12/09 5:42am]

I think some of his ambitions today include being a successful independant artist who operates in his own terms. He also seems to want to showcase 'real music by real musicians,' in repsonse to the modern 'pop' music world.

rlittler81 said:

I agree

strictly coasting, he has no need to be ambitious anymore, got the $, got the awards, got the freedom, got the influence etc.

thedance said:

I wonder what your ambitions will be when you're in your fifties?

Seeing as he has achieved just about everything that a musician can achieve, what can he be ambitious about? Perhaps you can suggest an ambition?

Seems to me he is happy with what he is doing, is still able to earn a living out of it and all he wants to do is carry on making music and performing to people. What is so wrong with that? We should be grateful that he is - like most artists who reach his age, he could have just hung up his coat and retired.....thankfully, he hasn't done that!

if anything i think it all goes in circles..

so let's say Prince is back to DMSR - for the fun of it..

makin Whoopee!!!

i think he said it best his only competition is himself from the past - everything else is butter...

thedance said:

I think the money thing is kinda of left of focus as he has become more financially sound this decade so he is focusing more on musicianship and his abilities again. I mean he is digging deep in his catalogue and playing fan favorites. Thisn began with the celebrations he had actually. But he has taken it further recently imo. Now that he is relatively financially set and financially viable it appears he doesn't really have to worry to much about money so I think he is focusing on creativity and working on/with his past.

I think he's building up a retirement savings and trying to enjoy himself-and by retirement I don't mean stopping with the creations,just the running around and worrying about the financial obligations.

Hopefully he's enjoying his success and just enjoying music for the sheer hell of it, nothing else!

Prince has reached a point in his life when he can just concentrate on himself and his fans. He's very fan-oriented these days, so I think his ambitions are:

1) Lose a lot of fans by suing them and shutting down fan websites.
2) Steal from the fans he has left by putting up a rip-off website.
3) Alienate more fans by giving all the exclusives to Dr. Funkenberry and Shelbey.

Quite ambitious! But hey, he's all about the fans.

I typed quite a bit of an answer in respons to this thread, but could not be bothered after all. If these idiotic questions come up in your head, it's not worth an answer.

I suggest changing the domain for Prince.org to IhatePrince.org, or iused2likeprincebutnotanymore.org, so you can all hang out there, and let prince.org be a place for prince enthousiasts like myself and a lot of others, so I can be bothered again to participate in conversations that this forum once was made for, an independant and unofficial Prince fan community, and not an "O, crap, he played Purple Rain again, let's tell everbody that actually appreciates Prince, that hearing Purple Rain for the n-th time, really sucked" forum.

You all know who you are. Get the hell of this forum, get a shrink, save your money, save us a lot of energy by just not posting all that negative crap.

Prince bashing, Apple bashing, Microsoft bashing, heck, let's bash everything and everybody... Is that what this is all coming down to in the end?

Why is not possible to just keep your negative bullcr*p for yourselves just every now and then. As if we are wating for these kind of comments and remarks.

It is not possible to make it worthwhile for each and everyone, and if you are beyond or behind Prince's growth as an artist, a musician, a performer and a person, go listen to other artists, then you have no business here anymore.

And if you all think that it is normal to give other people a piece of your mind, try to remember that wars are fought over issues and disagreeing over the silliest things, people still die because of that same reason, each and minute of the day.

I am going to be bashed myself because of this reply, or worse, get banned, but hey, I could not care less. It just proves my point...

I was at the second show last night, and the 2 shows in Montreux, and guess what, I had a great time, seeing him just having a good time, seeing 5900 other people having a good time, and the other 100 people, I choose to ignore them

Seeing and hearing about the differences between the shows, the songs he played, etc, made me think of just one thing.... Good for you! How lucky you were to have witnessed that, instead of whining and complaining why the other show was the same, longer or shorter, different setlist, etc. I came to have a good time, and I was fortunate to have witnessed yet again, a magnificent show, that forever will have a special place in my heart and memory for years to enjoy.

Bohemian67 said:

I for one (being around with Prince for 26years certainly don't have any expectations) Just that he is Healthy & Enjoying Life.
[Edited 10/12/09 10:19am]

NewPowerG: you head the nail on the head.
Of course, it's a loaded question:
"Have a guess: what is Prince's ambitions these days, (besides making lots of $$$) ?"
Well, do you really want my opinion or do you simply want to tell me what you think and I can interpret your opinion for myself. Well...in your opinion, making money is a given for Prince right?
I've seen ticket prices for Madonna, Elton John, Billy Joel, the Eagles, and countless other bands, well into the $300+(USD) range - and I won't go for that reason.
Myself, I've never paid over $125 for a seat at a prince concert, and for most of the shows I've seen, I paid about ten bucks-the cost of food and security- out at Paisley Park or Glam Slam. If I remember correctly, I got front row seats for the Musicology tour for $85 apiece, plus a new cd. I got to see him 3 times for less than the price of what I would pay for the same seats of any other artist.
Just this past spring, for $11.98 I got 3 new cd's for less than what I pay for 1 cd of almost any other artist. (I just Lotusflower at Electric Fetus for $9.99). Sure he gets paid. He should. I would too. No questions asked. And I'd charge you double if I could.

I think making $$$ is pretty much it.

TheNewpowerG said:

I love you and your reply!
COMMON SENSE....nothing beats it!

XNY said:

Yeah, that's the way it USED to be. But have you checked out the price of a Prince concert ticket in the last few years? How about paying $312.10 for a good seat in Vegas, or $1,000 to see him at the Hotel Roosevelt in LA?

Of course, if you want to see him these days, it's gonna cost you about $500 just to get to Europe, and then the ticket prices aren't $85 any more, and there is NO way for you to get front row seats as a Lotu$flower member.

