think it is interesting looking at the idea that prince doesnt sell albums anymore..

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if we look at the lotusflower album....it went 'gold' in the usa a few months ago...which means sales 500,000 copies in the usa...

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if you look back to the 80s.....the lovesexy album also went ' gold' in the usa with half a million sales in the usa...

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i find it interesting that the sales of these two albums are pretty similar yet ...the perception is prince doesnt sell anymore and the 80s were his golden period...not always

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i think its amazing he can sell half a million copies of lotusflower with little radio support, no hit singles and no major record company promotion

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of course..lovesexy sold millions outside america but we cant compare lotusflower because he didnt release it worldwide...only on his website ...

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just a wee observation

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Lol, the price for Lotusflow3r (3CDs) was ridiculously low! They gave it away for free more or less.

funkomatic said:

Lol, the price for Lotusflow3r (3CDs) was ridiculously low! They gave it away for free more or less.

it already sold over 400,000 copies before they reduced the price.

I believe each disc was counted as one unit, so the gold status is kinda bullshit. Might be wrong though, but that's how I think it works.

And it's very likely that the album would have never reached the 500000 mark that fast without the price dumping.

BTW: How much did the 3CD-Set cost before?

funkomatic said:

And it's very likely that the album would have never reached the 500000 mark that fast without the price dumping.

BTW: How much did the 3CD-Set cost before?

about 13 dollars

JowiiCoco said:

I believe each disc was counted as one unit, so the gold status is kinda bullshit. Might be wrong though, but that's how I think it works.

no ..thats not how they do it anymore..it sold 550,000 copies as a 3 cd set...

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the emancipation album sold around 700,000 copies in the usa but...back then...each cd was counted as a separate sale...thats why it went double platinum....

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funkomatic said:

And it's very likely that the album would have never reached the 500000 mark that fast without the price dumping.

BTW: How much did the 3CD-Set cost before?

name me an album that doesnt drop in price ??....every album i have seen drops in price once it goes out the charts..

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But not that much! Wasn't it 4.99 in the end?

blackbob said:

funkomatic said:

And it's very likely that the album would have never reached the 500000 mark that fast without the price dumping.

BTW: How much did the 3CD-Set cost before?

name me an album that doesnt drop in price ??....every album i have seen drops in price once it goes out the charts..

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I know..maxwell had his album on his website for 3.99, Beyonce has done it to B-Day and Sha Sha Fierce....

It was partially even less: 99 cent!

People didn't buy "Lotusflow3r" because of the quality of the music. They bought it because they thought it was a good deal.

paisleypark4 said:

blackbob said:

name me an album that doesnt drop in price ??....every album i have seen drops in price once it goes out the charts..

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I know..maxwell had his album on his website for 3.99, Beyonce has done it to B-Day and Sha Sha Fierce....

We are talking about a physical 3-CD-Set and not downloads!

funkomatic said:

paisleypark4 said:

I know..maxwell had his album on his website for 3.99, Beyonce has done it to B-Day and Sha Sha Fierce....

We are talking about a physical 3-CD-Set and not downloads!

yes..just physical copies sold at target...dont think anyone knows how many copies were sold online....

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hhhhdmt said:

funkomatic said:

And it's very likely that the album would have never reached the 500000 mark that fast without the price dumping.

BTW: How much did the 3CD-Set cost before?

about 13 dollars

It was $9.99.

hhhhdmt said:

funkomatic said:

Lol, the price for Lotusflow3r (3CDs) was ridiculously low! They gave it away for free more or less.

it already sold over 400,000 copies before they reduced the price.

doesn't matter, the name of the game is #record sales--stop splitting hairs. don't hate the player, hate the game. Prince ain't no joke. word.

jpnyc said:

hhhhdmt said:

about 13 dollars

It was $9.99.

i read somewhere it was $13, guess i was wrong. I got mine from amazon, cost a little more

blackbob said:

funkomatic said:

And it's very likely that the album would have never reached the 500000 mark that fast without the price dumping.

