p4life said:

what about us over here in the us ? how will we get a copy?

I've been asking myself that question since I started hearing about the free newspaper giveaway.

^

You have 3 options:

(1) A friend in the UK.

(2) EBay

(3) Madhousemusic.co.uk

[Edited 7/3/10 16:37pm]

[img:$uid]http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/852/princeweekarticlefooter.jpg[/img:$uid]

That video is actually very funny and original. The kind of thing that will pick up virally.

Love it!

robinhood said:

Mindflux said:

I can assure you its not as black and white as you make this situation out to be and its nowhere near as easy as "any artist can make money without commercializing themselves". Its one of the hardest industries to make money in for most artists and that includes artists who are signed.

It is also not true that artists compromise their work as soon as they try to sell it. Selling it to earn a living is one thing and is only to ensure that you can continue with your chosen art-form. What does compromise art is generally when big corporates get involved, who have no emotional attachment to the work and are only concerned about profits and bottom-line - its then that the compromise starts and most artists have to accept that if they want any chance of success. Trying to earn enough money by doing it on your own is quite difficult, even for extremely talented individuals.

I think it was you that was trumpeting the internet as being the saving grace for musicians - unfortunately, that's not quite the case. Yes, the internet has offered alternatives and the chance to distribute your music in a different way but there's always 2 sides to every coin. Apart from a few exceptions, its generally very difficult to get yourself noticed as an independent, especially when there are millions of others all doing the same. You either need a lot of luck, novelty value, or some sort of organised promotion behind you - just making good music is often not enough. Furthermore, the same internet, because of its freedoms and uniqueness of instant distribution, is also hurting artists because of illegal file-sharing and its a big problem. With the limited research I was able to do, for every single cd sold of my last album, there were at least 50 illegal downloads of it!!! How am I supposed to make money with that model?! If you owned a shop and for every 1 product you sold, 50 were stolen, it wouldn't be very long before you were out of business, would it?

Prince is not necessarily offering this method as the solution for all artists, he is just demonstrating that, of you're creative about it and think outside the box, then there are things you can do against the standard flow of the industry. Of course, its easier for him being an established name, but he's not asking artists to copy him verbatim, I think he's just proving that you can pull off an alternative.

For some, it is all about fame but then, they tend not to be the bona fide "artists", they tend to be teh "product and puppet". Artists are first and foremost concerned about the art, then getting fairly compensated and then if fame comes as part of that, so be it. At least, that's it for me - I make my music, I try (and do) sell it so that I can make more. Being famous, getting recognised and mobbed in the street is the furthest thing from my mind!

are you surviving ok on the money you make from your music?

Well, that's a very open question and its all kind of relative, isn't it? I mean, I have a home, a car and I can eat. But I don't have much disposable income and can't buy more hardware for the studion at the moment, or that HD telly that I would like, for example.

Sometimes, I have to do other work to help pay the bills, most of the time I don't. So, "surviving ok", yes, but its not much fun constantly "surviving".....I'd like to be "more comfortable". But, I enjoy what I do - I'm "living the dream" to some extent, in that I'm doing what I want to do and don't have to do a 9 - 5. I play at lots of festivals and visit countries I never thought I would, so it has it's perks, certainly. It can just be a challenge when you're having to live hand-to-mouth so often.

So, when you see your album has been downloaded 50 times more than its been purchased, that makes for uncomfortable reading. There's not a lot I can do about it, of course, but that doesn't stop it being a concern!

Mindflux said:

robinhood said:

are you surviving ok on the money you make from your music?

Well, that's a very open question and its all kind of relative, isn't it? I mean, I have a home, a car and I can eat. But I don't have much disposable income and can't buy more hardware for the studion at the moment, or that HD telly that I would like, for example.

Sometimes, I have to do other work to help pay the bills, most of the time I don't. So, "surviving ok", yes, but its not much fun constantly "surviving".....I'd like to be "more comfortable". But, I enjoy what I do - I'm "living the dream" to some extent, in that I'm doing what I want to do and don't have to do a 9 - 5. I play at lots of festivals and visit countries I never thought I would, so it has it's perks, certainly. It can just be a challenge when you're having to live hand-to-mouth so often.

