just a question that probably noone has an answer to because its you know who we are talking about but what do you think is prince's thinking behind his last few album releases ?...planet earth....released in uk newspaper and given away at uk concerts....released in the us in normal fashion (cant remember which label)...lotusflower..released on website and in the us from one retailer....no release in rest of the world apart from france i believe (correct me if i am wrong here)....and now '20ten' released in newspapers and magazines in germany , france, belguim and the uk ( again correct me if i am wrong) and thats it so far ?....so what is his thinking behind these limited releases?...i can understand the logic behind putting them in newspapers but why in only a few countries ?....it seems he is making internet copying even worse than it would be anyway...i just cant figure out his thinking behind it ???? ......anybody ?...

1. Is a way of working outside the usual record label confines, he calls the shots keeps his masters etc.

2. He gets money up front by just delivering the album, but without having to do any of the hard work of promoting it for 1-2 years.

3. All this means he bypasses/excuses himself from the numbers game (charts/airplay etc). Avoidance of criticism.

NouveauDance said:

1. Is a way of working outside the usual record label confines, he calls the shots keeps his masters etc.

2. He gets money up front by just delivering the album, but without having to do any of the hard work of promoting it for 1-2 years.

3. All this means he bypasses/excuses himself from the numbers game (charts/airplay etc). Avoidance of criticism.

yes but why only in a few countries?...he would surely make a lot more with more countries involved....would imagine he could do this with minimum work...?

In his world the sky is all purple...WTF man he is a zilliionaire why the fuck would he care what the norm is...hello this is princey bhoy we are talkin about NO?

he's probably thinking something like, "need to make new music, want people to hear it. since the record industry is on its deathbed, i just want to get it out there in any way possible."

He's trying things, experimenting with distribution. Honestly, the way things are going with the industry, Prince was way ahead of the game to want out and be independent. He saw this day coming.

Yeah, and what Nouveau said, exactly.

He was saying EYE DID IT MY WAY!

blackbob said:

yes but why only in a few countries?...he would surely make a lot more with more countries involved....would imagine he could do this with minimum work...?

Uh, let's do some homework. 1. Prince records 20Ten cd. 2. Cd makes its way to Daily Mirror, and a few other publications. In less than 7 days, I have one in Orlando, FL. It is all over Eeebay, Uhaul Toobe, download sites, torrents, Flacs, Craps, etc... Nearly 3 MILLION of these things were pressed up. You can still buy direct from the Daily Mirror for what is still probably less than TEN DAMB Dollars@! and here's the link:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/c...order-row/

Despite how easy it is to get, a few refuse to see it as easy to get. I am one of those people who thinks they are way smarter than they really are, but my dumb ass found a way to get this thing in less than 7 days after the release. I really feel sorry for anyone who is smart enough to post here, but can't figure it out. No, it is not my favorite Prince album, but I enjoy it anyway. I will die before Billy Joel makes a new album, and probably die before Sting makes a new one, unless you count him remaking old Lute songs, or old Winter songs from 1822, or his symphonic Police thing.

Where most of Prince's 80's competition continues to get old, and stop releasing new stuff, Prince always comes through. Either be satisfied or just quit being a fan, and start worshiping Rod Stewart. I'm sure you will be happy with Rod, until he runs out of songs to remake.

Promotions is beyond expensive and time consuming. The fact that Prince, being an independent artist, has to pay for everything to get a CD to the fans on a yearly basis, into a market that makes it hard to turn a profit (see free downloads and age gap issues), makes me understand why he does what he does. Take the Target CD for example-In order to insure strong sales in the USA-He made that an exclusive deal in 1 country initially. Prince supplied most of the world through 1 release in 1 country, got paid upfront, while keeping production/market costs to a minimum. Increasing his maximum profitability not just for this project but for future ones. Just like 20ten sales in UK are increased by USA buyers. If Prince can deliver on more units sold in a short period that attracts potential business partnerships (If one tanks-it could be the end of these special arrangements)

Doing these special arrangements in a lot of countries at once would saturate the market and loose the pooling aspect that he needs to ensure big sales in those select countries.

