http://blogs.chron.com/ce...com_1.html

This is just a quote from the current batch of interviews.

Basically, he can't get an advance with their business model, so it's sour grapes.

NouveauDance said:

This is just a quote from the current batch of interviews.

Basically, he can't get an advance with their business model, so it's sour grapes.

Not really he's just pushing them to change.....and they will!

Dreamer2 said:

Not really he's just pushing them to change.....and they will!

I'm sure he'd love them to, but I'd say iTunes could just show him the stats for searches for his music, so he'd know exactly how much of a dent in their profits it makes not having his music to sell |(i.e. not much at all).

Aside from which, if these really are direct quotes from Prince:

"The Internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it.

"The Internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."

then the poor guy has disappeared further up his arse than I thought possible.

The internet's completely over. Yeah right, Prince, stop sniffin' the chemtrails.

When he comes out with shit like that (if he did) it makes me cringe, because it shows the guy lacks the fundemental understanding of what the internet is and where it's going.

I think he's decided he hates the internet because he's still pissed off about LotusFlow$r.

As are we Prince, as are we.

(but at least we know the internet isn't a fad that's just going to die, and we can handle our heads being filled with all those numbers, it's only 0's and 1's anyway)

AsylumUtopia said:

Dreamer2 said:

Not really he's just pushing them to change.....and they will!

I'm sure he'd love them to, but I'd say iTunes could just show him the stats for searches for his music, so he'd know exactly how much of a dent in their profits it makes not having his music to sell |(i.e. not much at all).

Aside from which, if these really are direct quotes from Prince:

"The Internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it.

"The Internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."

then the poor guy has disappeared further up his arse than I thought possible.

The internet's completely over. Yeah right, Prince, stop sniffin' the chemtrails.

When he comes out with shit like that (if he did) it makes me cringe, because it shows the guy lacks the fundemental understanding of what the internet is and where it's going.

I think he's decided he hates the internet because he's still pissed off about LotusFlow$r.

As are we Prince, as are we.

(but at least we know the internet isn't a fad that's just going to die, and we can handle our heads being filled with all those numbers, it's only 0's and 1's anyway)

The funny thing is itunes will change, that's the only way they will keep a hold of it's market place, Prince is right on that point, a new kid on the block will sign a deal with Prince and the Beatles and then itunes will have to follow....

The internet is over, well yes if your looking at it as a business model for an artist to make money, Prince is not the only artist saying this .....loads of them are saying the same thing...

Live Concerts, Clothing, Producing, Writing this is where artist make money ...none of these are dependent on the internet...

Prince is right the internet is like MTV, just one big shop window full of stuff most of it just rubbish or of poor quality ....music on a CD still sounds better than a download file, limited ... most audio gurus still say?

Prince is being WAY hypocritical here. Artists make music. They don't get paid, by default, for that. It's supposed to be their bread and butter, just like anyone else's job/task/occupation/whatever. No one goes into Walmart for a job and says "I want a year's pay up front, or I'm not doing it." Prince thinks he's at the point where he's PRINCE and people should be grateful to smell his tennis shoes walk into their office, when in fact, he's not bankable. He's not a guaranteed hit, whether in sales or a #1 song. (Yes yes, "charts don't matter", but the fact is Prince has tried again and again to play to the charts since day one, and continues to do so.) While I'm not endorsing the way Soundscan runs things, because we all know its shifty ways, the fact is that Prince knows they aren't friendly to him for whatever reason, and vice versa. So why not get his pay up front, and side-step all that lack of whatever? NO band, present, past, or future, as the clout to say "I want to be paid, in full, up front, or else." NO ONE. Sure, maybe an artist gets an advance to secure and guarantee, and downright motivate, them to finish a project and make it friendly enough for fans and the general public to be attracted to; and even a bonus at the end. But who on earth thinks they can just throw out rules like this and get away with it? Prince does, but look where it's gotten him. He's now pooping on anyone who doesn't play by his rules. I've no doubt Prince knows the business. He's been in it for eons, and has been through a lot with it. He's been near broke a few times, and recovered. Whatever happened to Prince actually working for his paycheck? He tried resting on his laurels, and that didin't work. So why not poo poo the lack of interest, opposed to looking in the mirror and self-critiquing what another common denominator might be in the equation of "being over".

