"The internet is over."

TrevorAyer said:

the internet only exists to profile you and track u in a data base .. sell u products .. make shure ur still stupid and take ur money .. the internet is the shiney new car that u have to get out and push .. more work than its worth and a complete waste of time and energy

I agree totally. The internet has hit its proverbial "glass ceiling". It has nowhere else to go; can't cook me dinner or wash my clothes~which would be usefull!

With sites like Wikipedia where anyone can post whatever, the .Net has ultimately undermined the legitimacy of all that is available on the .Net; thinking people will/have begun to question its viability and resourcefullness.

In terms of music, any downloads from Youtube are worthless. ITunes quality is better, but why bother, its still not as great as a CD you can record yourself. The cost of CDs will decline which will allow us to purchase several great sons for less than what you pay on ITunes.

The Internet is limited to what was said above and is a waste of time, energy and life. Hopefully people will get a clue and start going back outside and doing the things they were doing before this expolosion of nothingness.

///

[Edited 7/5/10 23:39pm]

interesting opinions on what people think the internet is, even though they dont really know what the internet actually is, or what it really does.

Prince was also quoted in another recent interview that he does not like having his interviews recorded because the quotes of the things he says "may haunt me for years"

Sadly he is completely wrong on so many things lately and his "internet is over" line like most everything he has said recently will indeed haunt him for many many years to come.

I love prince and i'll cut him some slack because he sounds so out of touch, but his breath must smell of old shoes and feet.

[Edited 7/5/10 23:48pm]

robinhood said:

interesting opinions on what people think the internet is, even though they dont really know what the internet actually is, or what it really does.

Reading some of the replies to this thread, I have to agree.

The internet has revolutionized mass communications like nothing else since the printing press. Using a cinema analogy it's not even out of the 'silent pictures' era yet.

Besides, Prince changes his mind more often than his underwear, all it takes is one hiccup with print media, and they will be the new devil incarnate, and he'll be back to floggin' his next album on facebook or something.

Sweething said:

The Internet is limited to what was said above and is a waste of time, energy and life. Hopefully people will get a clue and start going back outside and doing the things they were doing before this expolosion of nothingness.

Some of you must be high. The internet has not come anywhere close to reaching its full growth potential.

I would posit that those of you, wasting time on a Prince fan site (you know, on the 'net), simply don't make use of it productively. You put nothing in and get nothingness in return.

The internet continues to be of great value to me, however, in many aspects of my life. As a research tool alone there is nothing else in existence that even comes close. That alone is more than worth the effort (man, if some of you think the internet is too much work I hate to see you try to make use of a book).

Its hilarious that Prince is so out of touch and some fams rush to defend his short sighted statements.

[Edited 7/5/10 23:47pm]

jtfolden said:

Sweething said:

The Internet is limited to what was said above and is a waste of time, energy and life. Hopefully people will get a clue and start going back outside and doing the things they were doing before this expolosion of nothingness.

Some of you must be high. The internet has not come anywhere close to reaching its full growth potential.

I would posit that those of you, wasting time on a Prince fan site (you know, on the 'net), simply don't make use of it productively. You put nothing in and get nothingness in return.

The internet continues to be of great value to me, however, in many aspects of my life. As a research tool alone there is nothing else in existence that even comes close. That alone is more than worth the effort (man, if some of you think the internet is too much work I hate to see you try to make use of a book).

Its hilarious that Prince is so out of touch and some fams rush to defend his short sighted statements.

[Edited 7/5/10 23:47pm]

Exactly.

jtfolden said:

Sweething said:

The Internet is limited to what was said above and is a waste of time, energy and life. Hopefully people will get a clue and start going back outside and doing the things they were doing before this expolosion of nothingness.

The internet continues to be of great value to me, however, in many aspects of my life. As a research tool alone there is nothing else in existence that even comes close. That alone is more than worth the effort (man, if some of you think the internet is too much work I hate to see you try to make use of a book).

I was going to suggest a little known research tool LIBRARY.

P.S. I don't have to "come to Prince's defense" I have my own opinions, thank you.

