What are you thoughts on Prince making the comment, the internet is dead? Do you believe, as I do it is because his online sales have been poor? So the internet is dead because I can't make the money I want...is that what Prince is really saying?

I think what Prince is doing is a great idea (distributing CD's via publications).

He can actually brag and say I sold millions of albums last year, when in reality a lot of people just bought the publication. Genius!

Then to tour and really make your money there, is a great move. More Genius!

I believe Prince is saying the internet is dead because his sales sucked online.

I think the lotusflo3er.com was icing on the cake for Prince to finally give it up. Execution and public perception - NOT GENUIS!

What are you thoughts on Prince making the comment, the internet is dead? Do you believe, as I do it is because his online sales have been poor?

I think you have the right point there, we can't read Prince's mind but I think you are close..

Prince is no more a major influence in pop culture today, meaning he is not selling records, and his videos are shown no more on TV.

> very few members were downloading from Lotusflow3r.com, thankfully I wasn't a member, $77 after all is a lot for an album,

> Prince selling very few CDs as well in retail, iTunes etc.

If Prince could sell 200,000 copies of 20Ten - he should be lucky. Maybe 'the papers give away' is a right choice for him then, he is reaching more this way.

and... the internet, a way to sell seems kind of dead for Prince, right?

[Edited 7/20/10 10:23am]

The internet is "dead" as a distribution channel for the entertainment industry, because there is far too much free entertainment online as well. The production costs of records and music videos started to outweight the profit from any sales a long time ago already and it's just gotten worse. What I think Prince himself was also getting at is that the artists benefit only marginally from their music being available on iTunes / Spotify etc. The online sales are mostly an attempt by the bigger companies to do some damage control.

Not asking $77 for an album that you could get for 1/7th of the price at a store would probably help too. One of Prince's problems during this decade is that he hasn't even really had a proper website at all. The pay-for-admission approach just doesn't work anymore.

novabrkr said:

The internet is "dead" as a distribution channel for the entertainment industry, because there is far too much free entertainment online as well. The production costs of records and music videos started to outweight the profit from any sales a long time ago already and it's just gotten worse. What I think Prince himself was also getting at is that the artists benefit only marginally from their music being available on iTunes / Spotify etc. The online sales are mostly an attempt by the bigger companies to do some damage control.

Not asking $77 for an album that you could get for 1/7th of the price at a store would probably help too. One of Prince's problems during this decade is that he hasn't even really had a proper website at all. The pay-for-admission approach just doesn't work anymore.

Since when were we still under the misconception that recorded music is ever very profitable for the artist? Face it: Middlemen don't find it financially viable to not take so much of a cut that it is relatively pointless for an artist to have publishing at all until their contract is over.

But that's not the point. It also provides for instantaneous and (mostly) free advertisement. Perform on Leno, Leno says get the album on iTunes, new fan logs on and sees all these cool Prince albums, picks up a few more, gets a concert ticket and buys 3 t shirts there. It's taken a while, but Prince has just made a billion percent more than "nothing" on a new fan's first experience. Without it? He loses those prospects. Not all prospects, but lots of them. No one wants to buy a dirty gossip rag to get into a new band/artist.

Spinlight said:

Since when were we still under the misconception that recorded music is ever very profitable for the artist?

Depends on the deal. Prince's 80s and early-90s records at least kept him out of the poor house.

With bigger sales it starts to add up for the artist too. Still does that today, it's just that the bigger sales aren't happening that much anymore. There's a certain line you usually have to cross - namely the one set out by the advances - after that it's profit.

It's a reaction to the negativity over his website, the negativity on on the internet in general ("20Ten is a shit sandwich" anyone?), the illegal downloads, and how people have gotten into such a rut that it is not fresh & vital anymore it's just a normal part of society--in my opinion.

It's like saying "nobody goes to that club anymore--it's too crowded"

Bullshit

another silly/sad comment in a looooooooooong series of silly/sad comments

Prince is wrong, as usual

novabrkr said:

Spinlight said:

Since when were we still under the misconception that recorded music is ever very profitable for the artist?

Depends on the deal. Prince's 80s and early-90s records at least kept him out of the poor house.