- That's why Prince wants his money up front. So he can run with it when he knows he'll lose interest in his own shit in three months. Case in point: Lotusflow3r. Case in point: Endless orders at 1800NEWFUNK, NPGMC, etc etc etc that were never filled, partially filled. How many people couldn't even get some yahoo in Los Angeles to package up a t-shirt and send it off in 2009? How hard is it to create a database, or even a damn spread sheet in fucking Excel, to keep track of people????? Sure it's task heavy, but that's part of running a business. Nothing is THAT simple. Prince has ADHD when it comes to everyone's business, but seems to be quite keen when it comes to his own.

Does it dawn on no one when Prince told Tavis Smiley, regarding the Target distribution of Lotusflow3r, "I'm taken care of, and Bria is taken care of", and after that, we saw practically NOTHING of him. Three nights on Leno, and one again for a farewell (not even a Lotus song there). That was March. Add a couple of appearances on either Ellen or whatever. Didnt' see him again until the end of the year, not in a big way, not on TV, not in interviews, not a video NOTHING. Out of 365 days in a year, how many did Prince really appear and work toward selling Lotusflow3r? The ill-proportion is embarrassing, at best. Prince took the money, delivered a 1/4-assed project (it wasn't even half-assed), then skipped off with his girl friend of the now. No more candy for us - indeed.

- Prince won't give his song to iTunes? Bullshit. Not only is his WB stuff on there, which he may or may not have a say-so in, but so it his independent releases like Planet Earth, "S.S.T.", "F.U.N.K.", "Te Amo Corazon", "Fury", "Dance 4 Me (remix)", "Black Sweat/Beautiful Loved & Blessed", as well as WB compilations he DID have a say so in like Very Best Of, and Ultimate, and even The Hits/The B-Sides.

- The internet isn't over. No one trusts him anymore, and he fucking knows it. Maybe Prince has finally gotten the message from his hoards that they won't just accept his half-assed attempts at stuff because, well "that's just Prince - he's a genius". REALLY? At what? Playing music? Totally. Selling it? Eh, 50/50. Promoting his work? 40/60. Being a man of his word? Zero.

- He used to be all about "all these computers and digital gadgets" back when the internet was new, and TheDawn.com was around, or L40A. He allegedly "loved the interaction with the fans", until the fans had a voice of their own and wasn't walking in a purple haze when entering their credit card number. He realized his minions weren't willing to be part of the clone wars. All those numbers aren't so bad in a computer when it's printing out his royalty check, now is it?

No Prince, the internet isn't over. It's just over for you.

Just put your CDs in stores, get your lump sum up front, we'll buy it, and you can run off to Paris for another summer, and play in the sunshine. We'll be here listening to Lovesexy or Dirty Mind, remembering when it was still more cool to be a fan. Oh, we're still fans. We still love you. It's your shadiness that we're having issues with. All in love.

[Edited 7/5/10 11:30am]

ernestsewell said:

Prince is being WAY hypocritical here. Artists make music. They don't get paid, by default, for that. It's supposed to be their bread and butter, just like anyone else's job/task/occupation/whatever. No one goes into Walmart for a job and says "I want a year's pay up front, or I'm not doing it." Prince thinks he's at the point where he's PRINCE and people should be grateful to smell his tennis shoes walk into their office, when in fact, he's not bankable. He's not a guaranteed hit, whether in sales or a #1 song. (Yes yes, "charts don't matter", but the fact is Prince has tried again and again to play to the charts since day one, and continues to do so.) While I'm not endorsing the way Soundscan runs things, because we all know its shifty ways, the fact is that Prince knows they aren't friendly to him for whatever reason, and vice versa. So why not get his pay up front, and side-step all that lack of whatever? NO band, present, past, or future, as the clout to say "I want to be paid, in full, up front, or else." NO ONE. Sure, maybe an artist gets an advance to secure and guarantee, and downright motivate, them to finish a project and make it friendly enough for fans and the general public to be attracted to; and even a bonus at the end. But who on earth thinks they can just throw out rules like this and get away with it? Prince does, but look where it's gotten him. He's now pooping on anyone who doesn't play by his rules. I've no doubt Prince knows the business. He's been in it for eons, and has been through a lot with it. He's been near broke a few times, and recovered. Whatever happened to Prince actually working for his paycheck? He tried resting on his laurels, and that didin't work. So why not poo poo the lack of interest, opposed to looking in the mirror and self-critiquing what another common denominator might be in the equation of "being over".

- That's why Prince wants his money up front. So he can run with it when he knows he'll lose interest in his own shit in three months. Case in point: Lotusflow3r. Case in point: Endless orders at 1800NEWFUNK, NPGMC, etc etc etc that were never filled, partially filled. How many people couldn't even get some yahoo in Los Angeles to package up a t-shirt and send it off in 2009? How hard is it to create a database, or even a damn spread sheet in fucking Excel, to keep track of people????? Sure it's task heavy, but that's part of running a business. Nothing is THAT simple. Prince has ADHD when it comes to everyone's business, but seems to be quite keen when it comes to his own.