Dauphin said:

Prince has:

"Beaten" illegal downloading of music. How? He took guaranteed money from a 3rd Party who bundled it with their own product. He did with this Napster, and the Newpapers. Arguably, he did this with Target as he was able to put a CD on the shelves for $10. Whether you bought the CD or newspaper or downloaded from oink, Prince got paid.

"Beaten" ticket scalpers. Hit and Run concerts were one tactic. Selling Purple/Gold/etc circle tix at VERY reasonable prices was another. But it's the adding cities to a tour and adding dates to a larger city like his Vegas and O2 stints that kept prices low for the fans. By increasing the supply side, he was able to satisfy the demand side instead of charging more until demand went down. And not only did he provide the shows in quantity, but he performed with great quality. Thus, preserving that precious demand for his product.

Now, are these Prince's Avant Garde tactics? Of course not. Other artists and businesspeople have been doing this. But we're talking about what Prince is doing. And honestly, it's tactics that many in the industry need to consider.

And he's dead right about Youtube and eBay. Obviously, I feel there is a greater cultural value they have provided that justifies their indiscretions. However, they DO police Porn and Gore, etc. Why can't they do the same for other illegal activity such as copyright infringement? If I post a webcam of a woman getting her tits out on Youtube, it's down in like 2 minutes even if I flag it as 18+ Only. If I post a recording of Nasty Girl from VH-1 Classics, it stays up until Prince/WEA/ or whomever reports it as copyright infringement.

Um. You ever hear of Vevo? And do you understand why artists sign up for the Vevo system?

Would Prince ever distribute his videos through Vevo (like he should)? Of course not. Why? Because he doesn't give a shit about fans wanting to watch old music videos and him generating ad revenue from that. He wanted people to play his cheezy, proprietary game or don't get invited to the party.

You talk to some artists and they just want their fans to hear the music and see the videos. They know the fans will show up in droves that way. People from Beyonce to Lady Gaga to Mariah Carey to Alicia Keys to Ozzy Osbourne know how to properly manage their empires. Why is it that Prince consistently makes it more and more difficult for old fans to maintain libraries and new fans to even give a shit? That ain't business. It's career suicide, something Prince has been in the business of for a very long time.

Sweething said:

jtfolden said:

The internet continues to be of great value to me, however, in many aspects of my life. As a research tool alone there is nothing else in existence that even comes close. That alone is more than worth the effort (man, if some of you think the internet is too much work I hate to see you try to make use of a book).

I was going to suggest a little known research tool LIBRARY.

P.S. I don't have to "come to Prince's defense" I have my own opinions, thank you.

Um, hate to break it to you but even libraries come full-stocked with computers with internet access. What year do you even live in?

Spinlight said:

Dauphin said:

Um. You ever hear of Vevo? And do you understand why artists sign up for the Vevo system?

Would Prince ever distribute his videos through Vevo (like he should)? Of course not. Why? Because he doesn't give a shit about fans wanting to watch old music videos and him generating ad revenue from that. He wanted people to play his cheezy, proprietary game or don't get invited to the party.

What's scary is the principal application of this theory is misapplied toward Prince and Artists who hold the same beliefs. In other words-- you own a cell phone, right? If you don't sign up for a contract or pay your bill -- you have no cell phone -- its pay to play whether you talk cell phones, ISP service, banking, groceries, etc. It's the business model for everything; why single Prince and other Artists out because they're simply following the same model and want to reap whatever small benefit they can from their life's work? I don't get it?

If your premise is marketing. That can be done in numerous ways. The .Net is only of of many.

Spinlight said:

Sweething said:

I was going to suggest a little known research tool LIBRARY.

P.S. I don't have to "come to Prince's defense" I have my own opinions, thank you.

Um, hate to break it to you but even libraries come full-stocked with computers with internet access. What year do you even live in?

I'm going to ignore your snide coment as I dont want to overshadow the point. Libraries, which hire intelligent, knowledgeable (currently unemployed) people who are trained in helping you find whatever research tools you need, are an excellent tool. (Whether they have computers or not is irrelevant.) Books and publications of all kinds are found in Libraries.

(Not to mention that Librarie are a source of employment for people--you remember what people are, don't you?) They pay taxes, give you advise, stroke you when you're feeling down, yell at you when you need it.....human interaction. Some people have even met their spouses in Libraries -- but I digress.