So, when you see your album has been downloaded 50 times more than its been purchased, that makes for uncomfortable reading. There's not a lot I can do about it, of course, but that doesn't stop it being a concern!

good to hear you are surviving just fine.

some might say you've done really well and proven you dont have to 'commercialize' yourself and mix it up with big business or shoot for massive amounts of fame simply to make a decent living out of music.

so great to hear about musicians such as yourself who prove everyday that you dont need to be mainstream or on the charts or doing deals with newspapers to be successful.

you can release your music independently, do whatever you want with it, charge whatever you want for it, travel, and you've got a home, a car, and you can eat, and most of the time you dont need to do any other work to support yourself.

thank you for being the 1st to step-forward and prove my point, by example.

robinhood said:

Mindflux said:

Well, that's a very open question and its all kind of relative, isn't it? I mean, I have a home, a car and I can eat. But I don't have much disposable income and can't buy more hardware for the studion at the moment, or that HD telly that I would like, for example.

Sometimes, I have to do other work to help pay the bills, most of the time I don't. So, "surviving ok", yes, but its not much fun constantly "surviving".....I'd like to be "more comfortable". But, I enjoy what I do - I'm "living the dream" to some extent, in that I'm doing what I want to do and don't have to do a 9 - 5. I play at lots of festivals and visit countries I never thought I would, so it has it's perks, certainly. It can just be a challenge when you're having to live hand-to-mouth so often.

So, when you see your album has been downloaded 50 times more than its been purchased, that makes for uncomfortable reading. There's not a lot I can do about it, of course, but that doesn't stop it being a concern!

good to hear you are surviving just fine.

some might say you've done really well and proven you dont have to 'commercialize' yourself and mix it up with big business or shoot for massive amounts of fame simply to make a decent living out of music.

so great to hear about musicians such as yourself who prove everyday that you dont need to be mainstream or on the charts or doing deals with newspapers to be successful.

you can release your music independently, do whatever you want with it, charge whatever you want for it, travel, and you've got a home, a car, and you can eat, and most of the time you dont need to do any other work to support yourself.

thank you for being the 1st to step-forward and prove my point, by example.

Well, not quite! I think you're extending what I say to support your point.

It entirely depends on what yard-stick you use to measure "success". Is "surviving" success? I don't think so. In my view, I'm not a success yet. But, my success isn't dependent on fame, its more to do with not struggling. As I said, I'd like to be "more comfortable".

Furthermore, music didn't pay for my house, or my car for that matter. I bought those when I had a "real" job. I gave up working 5 years ago to concentrate on my music career. Since then, I have had to cope with an income of around half what I was earning. Its getting better, but I've had to make serious lifestyle adjustments to compensate. Its easy to look in from the outside and say, "well, you have a home etc - you must be making a decent living", but that's not the case. Even people living below the poverty line, in western society, generally have a home (whether or not it is owned by them).

So, its no bed of roses and I don't feel I'm an example to show others that you can "do anything" as an independent artist. In fact, I would have words of warning to others - yes, its fun, but be prepared for hard times and difficulty in getting what you are worth!

Mindflux said:

robinhood said:

good to hear you are surviving just fine.

some might say you've done really well and proven you dont have to 'commercialize' yourself and mix it up with big business or shoot for massive amounts of fame simply to make a decent living out of music.

so great to hear about musicians such as yourself who prove everyday that you dont need to be mainstream or on the charts or doing deals with newspapers to be successful.

you can release your music independently, do whatever you want with it, charge whatever you want for it, travel, and you've got a home, a car, and you can eat, and most of the time you dont need to do any other work to support yourself.

thank you for being the 1st to step-forward and prove my point, by example.

Well, not quite! I think you're extending what I say to support your point.

It entirely depends on what yard-stick you use to measure "success". Is "surviving" success? I don't think so. In my view, I'm not a success yet. But, my success isn't dependent on fame, its more to do with not struggling. As I said, I'd like to be "more comfortable".

Furthermore, music didn't pay for my house, or my car for that matter. I bought those when I had a "real" job. I gave up working 5 years ago to concentrate on my music career. Since then, I have had to cope with an income of around half what I was earning. Its getting better, but I've had to make serious lifestyle adjustments to compensate. Its easy to look in from the outside and say, "well, you have a home etc - you must be making a decent living", but that's not the case. Even people living below the poverty line, in western society, generally have a home (whether or not it is owned by them).