Does it dawn on no one when Prince told Tavis Smiley, regarding the Target distribution of Lotusflow3r, "I'm taken care of, and Bria is taken care of", and after that, we saw practically NOTHING of him. Three nights on Leno, and one again for a farewell (not even a Lotus song there). That was March. Add a couple of appearances on either Ellen or whatever. Didnt' see him again until the end of the year, not in a big way, not on TV, not in interviews, not a video NOTHING. Out of 365 days in a year, how many did Prince really appear and work toward selling Lotusflow3r? The ill-proportion is embarrassing, at best. Prince took the money, delivered a 1/4-assed project (it wasn't even half-assed), then skipped off with his girl friend of the now. No more candy for us - indeed.

- Prince won't give his song to iTunes? Bullshit. Not only is his WB stuff on there, which he may or may not have a say-so in, but so it his independent releases like Planet Earth, "S.S.T.", "F.U.N.K.", "Te Amo Corazon", "Fury", "Dance 4 Me (remix)", "Black Sweat/Beautiful Loved & Blessed", as well as WB compilations he DID have a say so in like Very Best Of, and Ultimate, and even The Hits/The B-Sides.

- The internet isn't over. No one trusts him anymore, and he fucking knows it. Maybe Prince has finally gotten the message from his hoards that they won't just accept his half-assed attempts at stuff because, well "that's just Prince - he's a genius". REALLY? At what? Playing music? Totally. Selling it? Eh, 50/50. Promoting his work? 40/60. Being a man of his word? Zero.

- He used to be all about "all these computers and digital gadgets" back when the internet was new, and TheDawn.com was around, or L40A. He allegedly "loved the interaction with the fans", until the fans had a voice of their own and wasn't walking in a purple haze when entering their credit card number. He realized his minions weren't willing to be part of the clone wars. All those numbers aren't so bad in a computer when it's printing out his royalty check, now is it?

No Prince, the internet isn't over. It's just over for you.

Just put your CDs in stores, get your lump sum up front, we'll buy it, and you can run off to Paris for another summer, and play in the sunshine. We'll be here listening to Lovesexy or Dirty Mind, remembering when it was still more cool to be a fan. Oh, we're still fans. We still love you. It's your shadiness that we're having issues with. All in love.

[Edited 7/5/10 11:30am]

gotta love Ernest

paisleypark4 said:

gotta love Ernest

Well you don't have to, but u 2.

ernestsewell said:

Prince is being WAY hypocritical here. Artists make music. They don't get paid, by default, for that. It's supposed to be their bread and butter, just like anyone else's job/task/occupation/whatever. No one goes into Walmart for a job and says "I want a year's pay up front, or I'm not doing it." Prince thinks he's at the point where he's PRINCE and people should be grateful to smell his tennis shoes walk into their office, when in fact, he's not bankable. He's not a guaranteed hit, whether in sales or a #1 song. (Yes yes, "charts don't matter", but the fact is Prince has tried again and again to play to the charts since day one, and continues to do so.) While I'm not endorsing the way Soundscan runs things, because we all know its shifty ways, the fact is that Prince knows they aren't friendly to him for whatever reason, and vice versa. So why not get his pay up front, and side-step all that lack of whatever? NO band, present, past, or future, as the clout to say "I want to be paid, in full, up front, or else." NO ONE. Sure, maybe an artist gets an advance to secure and guarantee, and downright motivate, them to finish a project and make it friendly enough for fans and the general public to be attracted to; and even a bonus at the end. But who on earth thinks they can just throw out rules like this and get away with it? Prince does, but look where it's gotten him. He's now pooping on anyone who doesn't play by his rules. I've no doubt Prince knows the business. He's been in it for eons, and has been through a lot with it. He's been near broke a few times, and recovered. Whatever happened to Prince actually working for his paycheck? He tried resting on his laurels, and that didin't work. So why not poo poo the lack of interest, opposed to looking in the mirror and self-critiquing what another common denominator might be in the equation of "being over".

- That's why Prince wants his money up front. So he can run with it when he knows he'll lose interest in his own shit in three months. Case in point: Lotusflow3r. Case in point: Endless orders at 1800NEWFUNK, NPGMC, etc etc etc that were never filled, partially filled. How many people couldn't even get some yahoo in Los Angeles to package up a t-shirt and send it off in 2009? How hard is it to create a database, or even a damn spread sheet in fucking Excel, to keep track of people????? Sure it's task heavy, but that's part of running a business. Nothing is THAT simple. Prince has ADHD when it comes to everyone's business, but seems to be quite keen when it comes to his own.