Only thing, the Library requires is that we get off of our fat arses, go there and actually perform research! Good Night.

ooops.

[Edited 7/6/10 0:24am]

Sweething said:

Spinlight said:

Um. You ever hear of Vevo? And do you understand why artists sign up for the Vevo system?

Would Prince ever distribute his videos through Vevo (like he should)? Of course not. Why? Because he doesn't give a shit about fans wanting to watch old music videos and him generating ad revenue from that. He wanted people to play his cheezy, proprietary game or don't get invited to the party.

What's scary is the principal application of this theory is misapplied toward Prince and Artists who hold the same beliefs. In other words-- you own a cell phone, right? If you don't sign up for a contract or pay your bill -- you have no cell phone -- its pay to play whether you talk cell phones, ISP service, banking, groceries, etc. It's the business model for everything; why single Prince and other Artists out because they're simply following the same model and want to reap whatever small benefit they can from their life's work? I don't get it?

If your premise is marketing. That can be done in numerous ways. The .Net is only of of many.

The day Prince becomes as important as contacting my family who lives on the opposite coast is the day shit gets real.

Please don't liken Prince to a necessity. He ain't.

Sweething said:

Spinlight said:

Um, hate to break it to you but even libraries come full-stocked with computers with internet access. What year do you even live in?

I'm going to ignore your snide coment as I dont want to overshadow the point. Libraries, which hire intelligent, knowledgeable (currently unemployed) people who are trained in helping you find whatever research tools you need, are an excellent tool. (Whether they have computers or not is irrelevant.) Books and publications of all kinds are found in Libraries.

(Not to mention that Librarie are a source of employment for people--you remember what people are, don't you?) They pay taxes, give you advise, stroke you when you're feeling down, yell at you when you need it.....human interaction. Some people have even met their spouses in Libraries -- but I digress.

Only thing, the Library requires is that we get off of our fat arses, go there and actually perform research! Good Night.

ooops.

[Edited 7/6/10 0:24am]

The internet is the new library, a cheaper better stocked local library. Can't get more local than right in front of you. Governments are fighting for better access to broadband for everyone so they can close brick and mortar libraries.

In the future NOBODY will get off of our fat asses. Fat asses will be mandatory.....ok i dont know about that last part.

Sweething said:

Spinlight said:

Um, hate to break it to you but even libraries come full-stocked with computers with internet access. What year do you even live in?

I'm going to ignore your snide coment as I dont want to overshadow the point. Libraries, which hire intelligent, knowledgeable (currently unemployed) people who are trained in helping you find whatever research tools you need, are an excellent tool. (Whether they have computers or not is irrelevant.) Books and publications of all kinds are found in Libraries.

(Not to mention that Librarie are a source of employment for people--you remember what people are, don't you?) They pay taxes, give you advise, stroke you when you're feeling down, yell at you when you need it.....human interaction. Some people have even met their spouses in Libraries -- but I digress.

Only thing, the Library requires is that we get off of our fat arses, go there and actually perform research! Good Night.

ooops.

[Edited 7/6/10 0:24am]

You can ignore it all you want, but it's pertinent. You are assuming people don't use libraries. You are assuming that if at any point in time I want to find out a piece of information, I should trek to the library. There are so many situations I could bring up that trump the library, I can't even fathom where to begin. I could begin at your other reference to cell phones. My cell phone has a limitless amount of encyclopedias in its reach. I can find out more information on my cell phone driving to work than I can sitting in a library. (And btw, sitting on a fat ass is sitting on a fat ass. Doesn't change the action just because your scenery changed.)

When I go to a library, it's to check out a book or 3 or to study for classes. When I want to nerd out on facts, I check wikipedia or other online resources. Either from sitting on my fat ass at the computer or even laying my fat ass on the couch or bed, should I choose. Hell, my fat ass could drive to get a triple chocolate sundae and nerd out on facts at the same time, should my fat ass require it.