With bigger sales it starts to add up for the artist too. Still does that today, it's just that the bigger sales aren't happening that much anymore. There's a certain line you usually have to cross - namely the one set out by the advances - after that it's profit.

lol. If anything, his royalties were less in the 80s up until the contract renegotiation in 1992 (or 1991, i forget).

He just toured with huge tours pretty much every year and had a fresh album to go with it. But Prince's tickets back then were a lot cheaper than they are today, if you notice. He can make much more money off each individual person by playing for a million people rather than "selling a record" to a million.

Spinlight said:

lol.

Next time laugh at something you have a modest understanding of.

thedance said:

I think you have the right point there, we can't read Prince's mind but I think you are close..

Prince is no more a major influence in pop culture today, meaning he is not selling records, and his videos are shown no more on TV.

> very few members were downloading from Lotusflow3r.com, thankfully I wasn't a member, $77 after all is a lot for an album,

> Prince selling very few CDs as well in retail, iTunes etc.

If Prince could sell 200,000 copies of 20Ten - he should be lucky. Maybe 'the papers give away' is a right choice for him then, he is reaching more this way.

and... the internet, a way to sell seems kind of dead for Prince, right?

$77 was not just for the Lotusflow3r album. It got a lot of fans good premium seats 2 c Prince live at the Nokia Center three concerts in one night. Leno's three shows & Ellen show. To me that is well worth the $77......

in fairness to Prince, i think it's understandable why he wants to be paid up front.

as a musician he deserves to be shown that symbol of respect.

what he failed to realize is that the internet is not the place for that.

in my opinion, to declare the net dead, simply because it didnt conform to his own expectations, is a gross generalization, and humorous naivety.

but its been interesting so far, watching him employ his new 'idea' offline.

i've been priveleged to see him plastered all over a tabloid, support an advert for beer, and effortlessly entertain audiences in europe, with his hits.

i think its arrogant of him to say the internet is dead,it served him well when it suited and it will continue to serve millions of others well over the years, personaly i think he has a tendency to bite the hand that feeds him.

JoeTyler said:

Bullshit

another silly/sad comment in a looooooooooong series of silly/sad comments

Prince is wrong, as usual

Why do take that fans use this site?

powersoul99 said:

JoeTyler said:

Bullshit

another silly/sad comment in a looooooooooong series of silly/sad comments

Prince is wrong, as usual

Why do take that fans use this site?

The hell is a Take That?....

Prince fans don't like to talk about it, but Prince has a VERY spotty record with general audiences. He's known for 1 good album and a number of singles. He's not going to sell online, offline or anythwere else unless he tightens up the songwriting. It's no longer about the music with him. He's Kim Kardashian, he's Lindsey Lohan. He's name recognition you can hire to market your product. Look it's Mr. Purple Rain!

funksterr said:

Prince fans don't like to talk about it, but Prince has a VERY spotty record with general audiences. He's known for 1 good album and a number of singles. He's not going to sell online, offline or anythwere else unless he tightens up the songwriting. It's no longer about the music with him. He's Kim Kardashian, he's Lindsey Lohan. He's name recognition you can hire to market your product. Look it's Mr. Purple Rain!

Exactly. It kinda pains me when folks think all he was good for was one summer in 1984. Maybe it would've been better if he hadn't been so stubborn to try it all by himself, should've had people in his corner showing him how to master it so HE could help us in that way. I'm sure all his efforts weren't all just for his benefit. Like it has been said, it didn't work for him like he wanted so he's ditching it.

[Edited 7/21/10 10:58am]

I support Prince fully.

Fuck Itunes.

Itunes is the single biggest shit stain on music today alongside cunt shit hoppers.

Itunes take a massive cut for doing absolutely fuck all apart from hosting songs on their servers.

fuck them.

100% royalty should go to the artist if they have created everything themselves or 100% should go to all of a band, etc.

Prince is right. Fuck Itunes.

Well I don't use iTunes because it lags my computer. Maybe that's why Prince said he couldn't deal with "weird gadgets", which is kinda odd because he used to promote "weird gadgets".

Publicity stunt. I called it lol