It boils down to the most cost effective way to get his music to us and I thank him for that.

stillwaiting said:

blackbob said:

yes but why only in a few countries?...he would surely make a lot more with more countries involved....would imagine he could do this with minimum work...?

Uh, let's do some homework. 1. Prince records 20Ten cd. 2. Cd makes its way to Daily Mirror, and a few other publications. In less than 7 days, I have one in Orlando, FL. It is all over Eeebay, Uhaul Toobe, download sites, torrents, Flacs, Craps, etc... Nearly 3 MILLION of these things were pressed up. You can still buy direct from the Daily Mirror for what is still probably less than TEN DAMB Dollars@! and here's the link:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/c...order-row/

Despite how easy it is to get, a few refuse to see it as easy to get. I am one of those people who thinks they are way smarter than they really are, but my dumb ass found a way to get this thing in less than 7 days after the release. I really feel sorry for anyone who is smart enough to post here, but can't figure it out. No, it is not my favorite Prince album, but I enjoy it anyway. I will die before Billy Joel makes a new album, and probably die before Sting makes a new one, unless you count him remaking old Lute songs, or old Winter songs from 1822, or his symphonic Police thing.

Where most of Prince's 80's competition continues to get old, and stop releasing new stuff, Prince always comes through. Either be satisfied or just quit being a fan, and start worshiping Rod Stewart. I'm sure you will be happy with Rod, until he runs out of songs to remake.

i am not knocking it....just trying to understand it.....maybe your right...he knows when he releases these albums anywhere that it will be all over the internet in days and if you really want a copy of the cd....you can get it for less than ten bucks....maybe he gets enough for the cd from a handful of publications...hands the recording over and thats his work done....it is a clever way to do it......just think a lot of people miss going into a record shop and being able to buy it ....with a case and linear notes and stuff....i know i would prefer that but i am an old fart....end of the day.....i am happy to get the music

.

ps...i love billy joel's music as well....great artist.....hasnt released a new pop album in ...what...17 years or something....thats a long time...but i think he will release another one..

[Edited 8/29/10 8:49am]

blackbob said:

yes but why only in a few countries?...he would surely make a lot more with more countries involved....would imagine he could do this with minimum work...?

Honestly, I dunno. Not sure if there's a rhyme or reason, as it may just be how easy it was to do this in any particular country, or it coincided with where he wanted to play live shows (not UK I know, but he did this here before, so maybe the ties are already there to do it again).

Me =

All those albums are a mountain of shit.

So it wouldn't make sense to have a worldwide release....

He's trying different methods to see which one works - but another explanation is that he's creating interest and demand in those regions where the albums are NOT released.

A possible reason for the Europe-only release of 20Ten is to see when and where it pops up online for illegal digital download. Might be the first phase in another round of Internet warfare a la action against The Pirate Bay.

vitriol said:

All those albums are a mountain of shit.

So it wouldn't make sense to have a worldwide release....

if you think lotusflower album was a piece of shit then i wouldnt listen to anything else he releases from now on....thats as good as it will ever get....i think its a great album...

How do you know he was thinking?

vitriol said:

All those albums are a mountain of shit.

So it wouldn't make sense to have a worldwide release....

YAWN, another TROLL

blackbob said:

if you think lotusflower album was a piece of shit then i wouldnt listen to anything else he releases from now on....thats as good as it will ever get....i think its a great album...

I know there's not many possibilities to get a really good album (TRC was the last spark of geniality), but that doesn't force me to like subpar, badly compiled, unfocused albums.

I don't give the newer stuff more than 2 or 3 spins, just to be sure I really don't like it.

vitriol said:

blackbob said:

if you think lotusflower album was a piece of shit then i wouldnt listen to anything else he releases from now on....thats as good as it will ever get....i think its a great album...

I know there's not many possibilities to get a really good album (TRC was the last spark of geniality), but that doesn't force me to like subpar, badly compiled, unfocused albums.

I don't give the newer stuff more than 2 or 3 spins, just to be sure I really don't like it.

well although i loved the organic sound of the rainbow children....for me....it lacked strong songs...some good moments as you always get on his albums but i think he was still struggling for some decent material at that point.....since 3121...he has definately got some of that back imo....but we are all have our different opinions on that of course....

[Edited 8/30/10 3:40am]