Jatrig said:

Personally, I don't blame places like ITunes for not giving him the sort of advance (or any) he may want...bottom line is his stuff doesn't sell like it used to/he thinks it does...and let's be honest,we are a living testament that the words 'pay up front' and 'Prince' don't go well together in a sentence unless the sentence us:

"The words Pay up front and Prince don't go well in a sentence"

Now whose drinking the koolaid?

skywalker said:

ernestsewell said:

Prince is being WAY hypocritical here. [..]

A few thoughts on this:

[..]

In the art world, the artist creates a painting/sculpture/etc and puts a price on it. They show it, shop it around, someone pays for the work, or they don't. This is more similar to how Prince is operating, I think. He already has made the album, he is just shopping it around. How he gets it out to the world is similar to an artist finding a gallery to display their work. I suppose, many artists can do work for hire/are commissioned but I think that only relates to Prince's live performances in some cases.

[..]

I just wanted to add to this, as in the art world it's in most cases actually closer to your Tom Cruise example. The artist usually thinks up an idea (an artist like Christo or Olafur Eliassonfor instance) or make a mock-up out of cheap materials (like a cheap paper-statue with gold paint, that gets pitched by the artist as "a future gold statue I intend to make") and then offers his idea to sellers (could be a gallery or an art collector) for, say 3 million. The artist gets paid his 3 million, make the piece, usually displays it (collector's vanity demands that we know what he bought), then hands it over to the buyer.

So usually, artists are paid up front - and usually they are so on describition of the piece the artist has intented to do (and not the finished product itself). However, only bankable artist can do this, have money in obscene numbers thrown at them for just their idea. But the principle of being paid up front, is the most common economical rule in art whether you're famous or not.

Sweething said:

Now whose drinking the koolaid?

Do you not talk in Prince lyrics? Wondering simply because you seem to find it difficult to not want to converse in Princebonics. I can assure you that your new membership here will prove sour if you can't even provide an intelligible response to things.

skywalker said:

Not accurate...unless by "recent" you mean 20 to 30 years ago. Check how much Brando got paid for Superman: The Movie in 1978. Check how much Stallone got paid for his films in the 80's. Check how much Jack Nicholson go paid for Batman in 1989.

I'm talking about musicians. The reality is that the music industry only was profitable for about half a decade. And now they feel "entitled" to these huge sums, when in reality it was always a business where not that much money was involved, and getting rich was a rare thing. The Internet broke the music industry, and mostly because the music biz was too busy annoying the shit out of people instead of looking for opportunities.

I'd rather have 1 CD of great tunes than 10 CDs of rubbish ones. QUALITY CONTROL -- great artists have it.

1. Every one has a different idea of "great tunes" and QUALITY CONTROL.

In the past, large groups of people seem to have similar ideas. Moreover, Prince KNOWS he's putting out rubbish:

- he isn't performing the songs

- he isn't promoting the albums

- he can't be arsed to keep them in print

Oh, and there's the fact that no other artists bother to cover any of his recent output.

Jatrig said:

I get the argument - but I think it'd serve Prince's musical output better if he felt some incentive to make a good product.

Which was the set-up of the infamous $100 million contract: Prince would get a $10 million advance for his next record if the current one sold over 5 million. Except at that time the only record Prince had released post-PR that sold 5+ million was D&P, a deliberately commercial effort that he promoted via an extensive worldwide tour.

Post-1996 his M.O. is basically: record record, shop it around, accept highest bid and then to as little as possible. Look at Rave: shopped his record to Clive Davis, desperately wanted a Santana-like hit, recorded a bunch of extra tunes, and by the time he needed to promote it, he was fed up with it and acted like a five-year old.

Sweething said:

Spinlight said:

Um, hate to break it to you but even libraries come full-stocked with computers with internet access. What year do you even live in?

I'm going to ignore your snide coment as I dont want to overshadow the point. Libraries, which hire intelligent, knowledgeable (currently unemployed) people who are trained in helping you find whatever research tools you need, are an excellent tool. (Whether they have computers or not is irrelevant.) Books and publications of all kinds are found in Libraries.

(Not to mention that Librarie are a source of employment for people--you remember what people are, don't you?) They pay taxes, give you advise, stroke you when you're feeling down, yell at you when you need it.....human interaction. Some people have even met their spouses in Libraries -- but I digress.

