As many people here know, I am very young. 13 years old. As many people here also know, I am a new Prince fan. About a month and a few weeks.

Many people believe that Prince is not a "popular artist" with young people, or is not known to this generation or is not popular with us youngsters. That is simply not true.

When I first bought Lotusflow3r, I went on Facebook and posted my status as "Listening to Lotusflow3r/MPLSound - Prince". I left the computer and came back on an hour later to see that five people "liked" my status, and even one said that "Prince rocks," all of them the same age as me.

Later I posted my status as "Raspberry Beret - Prince" and got four "likes". It is obvious that youngsters are not oblivious to Prince, and they know who he is. After discovering Prince, I also learned that several of my friends are closet Prince fans, or their parents bought Lotusflow3r and they loved it.

Obviously Prince needs to take advantage of the perks of technology so that the younger generation can find out who he is. He is not an alien to us. That is why Youtube would be good for him, it is like our modern day radio. If you hear about a new artist and want to listen to their music, you go on Youtube. It's a habit. If kids hear about Prince and want to hear his music, they go on Youtube and click on the first video they see. It's instinct. That is why Prince needs to cut this copyright business and allow his stuff on Youtube.

Some young people still care for Prince and enjoy him. If Prince only promoted a bit more, maybe he could be bigger. Cut the Youtube copyright crap, don't release a new album every year and spend time promoting each one. You are already over 20Ten and it's only been a month and a little bit? It hasn't even been released worldwide! North America doesn't even have it yet!

Show your face a bit more Prince, people might look.

I completely agree that young ppl are hip w/ prince. I also agree that he needs to get out and promote some. But prince is gonna do prince and he is gonna make music for fans 1st. And he dosne't need to promote heavily to get his music out to his fans. Now the casual fan is where he lacks. I talk to alot of ppl who say "Prince? Where has he been! I havent heard a thing from him in ages" not knowing that he released albums sometimes even more then one a year. I'll laugh and say "Where have u been" And lets not even get into radioplay...

Isn't the interweb dead?

I'm 16 and I've been a fan since I was VERY little lol! my mom loves prince more then she probably loves my father XD jk

so I got it all from her,

but I've been a real fanatic for about 6 years

so I'm pretty sure that young people care for prince ^^ who wouldn't ? =D

langebleu said:

Isn't the interweb dead?

Last I heard it was taken out of intensive care.

smoothcriminal12 you're absolutly right. I'm 15, a prince fan for three years... most of my peers "know of" prince, and while many only think of him as weird or gay, others are a lot more open-minded. Out of 4 friends that I've tried to "covert" to prince music, 2 of them are now huge fans and one listens to When doves cry on a daily basis, the last one respects him, alto he isn't her style.

The point is, if you can get any teen to sit down and listen to a prince album- or even a few songs, ALL THE WAY THROUGH, there's a good chance they'll walk away anxious for more. It would take a lot more work on Prince's part to actually get us to focus on his music... but it would definatly be worth it for him IMO.

smoothcriminal12 said:

As many people here know, I am very young. 13 years old. As many people here also know, I am a new Prince fan. About a month and a few weeks.

Many people believe that Prince is not a "popular artist" with young people, or is not known to this generation or is not popular with us youngsters. That is simply not true.

When I first bought Lotusflow3r, I went on Facebook and posted my status as "Listening to Lotusflow3r/MPLSound - Prince". I left the computer and came back on an hour later to see that five people "liked" my status, and even one said that "Prince rocks," all of them the same age as me.

Later I posted my status as "Raspberry Beret - Prince" and got four "likes". It is obvious that youngsters are not oblivious to Prince, and they know who he is. After discovering Prince, I also learned that several of my friends are closet Prince fans, or their parents bought Lotusflow3r and they loved it.

Obviously Prince needs to take advantage of the perks of technology so that the younger generation can find out who he is. He is not an alien to us. That is why Youtube would be good for him, it is like our modern day radio. If you hear about a new artist and want to listen to their music, you go on Youtube. It's a habit. If kids hear about Prince and want to hear his music, they go on Youtube and click on the first video they see. It's instinct. That is why Prince needs to cut this copyright business and allow his stuff on Youtube.

Some young people still care for Prince and enjoy him. If Prince only promoted a bit more, maybe he could be bigger. Cut the Youtube copyright crap, don't release a new album every year and spend time promoting each one. You are already over 20Ten and it's only been a month and a little bit? It hasn't even been released worldwide! North America doesn't even have it yet!