BTW: How much did the 3CD-Set cost before?

name me an album that doesnt drop in price ??....every album i have seen drops in price once it goes out the charts..

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Where eye live they want £20 4 sign o the times???wtf.

davetherave6767 said:

blackbob said:

name me an album that doesnt drop in price ??....every album i have seen drops in price once it goes out the charts..

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Where eye live they want £20 4 sign o the times???wtf.

After saying that eye did get 4 copies of lotusflower 4 £10 each but still £20 4 sott??mad.

If anything, this (and the high price reportedly paid by the European magazines 2 b able 2 release 20ten) proves that Prince has enough of a fanbase and a reputation with non-fans audiences 2 b able 2 sell lotsa records with minimum promotion. All these dudes claiming he's "ruined" his career r trippin': Prince can release another record with any major anytime or even do it on his own and still sell a lot of copies. Let's not 4get that 500,000 is a very reasonable amount of records in the P2P age, and even quite impressive if u're talking about an independant artist. Terence Trent D'Arby certainly doesn't sell as many copies of his new albums.

It's quite hard to compare the sales of these two albums. Lotus Flower had a tie-in with a huge chain store... Lovesexy was refused promotion and display in many American stores because of the cover.

Prince has toured his ass off, recently, in the US; Sign O The Times stopped touring before it hit America killing his career momentum and harming (immediate) future record sales. See Eric Leeds' comments on the matter.

hhhhdmt said:

funkomatic said:

Lol, the price for Lotusflow3r (3CDs) was ridiculously low! They gave it away for free more or less.

it already sold over 400,000 copies before they reduced the price.

Data on that please? With all the info about these tabulations on record sales to be in flux, I love it how Prince fans casually toss them out like mofo sold a damn thing.

And that being said, if you say 400,000 were "sold" before the reduced price, please account for the promo crap that went along with it. Lotusflower was a complete bomb and it didn't sell half a million. Half a million unique customers did not purchase fuck all about Lotus flower.

sweething said:

hhhhdmt said:

it already sold over 400,000 copies before they reduced the price.

doesn't matter, the name of the game is #record sales--stop splitting hairs. don't hate the player, hate the game. Prince ain't no joke. word.

You have to be kidding me. Tired of you people spouting details that mean shit. Prince is about record sales? Tell that to the labels who look at him as scorched earth.

And BTW, nothing to hate about Prince's playing. You know, cuz he doesn't play at all. His records would sell if he gave a true shit about being artistic. He's nothing bout the dollar. He just cares about writing records to nameless sluts he runs through like water while pretending to be a pious man.

I wish he'd just shut the fuck up already about his assinine religious beliefs so I can give him my damn money to buy the music he's holding hostage. Who the fuck cares about his new beliefs or his new this or that. It's Prince. He hasn't been engaging since 1996 and people are STILL fiending for some of the vestiges of his creativity.

Stop kidding yourself. You're living in a dream world.

[Edited 6/5/11 5:30am]

His last 3 albums have in the USA have been top 5 affairs, I believe. 3121 debuted at #1, Musicology raked in massive sales, and lotusflow3r was barely beat out by some redneck dude.

I think his sales have been pretty decent considering. I just wish the material had a bit more umph in it, because it's the only sure way to grow the 'Prince' franchise and ensure more open avenues for future sales.

Prince has sort of pinned himself into a smaller corner with his assholery, but if he had a massive selling album that was actually spectacular, you'd see all sorts of offers being passed to him.

20Ten was so incredibly anemic an album that I had to facepalm the entire thing--I mean, it went out to 3 million people, most of which probably thought Prince had already died, and those who bothered to give it a spin experienced something that sounded half dead anyways.

sweething said:

hhhhdmt said:

it already sold over 400,000 copies before they reduced the price.

doesn't matter, the name of the game is #record sales--stop splitting hairs. don't hate the player, hate the game. Prince ain't no joke. word.