Only thing, the Library requires is that we get off of our fat arses, go there and actually perform research! Good Night.

ooops.

[Edited 7/6/10 0:24am]

Honey, I suggest you go look up what Google Books is doing. Hint: it involves digitizing the libraries of universities to OPEN UP all that hidden data.

BTW: I was doing research in a library on COMPUTERS back in the early 1990s. Computers that were LINKED to each other in a NETWORK. So I could look for books in libraries hundreds of kilometers away and maybe even request to get them sent to my local library. That was 20 years ago. And back then I was thinking: wouldn't it be wonderful if I could just look at the contents of that book here and now? Guess what: that's gonna happen, and I'll be able to do that on my PHONE.

The Internet is over? Pah. Neo-luddite nonsense.

BartVanHemelen said:

Jatrig said:

I get the argument - but I think it'd serve Prince's musical output better if he felt some incentive to make a good product.

Which was the set-up of the infamous $100 million contract: Prince would get a $10 million advance for his next record if the current one sold over 5 million. Except at that time the only record Prince had released post-PR that sold 5+ million was D&P, a deliberately commercial effort that he promoted via an extensive worldwide tour.

Post-1996 his M.O. is basically: record record, shop it around, accept highest bid and then to as little as possible. Look at Rave: shopped his record to Clive Davis, desperately wanted a Santana-like hit, recorded a bunch of extra tunes, and by the time he needed to promote it, he was fed up with it and acted like a five-year old.

This may have been asked before but I'm just wondering - what's your beef with Prince?

I can't help but think if you dont like him or any of his music since the 80's or whenever why waste your time and effort on a website dedicated to him.

I actually agree with some of what you say but you come across like he's done something to you personally to piss you off?

There are damn good points on both sides of this arguement .

I now it's been 20+ years but as skywalker and others have stated people really don't know the truth in regards to album sales meaning. ATWIAD, PARADE,SOTT,and Lovesexy sold far less than what they were expected to sell. Who is a fault to this is debatable but harken back to Little Richard saying that he wished Prince would "hold back" and you may understand better.

In regards to the "Internet is dead " statement I do admit that I was surprised by that statement but after thinking about the relationship that music has with the internet he may be closer to the truth than many are willing to admit.

We have been in an era of musicians trying to sell music on the net for 10 years or more now and with a few minor successes no one has solved this riddle and I really don't think that anyone will sell platinum records from the net. It's a good tool but it's only a tool. Some people use hammers better than other people use wrenches.

As far as this marketing technique of selling records with newspapers or getting a big box retail chain carry the record in house it's just as good as getting WB,Columbia,or Universal to do it for Prince. These record companies are not going to invest money in a 52 year old to sell records to 16 year olds. Just aint gonna happen.

muleFunk said:

There are damn good points on both sides of this arguement .

I now it's been 20+ years but as skywalker and others have stated people really don't know the truth in regards to album sales meaning. ATWIAD, PARADE,SOTT,and Lovesexy sold far less than what they were expected to sell. Who is a fault to this is debatable but harken back to Little Richard saying that he wished Prince would "hold back" and you may understand better.

In regards to the "Internet is dead " statement I do admit that I was surprised by that statement but after thinking about the relationship that music has with the internet he may be closer to the truth than many are willing to admit.

We have been in an era of musicians trying to sell music on the net for 10 years or more now and with a few minor successes no one has solved this riddle and I really don't think that anyone will sell platinum records from the net. It's a good tool but it's only a tool. Some people use hammers better than other people use wrenches.

As far as this marketing technique of selling records with newspapers or getting a big box retail chain carry the record in house it's just as good as getting WB,Columbia,or Universal to do it for Prince. These record companies are not going to invest money in a 52 year old to sell records to 16 year olds. Just aint gonna happen.

I think it's funny really for Prince to declare the internet is dead while doing dealings with "newspapers" for god's sake. Maybe he is so out of touch he is confused as to who is who?

As far as commerce is concerned, it's going to take a hell of a lot more than asteroids, solar flares and acts of god for people to give up their porn internets.

[Edited 7/6/10 5:32am]

Tried to reply earlier - but with the internet dead and all it made it a little difficult.