Does it dawn on no one when Prince told Tavis Smiley, regarding the Target distribution of Lotusflow3r, "I'm taken care of, and Bria is taken care of", and after that, we saw practically NOTHING of him. Three nights on Leno, and one again for a farewell (not even a Lotus song there). That was March. Add a couple of appearances on either Ellen or whatever. Didnt' see him again until the end of the year, not in a big way, not on TV, not in interviews, not a video NOTHING. Out of 365 days in a year, how many did Prince really appear and work toward selling Lotusflow3r? The ill-proportion is embarrassing, at best. Prince took the money, delivered a 1/4-assed project (it wasn't even half-assed), then skipped off with his girl friend of the now. No more candy for us - indeed.

- Prince won't give his song to iTunes? Bullshit. Not only is his WB stuff on there, which he may or may not have a say-so in, but so it his independent releases like Planet Earth, "S.S.T.", "F.U.N.K.", "Te Amo Corazon", "Fury", "Dance 4 Me (remix)", "Black Sweat/Beautiful Loved & Blessed", as well as WB compilations he DID have a say so in like Very Best Of, and Ultimate, and even The Hits/The B-Sides.

- The internet isn't over. No one trusts him anymore, and he fucking knows it. Maybe Prince has finally gotten the message from his hoards that they won't just accept his half-assed attempts at stuff because, well "that's just Prince - he's a genius". REALLY? At what? Playing music? Totally. Selling it? Eh, 50/50. Promoting his work? 40/60. Being a man of his word? Zero.

- He used to be all about "all these computers and digital gadgets" back when the internet was new, and TheDawn.com was around, or L40A. He allegedly "loved the interaction with the fans", until the fans had a voice of their own and wasn't walking in a purple haze when entering their credit card number. He realized his minions weren't willing to be part of the clone wars. All those numbers aren't so bad in a computer when it's printing out his royalty check, now is it?

No Prince, the internet isn't over. It's just over for you.

Just put your CDs in stores, get your lump sum up front, we'll buy it, and you can run off to Paris for another summer, and play in the sunshine. We'll be here listening to Lovesexy or Dirty Mind, remembering when it was still more cool to be a fan. Oh, we're still fans. We still love you. It's your shadiness that we're having issues with. All in love.

[Edited 7/5/10 11:30am]

Cool it, he's talking about his current project and he's not the only artist out there pissed of with itunes policy alot of them are ....

Itunes will change, artist will go for the next best offer and an up front fee is the next step, other business models are already in play..

ernestsewell said:

Prince is being WAY hypocritical here. Artists make music. They don't get paid, by default, for that. It's supposed to be their bread and butter, just like anyone else's job/task/occupation/whatever. No one goes into Walmart for a job and says "I want a year's pay up front, or I'm not doing it." Prince thinks he's at the point where he's PRINCE and people should be grateful to smell his tennis shoes walk into their office, when in fact, he's not bankable. He's not a guaranteed hit, whether in sales or a #1 song. (Yes yes, "charts don't matter", but the fact is Prince has tried again and again to play to the charts since day one, and continues to do so.) While I'm not endorsing the way Soundscan runs things, because we all know its shifty ways, the fact is that Prince knows they aren't friendly to him for whatever reason, and vice versa. So why not get his pay up front, and side-step all that lack of whatever? NO band, present, past, or future, as the clout to say "I want to be paid, in full, up front, or else." NO ONE. Sure, maybe an artist gets an advance to secure and guarantee, and downright motivate, them to finish a project and make it friendly enough for fans and the general public to be attracted to; and even a bonus at the end. But who on earth thinks they can just throw out rules like this and get away with it? Prince does, but look where it's gotten him. He's now pooping on anyone who doesn't play by his rules. I've no doubt Prince knows the business. He's been in it for eons, and has been through a lot with it. He's been near broke a few times, and recovered. Whatever happened to Prince actually working for his paycheck? He tried resting on his laurels, and that didin't work. So why not poo poo the lack of interest, opposed to looking in the mirror and self-critiquing what another common denominator might be in the equation of "being over".

