To me, AC was more of a radio format, not a genre of music in the store, per se. There'd be TOO many genres to put in a store. R&B, Soul, Funk, Rock, Heavy Metal, A.C., etc. It's just lighter pop music in general. It's odd the acts that were considered A.C. just 20 years ago compared to now.

As far as Prince's music - even radio won't pick up what some might consider A.C., which means it's just too boring or bland for them to care about.

He can be... I don't think he always is tho. He can go pop: Guitar (Rolling Stone mag's 39th best song of 2007)

Its really difficult to categorize his music, i don't think he wants to be put in any category.

ARock said:

That's a great fam answer, but the truth is out there.

ernestsewell said:

I always thought it was more promotion for the artist if anything. From my understanding the artist or record company/label is who pays the radio station to play so said artist's music. Typically the Adult Contemporary or R&B stations hre in South Florida play "Future Baby Mama" or some other R&Bish type song ...

PurpleLove7 said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola

ernestsewell said:

Thanks for that Ernest. I used to do some DJ work on a few stations in Chicago and some College stations in South Florida and I used to just play what I liked when I was on the air. That was over 20yrs ago when I did it, so I thought things changed.

... your input is always appreciated and welcolm(ed).

PurpleLove7 said:

The one plus of having my own radio show and doing it independently was that I could play WTFever I wanted. I can't imagine being a drone on corporate radio and playing whatever they want you to play. I have a friend or three that are DJs and they expressed how boring it can be sometimes when they're in that situation.

I would say he's hovering around there especially with stuff like Mr Goodnight and All the midnights in the world. Quite a bit of Musicology, 3121, Planet Earth especially and Lotusflower definitly delve into that area. Sure we still get a bit of funk and rock but much of that is a rareity, slightly mainstream or embedded in an AC song like Wall of Berlin...or even that new travesty he put out.

Prince is grown and proud, he may dismiss labels but AC is where i'd put him now. It's cool though because AC is only a curse for those who never did anything remotely creative. If you took your chances in youth, and tore shit up then its ok to be AC now. We all become AC if we mature correctly, and if we got our fill of the club with no regrets. Prince did it big, and did it nasty so i dont mind him being middle of the road now.Anita Baker was AC in her early 30's lol.

No offense meant, but "Adult contemporary" is American mumbo-jumbo bullshit. There's no musical genre called "AC": it's totally meaningless to europeans and even after reading Wikipedia's entry i still don't understand what it means.

I'd say "She Gave Her Angels" is Children Contemporary, though

And Usavich IS the future (not Carmen Electra)!

I work in radio and never find it boring. I make it fun

I can see why you would think that, but he's a bit too loud for that category imo



Examples:

dreamer, boom, guitar

BTW, I used to work at an AC station. The last new song we played by Prince was "Song of the heart". It was in rotation for about two weeks before it got dropped.

The wrecka stow I always go to has him under R&B.

I classify Prince as alternative.

Poiple said:

Same in Finland. But some stows actually place his albums in different sections guided by their own interpretations.

I'm most likely to find Chaos & Disorder in the rock/pop section together with the likes of 1999, Purple Rain, Around The world and even Dirty Mind. Black Album is in the R&B or funk section together with Newpower Soul and Emancipation.

I can see why some might place him in the so-called adult category. But even his latest release Lotusflow3r is not really that, is it. Or Rainbow Children.
[Edited 5/11/10 8:18am]