Hope the homing pigeon found his way to you safely.

Jokes aside - and I know it has been noted - but the only way I could get some of the dance for me remixes was via itunes.

I'm filing it up there with "i invented rap".

Swa

muleFunk said:

We have been in an era of musicians trying to sell music on the net for 10 years or more now and with a few minor successes no one has solved this riddle.

maybe money and ego are the problem.

Prince, despite the number of times he was told, over and over and over again, to curb his ego, and forget about trying to make money online, he just didnt listen.

if he had, maybe this is what he'd be saying:

"for musicians, proper use of the internet is the ultimate freedom.

giving my music to others completely free of charge is a very rewarding experience, far more rewarding than all the money i've made.

the internet, for musicians, is, and should always be, a free and unlimited domain, free of our egos, and free of money.

i feel blessed to participate in the most revolutionary invention of our time.

i think i discovered what 'emancipation' really means."

but maybe there'd still be all the same commercial clone egos demanding financial reward for their skill sets. if so, go make your damn money offline and stop ruining the net for everyone else.

oh wait a minute, thats exactly what Prince has done.

Perhaps he means the internet is over in terms of releasing music thru it... he may have been misquoted as far as we know.

Then again..P has a history of making these odd/wild/unconventional claims.

But that is P.

Spinlight said:

Dauphin said:

Prince has:

"Beaten" illegal downloading of music. How? He took guaranteed money from a 3rd Party who bundled it with their own product. He did with this Napster, and the Newpapers. Arguably, he did this with Target as he was able to put a CD on the shelves for $10. Whether you bought the CD or newspaper or downloaded from oink, Prince got paid.

"Beaten" ticket scalpers. Hit and Run concerts were one tactic. Selling Purple/Gold/etc circle tix at VERY reasonable prices was another. But it's the adding cities to a tour and adding dates to a larger city like his Vegas and O2 stints that kept prices low for the fans. By increasing the supply side, he was able to satisfy the demand side instead of charging more until demand went down. And not only did he provide the shows in quantity, but he performed with great quality. Thus, preserving that precious demand for his product.

Now, are these Prince's Avant Garde tactics? Of course not. Other artists and businesspeople have been doing this. But we're talking about what Prince is doing. And honestly, it's tactics that many in the industry need to consider.

And he's dead right about Youtube and eBay. Obviously, I feel there is a greater cultural value they have provided that justifies their indiscretions. However, they DO police Porn and Gore, etc. Why can't they do the same for other illegal activity such as copyright infringement? If I post a webcam of a woman getting her tits out on Youtube, it's down in like 2 minutes even if I flag it as 18+ Only. If I post a recording of Nasty Girl from VH-1 Classics, it stays up until Prince/WEA/ or whomever reports it as copyright infringement.

Um. You ever hear of Vevo? And do you understand why artists sign up for the Vevo system?

Would Prince ever distribute his videos through Vevo (like he should)? Of course not. Why? Because he doesn't give a shit about fans wanting to watch old music videos and him generating ad revenue from that. He wanted people to play his cheezy, proprietary game or don't get invited to the party.

You talk to some artists and they just want their fans to hear the music and see the videos. They know the fans will show up in droves that way. People from Beyonce to Lady Gaga to Mariah Carey to Alicia Keys to Ozzy Osbourne know how to properly manage their empires. Why is it that Prince consistently makes it more and more difficult for old fans to maintain libraries and new fans to even give a shit? That ain't business. It's career suicide, something Prince has been in the business of for a very long time.

Yep, I understand Vevo and the way it works. Obviously, there's something about the strucure that Prince does not like. Gaga and others do, so be it.

I understand where you're coming from, and I do agree to an extent. I just don't understand what it had to do with what I posted. Also, it's funny that you say "It's career suicide" and then immediately follow with "Prince has been committing career suicide for a LONG TIME." LOL. What is it man? Does he have a long, storied career or what?

thepope2the9s said:

Perhaps he means the internet is over in terms of releasing music thru it... he may have been misquoted as far as we know.

Then again..P has a history of making these odd/wild/unconventional claims.

But that is P.

ya think?