This post is so incredibly sad and hilarious at the same time.

Don't hate the player--hate the game?

The point of the refuted post is that the album sold due to being a good deal, not because of the merit of the music therein.

I liked lotsuflow3r, minus the dreadful Bria record, but it certainly wasn't going to convert any casual fans or the community at large.

I bought 50 copies of Lotusflower when they were .99 at target. I currently have them at $5.00 in my store. I pub it alot but its a TOUGH sale!! I love the CD though. People just are not digging Prince anymore unfortunately(at least not here)

dandeeland said:

I bought 50 copies of Lotusflower when they were .99 at target. I currently have them at $5.00 in my store. I pub it alot but its a TOUGH sale!! I love the CD though. People just are not digging Prince anymore unfortunately(at least not here)

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no airplay...casual fans aint gonna buy an album that they havent heard...

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imago said:

His last 3 albums have in the USA have been top 5 affairs, I believe. 3121 debuted at #1, Musicology raked in massive sales, and lotusflow3r was barely beat out by some redneck dude.

I think his sales have been pretty decent considering. I just wish the material had a bit more umph in it, because it's the only sure way to grow the 'Prince' franchise and ensure more open avenues for future sales.

Prince has sort of pinned himself into a smaller corner with his assholery, but if he had a massive selling album that was actually spectacular, you'd see all sorts of offers being passed to him.

20Ten was so incredibly anemic an album that I had to facepalm the entire thing--I mean, it went out to 3 million people, most of which probably thought Prince had already died, and those who bothered to give it a spin experienced something that sounded half dead anyways.

Why is it still a consideration that Prince's sales are low? When you say "...considering" it's like you're giving him a pass. He is still throwing down like a person who sells shit by performing on talk shows, etc. Who else of his stature plays that game? I almost wish he'd stop recording period. At least we wouldn't need to watch his slow crawl amongst the dead.

Spinlight said:

imago said:

His last 3 albums have in the USA have been top 5 affairs, I believe. 3121 debuted at #1, Musicology raked in massive sales, and lotusflow3r was barely beat out by some redneck dude.

I think his sales have been pretty decent considering. I just wish the material had a bit more umph in it, because it's the only sure way to grow the 'Prince' franchise and ensure more open avenues for future sales.

Prince has sort of pinned himself into a smaller corner with his assholery, but if he had a massive selling album that was actually spectacular, you'd see all sorts of offers being passed to him.

20Ten was so incredibly anemic an album that I had to facepalm the entire thing--I mean, it went out to 3 million people, most of which probably thought Prince had already died, and those who bothered to give it a spin experienced something that sounded half dead anyways.

Why is it still a consideration that Prince's sales are low? When you say "...considering" it's like you're giving him a pass. He is still throwing down like a person who sells shit by performing on talk shows, etc. Who else of his stature plays that game? I almost wish he'd stop recording period. At least we wouldn't need to watch his slow crawl amongst the dead.

I should have been more specific.

I mean, considering the fact that his music output has been pretty standard in quality.

The recent albums have debuted well on the chart because he either bothered to promot them, or there was a gimmick attached. They're also all commercial pop records, which helps too.

For me, it's more about the impact the material makes rather than units collecting dust on people's shelves. Lovesexy sold relatively poorly in the USA, but Alphabet St. is in the pantheon of Prince's best known songs still today. Chocolate Box and Te Amo Corazon did not achieve the same accolade.

davetherave6767 said:

blackbob said:

name me an album that doesnt drop in price ??....every album i have seen drops in price once it goes out the charts..

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Where eye live they want £20 4 sign o the times???wtf.

SOTT is £3 where i live, Lotus is £5.

Hell, the 3 disc Hits/B-Sides is only £3, Emancipation too.

These are not one off deals, they have been this price for months.