- That's why Prince wants his money up front. So he can run with it when he knows he'll lose interest in his own shit in three months. Case in point: Lotusflow3r. Case in point: Endless orders at 1800NEWFUNK, NPGMC, etc etc etc that were never filled, partially filled. How many people couldn't even get some yahoo in Los Angeles to package up a t-shirt and send it off in 2009? How hard is it to create a database, or even a damn spread sheet in fucking Excel, to keep track of people????? Sure it's task heavy, but that's part of running a business. Nothing is THAT simple. Prince has ADHD when it comes to everyone's business, but seems to be quite keen when it comes to his own.

Does it dawn on no one when Prince told Tavis Smiley, regarding the Target distribution of Lotusflow3r, "I'm taken care of, and Bria is taken care of", and after that, we saw practically NOTHING of him. Three nights on Leno, and one again for a farewell (not even a Lotus song there). That was March. Add a couple of appearances on either Ellen or whatever. Didnt' see him again until the end of the year, not in a big way, not on TV, not in interviews, not a video NOTHING. Out of 365 days in a year, how many did Prince really appear and work toward selling Lotusflow3r? The ill-proportion is embarrassing, at best. Prince took the money, delivered a 1/4-assed project (it wasn't even half-assed), then skipped off with his girl friend of the now. No more candy for us - indeed.

- Prince won't give his song to iTunes? Bullshit. Not only is his WB stuff on there, which he may or may not have a say-so in, but so it his independent releases like Planet Earth, "S.S.T.", "F.U.N.K.", "Te Amo Corazon", "Fury", "Dance 4 Me (remix)", "Black Sweat/Beautiful Loved & Blessed", as well as WB compilations he DID have a say so in like Very Best Of, and Ultimate, and even The Hits/The B-Sides.

- The internet isn't over. No one trusts him anymore, and he fucking knows it. Maybe Prince has finally gotten the message from his hoards that they won't just accept his half-assed attempts at stuff because, well "that's just Prince - he's a genius". REALLY? At what? Playing music? Totally. Selling it? Eh, 50/50. Promoting his work? 40/60. Being a man of his word? Zero.

- He used to be all about "all these computers and digital gadgets" back when the internet was new, and TheDawn.com was around, or L40A. He allegedly "loved the interaction with the fans", until the fans had a voice of their own and wasn't walking in a purple haze when entering their credit card number. He realized his minions weren't willing to be part of the clone wars. All those numbers aren't so bad in a computer when it's printing out his royalty check, now is it?

No Prince, the internet isn't over. It's just over for you.

Just put your CDs in stores, get your lump sum up front, we'll buy it, and you can run off to Paris for another summer, and play in the sunshine. We'll be here listening to Lovesexy or Dirty Mind, remembering when it was still more cool to be a fan. Oh, we're still fans. We still love you. It's your shadiness that we're having issues with. All in love.

[Edited 7/5/10 11:30am]

Well said! +1
Try reading this and listening to Purple Rain.. its magic

Dreamer2 said:

He's talking about his current project and he's not the only artist out there pissed of with itunes policy alot of them are ....

Itunes will change, artist will go for the next best offer and an up front fee is the next step, other business models are already in play..

Well we don't know that he's talking about his current project. He was all about the internet a year ago when he was hocking an album for $77.

I know iTunes policy on these things isn't that great for artists sometimes. A lot of artists have never put their stuff up there, or have wained in their decisions to finally do it. I don't see why it's just not a 50/50 split. Seems the most fair. Sell 50,000 downloads, and that's a cool $25K in the pocket of both people.

I'm not too convinced on any "business model" Prince has tried. Some have done better than others, but even the general idea of selling music on the internet wasn't a Prince idea. He probably got more attention doing it because of his pontificating on all things music business in the media. Yet meanwhile, hundreds of other artists from George Michael, Me'Shell N'DegeO'cello, Ani Defranco, Alanis Morrisette, and others more or lesser known were doing the same thing. If it wasn't Prince preaching it, someone else would have been in the spot light doing it.

In the end, there are huge pluses, and huge minuses to this whole shindig. I'm stil not sure the upfront fee thing is the next big thing in the industry. Record companies are hurtin' bad because of free downloading, etc. Who's got that kind of cash to start throwing around? Gone are those days of prosperity in the industry.

But as long as real music fans support their artists by buying their music either online or in-stores, then that's what counts the most. Those dollars are what gives the artist the ultimate feedback. "Yes, I bought it."

The only thing ``over`` is the idea your going to charge $10-20 bucks for an album.

