So reading Mick Jaggers interview with the BBC, he makes a very intresting comment about the record industry, which fit's in with Prince's view and shows that Prince made the correct Financial move to leave WB in 1996/1997!

So do you think Prince has in alot of ways made more money since the break with WB, than he made when he was with them?

Mick Jagger: But I have a take on that - people only made money out of records for a very, very small time. When The Rolling Stones started out, we didn't make any money out of records because record companies wouldn't pay you! They didn't pay anyone!

Then, there was a small period from 1970 to 1997, where people did get paid, and they got paid very handsomely and everyone made money. But now that period has gone.

So if you look at the history of recorded music from 1900 to now, there was a 25 year period where artists did very well, but the rest of the time they didn't. [i]


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/h...681410.stm

Hey it happened!

It's the Pimp/Ho syndrome.

Problem is many superstars think they are the pimp when the reality is they are the ho. They will not realize this until they are too old to make money and they are out on the street.

The time period that Jagger is speaking of was a time where many former artists were in leadership roles at labels and more money was given to the artist but it still not what many would think it was.

If you could find the financial records of the music industry you would find only a handful of artists that made a real financial coup over their careers.

A good show that highlights the plight of the musicians and artists is Unsung on TV1. Stacy Lattisaw said she had a #1 hit for four weeks and Motown told her it only sold 30,000 copies.

Yes, Prince is making much more money.

We got LESS music and WORSE music since.

vitriol said:

Not really true, but maybe worse to you.

I highly doubt he is making more money off record sales since leaving WB. He had a 100 million dollar deal from them for 5 albums. Tell me 5 albums he has released since 1997 that made him 100 million bucks.

I would venture to say that all his albums combined since then havent made him $100 million.

But regardless...the last WB deal was for 5 albums, and there is NO WAY he has pulled in that much money from any 5 albums since the split.

ronnwinter said:

He may not have made 100 million but he has the ownership of this new material he's published independently. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World is all his.

That was the whole point why he wanted to leave WB: 1) They didn't let him release what he wanted and when he wanted and 2) He didn't want some middle man take a cut for his work. These days, he's probably not making as much money as before but I know he's doing alright anyway.

I don't think he's ever denied that he DIDN'T make any money while under contract to Warners. Remember the liner notes on the last page of NewPower Soul cd booklet? Not to mention, his comments on Rave dvd? It's all about the ownership of the work. "Money and art don't mix."

He's quite a pioneer in the music business and I'm surprised that nobody is really mentioning him when so called experts and music reporters write about ownership and different ways to distribute music.
In Finland, you can actually get certain artists' album when you buy a newspaper similar to "The Sun" or "Daily Mirror". The only difference is, you still have to pay almost a standard price for the album. Nevertheless, quite a coincidence that this is actually happening so soon after Prince did a similar thing, eh?

To me, it makes sense why he wanted out of the contract. What I don't understand, is why he wanted out so soon after he'd signed a new deal around 1991-1992. Maybe he was badly advised, I don't know. Also, he got more extras and flexibility than his contract presumably allowed: Paisley Park label that eventually went bust because in the end it didn't make any profit, not to mention he got to release some videos and a full movie (Graffiti Bridge, The Undertaker, 3 Chains.. , Sacrifice..) Also, with all the money he made in the 80's he built Paisley Park Studios which he still uses today. That would never have been possible without the money pouring in from touring, not to mention, from WB records that were actually distributed and marketed by Warners.

He's said all the time that he has no beef with Warners because that's the way the industry works. He's chosen another path and is clearly happy with it. Again, I have to bring up the mail order he had around 1998, it was really clever. When you compare Lotusflow3r.com to that, it's amazing how badly fans were mislead during the past year.

ronnwinter said:

that deal did not earn him anything close to $100 Million. It was based on each album selling something like 2 million copies each.