So, its no bed of roses and I don't feel I'm an example to show others that you can "do anything" as an independent artist. In fact, I would have words of warning to others - yes, its fun, but be prepared for hard times and difficulty in getting what you are worth!

when i asked you if you were surviving ok on the money you make from your music, you mentioned a house and car, i thought that was a direct answer to my question.

at any rate, its still good to hear you are surviving just fine.

sermwanderer said:

"6 mortons rolls, 20 Club, a glass bottle of irn bru and a copy of the daily record pal" "you forgot your free Prince CD" "you saying ahm a fucking poof?" the scene in many Glaswegian newsagents next Saturday disclaimer: I apologise for use of the derogatory word "poof", but it's necessary to set the Glaswegian scene as some of my fellow townsfolk are not as sensitive towards our homosexual brothers as I am.

yes scotland is about to be awash with three quarters of a million copies of a new prince album.....in a country not known for recognising musicial talent... i have always found the if you like prince then you must be gay scenario very strange.....i mean if you say you like freddie mercury or david bowie.....you dont tend to get the gay comments.....i think , sadly , to quote ali g , " is it cos i is black" is the real reason you get this attitude.....people still have a problem with homosexuality but when it is a black man that they think is gay.....it is even worse.......thats what i think anyway........yes ....shopkeeper.....give me my free prince cd and i dont care if you think i am gay.....you moron......

blackbob said:

sermwanderer said:

"6 mortons rolls, 20 Club, a glass bottle of irn bru and a copy of the daily record pal" "you forgot your free Prince CD" "you saying ahm a fucking poof?" the scene in many Glaswegian newsagents next Saturday disclaimer: I apologise for use of the derogatory word "poof", but it's necessary to set the Glaswegian scene as some of my fellow townsfolk are not as sensitive towards our homosexual brothers as I am.

yes scotland is about to be awash with three quarters of a million copies of a new prince album.....in a country not known for recognising musicial talent... i have always found the if you like prince then you must be gay scenario very strange.....i mean if you say you like freddie mercury or david bowie.....you dont tend to get the gay comments.....i think , sadly , to quote ali g , " is it cos i is black" is the real reason you get this attitude.....people still have a problem with homosexuality but when it is a black man that they think is gay.....it is even worse.......thats what i think anyway........yes ....shopkeeper.....give me my free prince cd and i dont care if you think i am gay.....you moron......

I believe this is one of the smartest moves made. The problem with selling CD's lately has been the entire wash of downloads on the net, because they are free. Here, prince has found a way to get the music to the consumer FREE completely packaged. He has gone a little backward, but he is saving print in a way too. Bottom line, is it competes with the monster that is the net, YET utilizes it.

Prince is not hurt, he has made his money from the deal, and it gives fans a chance to participate by selling copies to people in the US. They can even make downloads to sell, or give away. Prince would not care at this point, he has made what he wants to make from these CD's.

and... btw.. I had much rather buy a well engineered CD as opposed to an MP3 download. The fidelity is much better. MP3 compression is just not as good.

I think what Prince tried to do with the LotusFlower was a lot along this line of thinking, he simply wanted to cut out the need to buy a paper for boot. But, I guess when looking back at the two models, the paper model was the best. Think about it, the paper doesnt have to promise or be maintained any more after that.

Just my thoughts. I really like the model of sales. Sort of a win.. win.. win.

Much better than the 'Daily mail'. 'Mirror' much more right 4 Prince. Liberial, only Labour newspaper. People dont recognise the truth dat Prince was the first one 2 give his album away for free (planet earth) with a main tabloid paper. Then every one else copied.

In 1994 -95 Prince came up with the idear first, to give his album away for free, he said. Also in the Gold experience tour he gave away tapes for free 2 all his fans with 'NPG operator'.

Sam 8)

If someone in the US wants I will buy an extra copy and post cd to you next Sat. Would like a copy of Lotusflow3r from Target in return. I hear its only $4.99 now

May the best man or woman win.......

Good Luck

http://www.absoluteradio....index.html

Win an 8GB iPod Touch and Prince Ultimate album

We've teamed up with The Daily Mirror to tell you about the fantastic new release of Prince's latest CD album 20TEN FREE INSIDE the Daily Mirror Saturday 10 July.