Show your face a bit more Prince, people might look.

TBH - I don't think Prince cares one way or the other what the age of his fanbase is. Prince no longer writes music specifically for his fans. He writes music as a general product to be offered up to a distributor and that's one of his paychecks.

And the only time I've heard him comment about his younger fanbase is when he used to sing dirty songs live and would proclaim that people under 18 were too young to be there (in a joking fashion).

I think that the Prince mythology is something that every young Prince fan should delve into head first, but I dare say that the days of Prince giving a shit about the demographics of his fanbase are long gone.

Unfortunately, I experience the opposite. I know only one person of my age who likes Prince, and she got into him because of me. The rest of them disqualifies Prince as being gay or weird, even when I let them listen to some music. I think the big problem is that Prince isn't cool nowadays. A lot of kids just want to blend in with the rest of the people, and I think they keep that in mind when listening. The only way to solve that is to make Prince big again, but I guess that's out of the question, because most radio DJs/critics/MTV simply ignore his late work. I agree on your Youtube point, but who's gonna search for Prince if they haven't heard from him yet on other media? He needs to grab attention first before he could be a Youtube-hit among youth.

smoothcriminal12 said:

As many people here know, I am very young. 13 years old. As many people here also know, I am a new Prince fan. About a month and a few weeks.

Many people believe that Prince is not a "popular artist" with young people, or is not known to this generation or is not popular with us youngsters. That is simply not true.

When I first bought Lotusflow3r, I went on Facebook and posted my status as "Listening to Lotusflow3r/MPLSound - Prince". I left the computer and came back on an hour later to see that five people "liked" my status, and even one said that "Prince rocks," all of them the same age as me.

Later I posted my status as "Raspberry Beret - Prince" and got four "likes". It is obvious that youngsters are not oblivious to Prince, and they know who he is. After discovering Prince, I also learned that several of my friends are closet Prince fans, or their parents bought Lotusflow3r and they loved it.

Obviously Prince needs to take advantage of the perks of technology so that the younger generation can find out who he is. He is not an alien to us. That is why Youtube would be good for him, it is like our modern day radio. If you hear about a new artist and want to listen to their music, you go on Youtube. It's a habit. If kids hear about Prince and want to hear his music, they go on Youtube and click on the first video they see. It's instinct. That is why Prince needs to cut this copyright business and allow his stuff on Youtube.

Some young people still care for Prince and enjoy him. If Prince only promoted a bit more, maybe he could be bigger. Cut the Youtube copyright crap, don't release a new album every year and spend time promoting each one. You are already over 20Ten and it's only been a month and a little bit? It hasn't even been released worldwide! North America doesn't even have it yet!

Show your face a bit more Prince, people might look.

Good post youngling. Keep up the good work!

You have all the albums youngins?

From an old fart.

Hey, kids, I actually saw Purple Rain--in the theatre!

2freaky4church1 said:

Hey, kids, I actually saw Purple Rain--in the theatre!

Was it a talkie?

2freaky4church1 said:

2freaky4church1 said:

You have all the albums youngins?

From an old fart.

I've heard most of them and I have seven,

20Ten

3121

Come

For You

Lotusflow3r/MPLSound

Purple Rain

Planet Earth

And still collecting.

That's cool. I'm 10 years older than you and it's the complete opposite for most of my peer group. I was a kid in the early 90s so the first image of Prince that I actually remember seeing (and being afraid of) was the Batdance video (I was terrified of the Joker). A few years after that he wore the assless pants. I remember seeing that though I had no business watching MTV but that's an image my peer group refuses to forget. Every time I mention that Prince is my favorite artist I either get weird looks or someone says "he's weird and gay." I try to prove my point about the music being awesome but for twenty-somethings who aren't "into" music, it is often moot. Liking Prince just isn't cool. =/

Well, I'm 12 and i don't know anyone who listens to Prince at my school....

I agree he shud drop the copyright mumbo jumbo

But where I come from I don't think that'll be enough

But that would be really good for him to do

im 14 and have been a prince fan since i was 11. all my friends like prince because of me lol. i have converted alotta people into P fans even got some obsessed friends. i think PR playing on VH1 almost twice a day is helping. alotta people think hes gay but i tell them just listen to his music and youll see hes obviously not lol.

smoothcriminal12 said:

2freaky4church1 said:

You have all the albums youngins?

From an old fart.