[Edited 7/5/10 11:51am]

ernestsewell said:

Prince is being WAY hypocritical here. Artists make music. They don't get paid, by default, for that. It's supposed to be their bread and butter, just like anyone else's job/task/occupation/whatever. No one goes into Walmart for a job and says "I want a year's pay up front, or I'm not doing it." Prince thinks he's at the point where he's PRINCE and people should be grateful to smell his tennis shoes walk into their office, when in fact, he's not bankable. He's not a guaranteed hit, whether in sales or a #1 song. (Yes yes, "charts don't matter", but the fact is Prince has tried again and again to play to the charts since day one, and continues to do so.) While I'm not endorsing the way Soundscan runs things, because we all know its shifty ways, the fact is that Prince knows they aren't friendly to him for whatever reason, and vice versa. So why not get his pay up front, and side-step all that lack of whatever? NO band, present, past, or future, as the clout to say "I want to be paid, in full, up front, or else." NO ONE. Sure, maybe an artist gets an advance to secure and guarantee, and downright motivate, them to finish a project and make it friendly enough for fans and the general public to be attracted to; and even a bonus at the end. But who on earth thinks they can just throw out rules like this and get away with it? Prince does, but look where it's gotten him. He's now pooping on anyone who doesn't play by his rules. I've no doubt Prince knows the business. He's been in it for eons, and has been through a lot with it. He's been near broke a few times, and recovered. Whatever happened to Prince actually working for his paycheck? He tried resting on his laurels, and that didin't work. So why not poo poo the lack of interest, opposed to looking in the mirror and self-critiquing what another common denominator might be in the equation of "being over".

- That's why Prince wants his money up front. So he can run with it when he knows he'll lose interest in his own shit in three months. Case in point: Lotusflow3r. Case in point: Endless orders at 1800NEWFUNK, NPGMC, etc etc etc that were never filled, partially filled. How many people couldn't even get some yahoo in Los Angeles to package up a t-shirt and send it off in 2009? How hard is it to create a database, or even a damn spread sheet in fucking Excel, to keep track of people????? Sure it's task heavy, but that's part of running a business. Nothing is THAT simple. Prince has ADHD when it comes to everyone's business, but seems to be quite keen when it comes to his own.

Does it dawn on no one when Prince told Tavis Smiley, regarding the Target distribution of Lotusflow3r, "I'm taken care of, and Bria is taken care of", and after that, we saw practically NOTHING of him. Three nights on Leno, and one again for a farewell (not even a Lotus song there). That was March. Add a couple of appearances on either Ellen or whatever. Didnt' see him again until the end of the year, not in a big way, not on TV, not in interviews, not a video NOTHING. Out of 365 days in a year, how many did Prince really appear and work toward selling Lotusflow3r? The ill-proportion is embarrassing, at best. Prince took the money, delivered a 1/4-assed project (it wasn't even half-assed), then skipped off with his girl friend of the now. No more candy for us - indeed.

- Prince won't give his song to iTunes? Bullshit. Not only is his WB stuff on there, which he may or may not have a say-so in, but so it his independent releases like Planet Earth, "S.S.T.", "F.U.N.K.", "Te Amo Corazon", "Fury", "Dance 4 Me (remix)", "Black Sweat/Beautiful Loved & Blessed", as well as WB compilations he DID have a say so in like Very Best Of, and Ultimate, and even The Hits/The B-Sides.

- The internet isn't over. No one trusts him anymore, and he fucking knows it. Maybe Prince has finally gotten the message from his hoards that they won't just accept his half-assed attempts at stuff because, well "that's just Prince - he's a genius". REALLY? At what? Playing music? Totally. Selling it? Eh, 50/50. Promoting his work? 40/60. Being a man of his word? Zero.

- He used to be all about "all these computers and digital gadgets" back when the internet was new, and TheDawn.com was around, or L40A. He allegedly "loved the interaction with the fans", until the fans had a voice of their own and wasn't walking in a purple haze when entering their credit card number. He realized his minions weren't willing to be part of the clone wars. All those numbers aren't so bad in a computer when it's printing out his royalty check, now is it?

No Prince, the internet isn't over. It's just over for you.

Just put your CDs in stores, get your lump sum up front, we'll buy it, and you can run off to Paris for another summer, and play in the sunshine. We'll be here listening to Lovesexy or Dirty Mind, remembering when it was still more cool to be a fan. Oh, we're still fans. We still love you. It's your shadiness that we're having issues with. All in love.

In all honesty, I have nothing else to add. Very well said.

Dreamer2 said:

Cool it, he's talking about his current project and he's not the only artist out there pissed of with itunes policy alot of them are ....

Itunes will change, artist will go for the next best offer and an up front fee is the next step, other business models are already in play..