In fact, you mention you only paid $11.98 for three CDs. That's great, but the members of Prince's website paid $77 for the same CDs, and got precious little else.

I WISH it was still the way it was in 2001, 2002, 2004 but it's not. Today, from where I sit, it's all about $$$ and absolutely nothing else.

RodeoSchro said:

As a matter of fact, it is all about inflation... no more, no less. With a big fat crisis as a result. I paid 700 Euros for 2 shows in Montreux, went on a trip with friends, in a hotel 200 meters from the venue, the shows, the memories, PRICELESS. I do not HAVE to be at every show at any cost. At this moment, I could not afford to see the 2 shows last night. That's what it all comes down to, money, or better, lack of it. That is exactly where the pain is. Even for a 1000 dollars per show, it was sold out as far as i know, so, there is a market for everything.

If you can not afford it, or if you are not willing to pay a 1000 bucks for a seat, that's fine. But do not bother other people with that. Sort of what I meant with my original post...

Vroegah, was alles beter, translates to, in the old days, everything was better. So true... Buildings, cars, electronics, everything was better. It just was. We live in a consumption/consuming/consumer society, with fenomenal wealth on one side and, and the neediest of needy people on the other side. Be glad that you are somewhere inbetween, and at least got to enjoy al these nice and pretty memories. What once was, will never be, unless we all come to realize that the answer to change and thruth is in all of us.

He doesn't have any ambitions now
[Edited 10/12/09 11:29am]

TheNewpowerG said:

I want to have your babies.

LaAmi said:

LaAmi said:

Maybe you just have not figured it out yet? Or are unable to? And what if he has no ambitions at the moment?

In my opinion, the only other way to correctly ask this in a similar way, could have been: What makes Prince tick? What are his motives, what drives this guy, why is he so much better and happier now than he has ever been?

I think you all want Prince to take all of you in account when composing, having sex, doing a show, playing a wonderfull Kiss and A Love Bizarre...No, for Prince, it is nice to have so many loyal concertgoers and seeing all these happy faces when he makes a joke, or seeing allmost everybody really enjoying themselves, the spotlights, the applause, the chants, and like last night, the magnificent venue. I think I really understand why Prince wanted, no, most likely insisted, on playing there.

I think Prince has had it with all this negative crap, and does not want to do anything more with his website, because for him, it is impossible to please everybody. And especially if the ones that can not be pleased, are so obnoxiously rude and prejudiced with their findings.

Kudos to Prince for doing what HE LIKES TO DO BEST, enjoying HIMSELF, surrounding HIMSELF with the nicest of people, the best musicians an artist of his grandeur could possibly get, growing spiritually and personally.

I could not be more happier for him to have such good insights, songs, shows, faith, sanity and personality. I just hope at one point he won't be so fed up with all the sh*t people are saying about him, and that he will continue the be himself for many years to come. That's when I'll know, I'll be able to enjoy him for many years to come as well..

If you can not keep up with the man growing up, learning, getting a better person, a better musician, take your business elseweher, don't make it our business. Get help, read a book, preferably the book he's been studying. That's a start.

And like me, you don't have to practice any kind of religion or faith to know that it all comes down to universal love and energy.. kinda like Prince has written many songs about that very same subject.... Have you actually been listening to his songs, or were you all busy analyzing these songs, writing negative stuff about those songs?

TheNewpowerG said:

I get that an artist can charge whatever the market will bear. I'm just pointing out that all the examples you used are not anything like what the situation is today.

Prince's ticket prices did not rise because of inflation but because (I suppose) he wanted to make more money. I don't begrudge him that; in fact, I'm thankful for what he did charge on the Musicology tour.

I also get that Prince is all about memories. I think that's one reason why he doesn't release all the live stuff he has recorded. It seems like he thinks a concert should be experienced in person and the only record you get of it is what you can remember (of course, he gets to keep a recorded copy of it). That's his perogative too.

But with what he's charging and where he's playing these days, only a handful of his wealthiest fans are going to get those memories, and the only reason that could be acceptable to Prince is because he's doing it for the $$$.

That's no crime but it would be nice if he acknowledged that.

RodeoSchro said:

Prince is sooooo incredibly selfish. Why doesn´t he pay the tickets of his fans to Europe. It´s just because he´s all about the money

TheNewpowerG said:

C'mon man, Prince doesn't get 1/100,000th of the "negativity" or criticism he got when he hit it big. People bitch about him and his ticket prices these days, but in the old days he was the butt of every joke about his name, his sexuality, the curse words in his songs.

Hell, he's the reason there are Parental Warning stickers on CDs. You think that was done out of love?

And yet, he withstood THAT criticism. What he's getting these days is nothing compared to that.

Who know except him....

rwn said:

LOL, that's not my point.

The guy that charged $75 a ticket in 2004 when he could have been charging $250 a ticket is the same guy charging $500/$1,000 a ticket today.

If you think there's any motivation behind that other than making more money, i guess we have to agree to disagree.

RodeoSchro said:

Let's forget that the O2 kindly provided Prince with the venue for 21 days for free (NOT), all these people making your stay more comfortable over their, the security to make sure no weird things happen, the promotions, flight costs, hotel costs, soung, light, stage, bodyguards etc. etc.

Last night, 12.000x100 is 1.200.000 euro's I think Prince is a lucky man if he made 200.000 last night after expenses... If he wanted to make money, he'd charged double, and still would be able to sell out 12.000 tickets in the same time, or maybe a little more.

just like the rest of us to be happy in his skin and lead a good life

oh and rock the world of course as the funkiest MF that ever lived but oh yeah he already done that