I've heard most of them and I have seven,

20Ten

3121

Come

For You

Lotusflow3r/MPLSound

Purple Rain

Planet Earth

And still collecting.

you have a lot of "work" to do.... if you own 7 Prince albums only...

you are still missing a lot of the essential 1980-1988 classics..

I wish it was me, who was about to discover some brilliant Prince music.

Can't say I associate with too many people but I have never met any true Prince fans in my lifetime.

They might like Kiss or Purple Rain but they don't know much more than that.

awww you're all babies

I wonder if some of them got into Prince because of MJ's sudden death, to be different and like him instead. That's possible too.

A nineteen year old I supervise is a HUGE heavy metal fan, and guitar player.

He told me the only pop artist he respects are Michael Jackson and Prince!

my teen sis is into rock mostly and the only r&b/pop she takes seriously are michael, prince and madonna

Ok, I'm 25, so a bit older than most of you, but still a young fan for the most part. I remember watching Purple Rain as a kid and listening to some of his more commercial songs like "When Doves Cry," and "Kiss." I still remember when I first saw the video for "The Most Beautiful Girl..." my mom was like "Oh, Prince is trying to do a comeback!" LMAO! I was happy she liked the song, but a comeback? I remember thinking, he hadn't really left after Purple Rain. I hadn't heard alot of his stuff, but I knew he was constantly putting ablums out. I got heavy into his music a few years ago and have discovered some real gems that I can't believe I missed and am mad at myself for missing them. I hated that I grew up down South and no one ever came to play near us, I really wanted to see Prince. And now as an adult, I want to see him too. I hope he starts doing some US shows again!! I would travel overseas to see him though if I have too! lol I love Prince. Most of everyone I know isn't into him, but everyone that is like "Purple Rain." I just to scream, "he has other really great songs too!!" People don't know what they are missing! I hope Prince knows how much we younger fans love him and want to see him!!!

Kids! 1999! I'm telling you, if you don't have it, you need to get it. 1999. Don't have Lotusflower and not 1999. You will thank me!

Actually, just get everything up through Sign O' the Times. Everything befeore '87 is mandatory, but especially 1999.

JudasLChrist said:

Kids! 1999! I'm telling you, if you don't have it, you need to get it. 1999. Don't have Lotusflower and not 1999. You will thank me!

Actually, just get everything up through Sign O' the Times. Everything befeore '87 is mandatory, but especially 1999.

Agreed! My favorite album

Although it's not really among the easy-listening albums. I used to listen to only classic rock when I first discovered Prince, and I tell you, if I had heard 1999 as my first album I wouldn't be on this forum now. Thanks to Prince I got converted to funk music step by step I would recommend Purple Rain or The Hits 1 & 2 to beginners. And only after that get the rest of the '80s.

Spinlight said:

TBH - I don't think Prince cares one way or the other what the age of his fanbase is. Prince no longer writes music specifically for his fans. He writes music as a general product to be offered up to a distributor and that's one of his paychecks.

And the only time I've heard him comment about his younger fanbase is when he used to sing dirty songs live and would proclaim that people under 18 were too young to be there (in a joking fashion).

I think that the Prince mythology is something that every young Prince fan should delve into head first, but I dare say that the days of Prince giving a shit about the demographics of his fanbase are long gone.

I disagree that Prince "writes music as a general product to be offered up to a distributor and that's one of his paychecks." I think that Prince still makes the music of his heart, he just wants to get the lion share of the profits since he still is angry about WB. Now whether you or I thinks that he sould move on and get over it is another discussion, but he seems to be determined to get the lion's share of the profits, but that does not mean that he is not also writing from his heart.

As for the age of his fans, I think that Prince has accepted, whether rightly or wrongly, that people below a certain age group may not be into his work so he doesn't care to utilize the technology that will allow him access to them. Again, of course, that's his choice. I think that he should have performed at the BET Awards to show the younger generation that he still has it, but that was not his choice.

smoothcriminal12 said:

2freaky4church1 said:

You have all the albums youngins?

From an old fart.

I've heard most of them and I have seven,

20Ten

3121

Come

For You

Lotusflow3r/MPLSound

Purple Rain

Planet Earth

And still collecting.

You shouldn't have Come, child. XD

I'm 16 and I've got much further, (Exodus, Goldnigga, Rainbow Children, Crystal Ball) and I'm in the UK. Keep collecting and you won't regret a note.

his 70's and 80's work is his best, since then, hits and misses with the singles, a good album here and there. I started out with the hits though I got it 17 years after first liking him as a little kid