Sure there are a lot of artist who don't like the guidelines Apple & their iTunes team set forth, but I highly doubt it will change. New, indie artist will never be able to demand an upfront payment when dealing with digital distributors. Too much of a risk. Prince just wants to throw out material and he expects to just let his name sell the product. I wouldn't (and I'm sure iTunes wouldn't) want to take a risk. I'd be thinking like, "wait, he wants me to pay him up front, then pay for marketing too..while he does nothing"? Too much of a gamble. Especially with the publics opinion on Prince and his music these days.

Personally speaking, in a situation like this as an established musician looking to distribute my music... I would ask for an upfront payment for marketing only. Then a slice of the pie after release. I'd provide them with the music. They just have to give me the resources to market that music. Exclusive videos, exclusive tracks, brand promotion..appearances..whatever it takes.

Prince could use that upfront money he's getting now for promotion, but why? He's paid. Whatever happens, happens in his book.

So - the NPGMC started up in 2000, with the more specific (and accessible) Musicology Store section starting in 2004. In June 2006, he won a Webby award for his pioneering of online music (which, I believe, he accepted in person).

According to this blog, his anti-Internet campaign started just over a year later in 2007. What happened? And, if he was so against the Internet in 2007, why did he start up LotusFlow3r.com?

Musical content aside, I honestly thought that the second part of Prince's legacy would be Internet-music-distribution related.

specdude said:

The only thing ``over`` is the idea your going to charge $10-20 bucks for an album.

$10 isn't unreasonable for an album. If the going rate online is $.99 a song, and you buy an album with 13-15 songs in the store (read: physical CD which costs more to press and distribute than to rip music to AAC or MP3 for download), and you're still paying $9.99-11.99, you're already ahead. It's why I try to grab CDs the first week they're out to get the sale price of (usually) 9.99.

$20? Totally unreasonable. FYE/Record Town (TransWorld Entertainment based in my city) raised their pricing back to $18.99 on average about six years ago. I was shocked when I cruised through one of their stores and saw "$19.99" at every turn. The FYE here in one mall was HUGE, but downsized to a store about the size of a Claire's. Plus, at least 35% of their floor space is dedicated to either DVDs, making your own mix CD station (ie computers), gaming stations (Wii, Playstation end caps), or accessories (posters, shirts, iPod accessories, stereos, candy, gum, popcorn, etc).

THe whole conspiracy of keeping CD prices high is another whole thread. But I'm with you on the $20 thing. I won't ever pay over $14.99 for a CD (and that's pushing it). I am willing to support the artist, 100%, but in this day and age where music is obviously not worth more than 99 cents a song, I won't be robbed on something.

Dreamer2 said:

I really can't see that happening. iTunes is just a distribution hub, with very low overheads, and with the vast majority of records labels distributing their music through them. Big as the Beatles slice of the music sales pie is, it's negligible compared to what they do have available. I would say their attitude is more along the lines of 'We're for distribution, use us if you want, if you don't want to, that's fine, everybody else does'.

Very short-sighted of them then, particularly when things are slowly starting to go their way. Plenty of countries are preparing catch-all legislation that will enable them to shut down file sharing sites. It won't eradicate file-sharing of course, but it will certainly slow it down. Which means more people buying music online, not less.

I would say Live Concerts are practically dependent upon the internet now. I mean, can you still buy concert tickets in a record store? (I wouldn't know because I, like most people, buy them online).

Clothing etc - internet usage is continuing to increase, not to avail of it if only for marketing would be daft.

Producing, Writing - yeah, not so much.

Never mind the guru's. I can understand when someone says vinyl is better - that's an aesthetic thing, but - providing it's a decent bit rate there is fuck all difference between a download and a CD, and anyone who says otherwise is deluding themselves and possibly others. And having heard people bandying that crap around for so long I thought I better check it myself, so I bought a CD (Cornershop - Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast - excellent album), also bought the download, burned the wav's to a CD, played both bought CD and burned CD on 3 different machines, absofuckinglutely no difference whatsoever.

And great post ernest, agree with you entirely.

Yeah, I can't see most of the crap he's coming out with nowadays selling on iTunes either...

whatever give me a vinyl album any day. funny digital garden sounds hypocritical now.

I don't know why anyone even bothers to interview Prince anymore. He talks in riddles... he never gives straight answers.

He's always showing his disdain for the interviewer.

Just don't do the interviews dude.

The only reason the internet is "over" for him is because he realized that not many people registered on LotusFuckup.com at $77 a pop!! Hell, I didnt!! I just couldnt afford it!! Why, in Gods name did he start up such a ludicrous project like that in the height of the worse worldwide recession in living memory is beyond me??????? His ego, got the better of him, thinking that LotusFuckup was gonna get totally swamped with new registerees!!!!!