To celebrate this we're giving you the chance to win a magnificent 8GB iPod Touch and Prince Ultimate album!

Get Prince's brand new CD album 20TEN free

International megastar Prince will distribute his new album, ‘20TEN', free and exclusively with the The Daily Mirror - not available in the shops.. or online. This is the first time that a major recording artist has ever released a new album through a national daily newspaper in the UK.

Fans can look forward to his first British newspaper interview in more than 10 years – exclusive to the Daily Mirror – as well as ticket giveaways to his European concerts.

The new album, 20TEN, is a celebratory, quintessential Prince masterpiece and marks the start of the international tour.

As well as the release of the album itself, we have a packed programme of Prince-related activity to keep his fans happy – including his first UK newspaper interview for over a decade – all exclusively with The Daily Mirror.

Prize details

If you can fill in your details and answer the question to the right, you could walk away with an 8GB iPod Touch and Prince Ultimate album!

Make sure you tune in to Absolute Radio all next week as we'll be giving away more iPod Touch's, more Prince albums and even tickets to see the man himself in concert on 25 July!

How many Prince albums do you own?

0
3.0%

1-2
2.0%

3-4
1.0%

5-10
4.0%

10-20
6.0%

20-30
17.0%

30+
66.0%

Dreamer2 said:

May the best man or woman win.......

Good Luck

http://www.absoluteradio....index.html

Win an 8GB iPod Touch and Prince Ultimate album

We've teamed up with The Daily Mirror to tell you about the fantastic new release of Prince's latest CD album 20TEN FREE INSIDE the Daily Mirror Saturday 10 July.

To celebrate this we're giving you the chance to win a magnificent 8GB iPod Touch and Prince Ultimate album!

Get Prince's brand new CD album 20TEN free

International megastar Prince will distribute his new album, ‘20TEN', free and exclusively with the The Daily Mirror - not available in the shops.. or online. This is the first time that a major recording artist has ever released a new album through a national daily newspaper in the UK.

Fans can look forward to his first British newspaper interview in more than 10 years – exclusive to the Daily Mirror – as well as ticket giveaways to his European concerts.

The new album, 20TEN, is a celebratory, quintessential Prince masterpiece and marks the start of the international tour.

As well as the release of the album itself, we have a packed programme of Prince-related activity to keep his fans happy – including his first UK newspaper interview for over a decade – all exclusively with The Daily Mirror.

Prize details

If you can fill in your details and answer the question to the right, you could walk away with an 8GB iPod Touch and Prince Ultimate album!

Make sure you tune in to Absolute Radio all next week as we'll be giving away more iPod Touch's, more Prince albums and even tickets to see the man himself in concert on 25 July!

this ad looks like a pop-up

I'm all for Prince releasing the new album in the newspapers for his fans over seas, but what about his US fans? I sure would be nice if we were able to get the cd for free in an American newspaper over the Fourth of July weekend. Or even offer it as a free one day only download on the 4th, I mean if he wants 2 release it for free to his fans. I'd even buy it after the fact, especially with extrra tracks added.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/prince

[img:$uid]http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/jul2010/9/7/b-image-1-416369069.jpg[/img:$uid]

blackbob said:

sermwanderer said:

"6 mortons rolls, 20 Club, a glass bottle of irn bru and a copy of the daily record pal" "you forgot your free Prince CD" "you saying ahm a fucking poof?" the scene in many Glaswegian newsagents next Saturday disclaimer: I apologise for use of the derogatory word "poof", but it's necessary to set the Glaswegian scene as some of my fellow townsfolk are not as sensitive towards our homosexual brothers as I am.

yes scotland is about to be awash with three quarters of a million copies of a new prince album.....in a country not known for recognising musicial talent... i have always found the if you like prince then you must be gay scenario very strange.....i mean if you say you like freddie mercury or david bowie.....you dont tend to get the gay comments.....i think , sadly , to quote ali g , " is it cos i is black" is the real reason you get this attitude.....people still have a problem with homosexuality but when it is a black man that they think is gay.....it is even worse.......thats what i think anyway........yes ....shopkeeper.....give me my free prince cd and i dont care if you think i am gay.....you moron......

Absolute rubbish!!!!!

i just saw it advertised in the mirror my moms reading

woooooooohooooooo

Zinzi said:

i just saw it advertised in the mirror my moms reading

woooooooohooooooo

Hey i wonder if the mirror is going to do this as well...............................?

We are pleased to invite you Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at the Reservoir from 22Heures for the exclusive launch and listening to 20TEN the new album from Prince.
Evening in association with "Courrier International" which will distribute 20Ten with its edition of July 8.

Free admission. Print the invitation. Come with your Schkopi Pass. Pass distributed free on the evening of course.

This event is primarily a time to return before the "great mass" of 9 Arras.

Come!

The Reservoir
16 rue de la Forge Royale
75011 Paris

Entry possible before 22 hours

Hate to damp down the Fire about the new Prince Album 20TEN, but first review online LEAK, not looking good.....Sorry......

Well we just have to wait and see.......

now trying to calm by listening to the new Prince album #20ten im reviewing for a newspaper. 7 tracks in and its not the best!

http://twitter.com/DJChristianOC

• Name Christian O'Connell
• Location London
• Bio Every morning on Absolute Radio all over the UK, I set sail on a pirate ship searching for radio gold.One Day I'll find it.. Shabby Dad and Average Man/Husband

Any orgers got a tweet a/c find out some more info ???

Dreamer2 said:

Hate to damp down the Fire about the new Prince Album 20TEN, but first review online LEAK, not looking good.....Sorry......

Well we just have to wait and see.......

now trying to calm by listening to the new Prince album #20ten im reviewing for a newspaper. 7 tracks in and its not the best!

http://twitter.com/DJChristianOC

• Name Christian O'Connell
• Location London
• Bio Every morning on Absolute Radio all over the UK, I set sail on a pirate ship searching for radio gold.One Day I'll find it.. Shabby Dad and Average Man/Husband

Any orgers got a tweet a/c find out some more info ???

Might mean something if I knew what his other reviews were like. A very quick scan of a google search for "Christian O'Connell music review doesn't immediately produce anything of interest.

errant said:

Dreamer2 said:

Hate to damp down the Fire about the new Prince Album 20TEN, but first review online LEAK, not looking good.....Sorry......

Well we just have to wait and see.......

http://twitter.com/DJChristianOC

• Name Christian O'Connell
• Location London
• Bio Every morning on Absolute Radio all over the UK, I set sail on a pirate ship searching for radio gold.One Day I'll find it.. Shabby Dad and Average Man/Husband

Any orgers got a tweet a/c find out some more info ???

Might mean something if I knew what his other reviews were like. A very quick scan of a google search for "Christian O'Connell music review doesn't immediately produce anything of interest.

He's a radio DJ but of course that does not count for much these days, but still he's just giving his view , he's not a music guru.....

Dreamer2 said:

errant said:

Might mean something if I knew what his other reviews were like. A very quick scan of a google search for "Christian O'Connell music review doesn't immediately produce anything of interest.

He's a radio DJ but of course that does not count for much these days, but still he's just giving his view , he's not a music guru.....

yeah, I know. it's more like.... is he nuts over death metal? does he have a passion for acid jazz? does he only appreciate British indie hipster garage bands? is the only music on his iPod 18th century Irish jigs? what are his thoughts on Miley Cyrus?

errant said:

Dreamer2 said:

He's a radio DJ but of course that does not count for much these days, but still he's just giving his view , he's not a music guru.....

yeah, I know. it's more like.... is he nuts over death metal? does he have a passion for acid jazz? does he only appreciate British indie hipster garage bands? is the only music on his iPod 18th century Irish jigs? what are his thoughts on Miley Cyrus?

something else that occurs to me is that he says he's reviewing for a newspaper? which one? one that will be distributing the album? because if so, he wouldn't be on twitter making this comment. a competing paper? because if so, the people he's writing for have an interest in giving it a bad review.

he may be right and it's not very good, and he may be legit and has no conflict of interest, but it's something to think about.

1) "not the best" doesn't necassarily equate to crap

2) exactly Errant's point: which paper is he reviewing for (I'd assume all the one sdistributing would have heard it before agreeing to do so...

3) Dj WHO??

beside 1 through to 3, opinions are like assholes......