Desire2006 said:

The only reason the internet is "over" for him is because he realized that not many people registered on LotusFuckup.com at $77 a pop!! Hell, I didnt!! I just couldnt afford it!! Why, in Gods name did he start up such a ludicrous project like that in the height of the worse worldwide recession in living memory is beyond me??????? His ego, got the better of him, thinking that LotusFuckup was gonna get totally swamped with new registerees!!!!!

Well, in all fairness, there were a bunch of people who ponied up $77 for that ridiculousness. A bunch of 'em post here too.

Desire2006 said:

The only reason the internet is "over" for him is because he realized that not many people registered on LotusFuckup.com at $77 a pop!! Hell, I didnt!! I just couldnt afford it!! Why, in Gods name did he start up such a ludicrous project like that in the height of the worse worldwide recession in living memory is beyond me??????? His ego, got the better of him, thinking that LotusFuckup was gonna get totally swamped with new registerees!!!!!

And remember he also said, "We know it's a lot of money, but we promise you it's worth it".

paisleypark4 said:

gotta love Ernest

Telling it like it is! Ernest by name, Earnest by nature.

Isn't the word 'hip' outdated?

The Internet is not over by a long shot.

carlcranshaw said:

Isn't the word 'hip' outdated?

The Internet is not over by a long shot.

The internet will never be over. that's like saying electricity will be over.

ernestsewell said:

Prince is being WAY hypocritical here. Artists make music. They don't get paid, by default, for that. It's supposed to be their bread and butter, just like anyone else's job/task/occupation/whatever. No one goes into Walmart for a job and says "I want a year's pay up front, or I'm not doing it." Prince thinks he's at the point where he's PRINCE and people should be grateful to smell his tennis shoes walk into their office, when in fact, he's not bankable. He's not a guaranteed hit, whether in sales or a #1 song. (Yes yes, "charts don't matter", but the fact is Prince has tried again and again to play to the charts since day one, and continues to do so.) While I'm not endorsing the way Soundscan runs things, because we all know its shifty ways, the fact is that Prince knows they aren't friendly to him for whatever reason, and vice versa. So why not get his pay up front, and side-step all that lack of whatever? NO band, present, past, or future, as the clout to say "I want to be paid, in full, up front, or else." NO ONE. Sure, maybe an artist gets an advance to secure and guarantee, and downright motivate, them to finish a project and make it friendly enough for fans and the general public to be attracted to; and even a bonus at the end. But who on earth thinks they can just throw out rules like this and get away with it? Prince does, but look where it's gotten him. He's now pooping on anyone who doesn't play by his rules. I've no doubt Prince knows the business. He's been in it for eons, and has been through a lot with it. He's been near broke a few times, and recovered. Whatever happened to Prince actually working for his paycheck? He tried resting on his laurels, and that didin't work. So why not poo poo the lack of interest, opposed to looking in the mirror and self-critiquing what another common denominator might be in the equation of "being over".

A few thoughts on this:

The Walmart analogy doesn't hold water because Prince is an artist. Like you said, Prince is trying to get paid by a model that no one in the music business gets paid by. However, most other art forms operate in a way similar to how Prince is going about it:

Tom Cruise gets paid his fee for a movie (which is millions) as soon as he signs on. Before the camera rolls, before Tom Cruise puts in a days work, he gets paid. Plus, he gets more money if the movie does well. Tom Cruise is not as "bankable" as he once was, but he is still Tom Cruise and makes his millions before he works a minute.

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.

Basically, the music business is dying and they need a new model. I disagree with Prince's assessment of the internet...and I imagine that in a year or so, his tune will have changed. You know how he is. That said, I think if he can do things his way, more power to him. From Little Richard to Lady Gaga, too many musicians over the years have not made the money they should have. Prince is, like most big named music acts with any clout, changing up how they get paid.

Lastly, from this fans perspective, I am satisfied. If you add up the total hours of music Prince has released since he has gone it alone, the amount of music he has put out since 1996 is much more than when he was with WB. Whether that's a good thing is another debate....

A quote coming from a guy who said "Number One At The Bank" and "Do The Math"

"They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."

The Internet is played out for everyone cept the Porn Industry which is what has kept the internet alive, it is what made Youtube so popular when it first started, it's what has kept facebook going: Porn

Again Prince is ahead of his time on the thought that the internet is over, over as in it has hit the ceiling

Xibalba said:

paisleypark4 said:

gotta love Ernest

Telling it like it is! Ernest by name, Earnest by nature.

I'm TOTALLY using that as my personal motto!