imago said:

Timmy84 said:

Danny...

Prince vil ikke udgive mere musik

I et interview udtaler Prince, at han ikke længere er interesseret i at indspille og udgive sin musik

Den engelske avis The Guardian satte sig for nylig ned med Prince, og resultatet blev et interessant interview, hvor den 53-årige deler sine holdninger omkring musikindustrien, internettet, religion, Glastonbury og sine koncerter.

Mest interessant er hans holdninger omkring musikindustrien, som han allerede havde sine problemer med i 1993, hvor han skrev "Slave" på sin kind, og ændrede sit navn til Love Symbol. Nu handler det nærmere om de folk, der stjæler hans musik, og da man ikke længere kan tjene penge ved at udgive plader, gider han ikke mere.

"Musikindustrien har ændret sig. Vi tjente penge før pirateri gik helt amok. Der er ingen udover telefonselskaberne, Apple og Google, der tjener penge. Jeg skal en tur til Det Hvide Hus for at tale om beskyttelse af copyright. Det er som guldfebere derude. Eller bilkapringer. Der er ingen grænser. Jeg har været til møder, hvor de [pladeindustrien, red.] siger til mig, 'Prince, du forstår det ikke, det er alle mod alle derude'. Så jeg stopper bare med at indspille".

Han er heller ikke meget for musik på nettet ("Når du afspiller det, føler du ingenting. Vi er analoge mennesker, ikke digitale") eller ringetoner ("Jeg ejer ikke en telefon"). Han er for den sags skyld heller ikke meget for coverversioner, hvor en version af "Kiss" i tv-serien "Glee" åbenbart har irriteret ham.

"Der er ingen anden kunstform, hvor man kan gøre det. Du kan ikke gå ud og lave din egen version af "Harry Potter". Har du lyst til at høre en anden synge 'Kiss'?".

Han beskriver sig selv som en "kærlig tyran" og indrømmer, at han formodentlig er den hårdeste bandleder i verden at arbejde for. Hans nuværende band kan spille 300 forskellige sange, som han frit kan vælge mellem til koncerterne, og i modsætning til tiden omkring "Purple Rain", hvor han spillede det publikum forventede, går han nu på scenen for at levere noget uventet og for at toppe, hvad han har gjort tidligere. Han siger, han spiller hver koncert som var det hans sidste.

Prince skal spille i Europa denne sommer, men ikke på den engelske Glastonbury Festival. Han hævder, at de ulovligt har brugt hans navn i deres markedsføring for at sælge billetter, men at han aldrig har været i kontakt med dem.

Han taler i det hele taget meget om regler og grænser og hylder undervejs de muslimske lande. "Det er muslimske lande og at vide, at der kun er en religion. Der er orden. Du går med burka. Der er intet valg. Folk er tilfredse med det". Men da journalisten siger, at ikke alle kvinder er glade for at gå med burka er svaret: "Der er folk, der er utilfredse med alting. Alting har en mørk side".

Han indrømmer, at man kan debatere hans holdninger til ting for evigt, men da han er musiker, og at han er musik, så skal man komme til hans koncerter for at opleve musikken.

Prince giver koncert lørdag den 6. august på 10-Øren i København.

[Edited 6/24/11 3:01am]

Militant said:

On the front of the Guardian website, the quote has now been reduced to simply Prince - "It's fun being in Islamic countries. There's no choice."

With respect to Prince, he has certainly come up with a unique and original comment there. "It's fun being in islamic countries" will only ever google search as a Prince quote.

Prince said

I would not mind if he is done now. 20Ten was not really a keeper was it, and giving it away really summed it up. I can see him performing Vegas clubs well into his retirement and cashing in at the big events with the constant "last ever hits tour". He was inspired for Rainbow Children, but since then, his output has been slipping into mediocre.

glad i didnt get tickets for Dublin now....wasnt it great when he didnt do interviews and there was a mystique around him and people thought he was eccentric.

''It's better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool, than open it and confirm the fact''

not recording anymore albums...yeah right..... how many times has he said that....he will be saying he is never playing 1999 again next !

vitriol said:

Impossible as it might seem, the guy becomes more and more a yet bigger idiot.

He's clearly gone senile, yes.

Prince has finally nuked the fridge.

As for Prince's statement of no more albums, wouldn't it be fair to ask:

• What options do Prince really have these days for getting an album out?
• What major record company besides Warners (who might work with him to get a deal on his past work?) would work with him?
• What magazines could he possibly use as his outlet? This?
• If the internet is dead and digital (unlike *cough* cd's *cough* his main release media the past 20 odd years), WHO would take him on when he can't release himself?
• Isn't stating his intention of not recording/releasing almost like him saying: "these are sour gra.." erhm "the internet is dead" in response to his own self caused failures online?

/end cynicsim

We all better hope to God he doesn't become a Muslim, he would burn his whole entire vault for heresy.

Fans would then look back to his time as a JW as a golden age!!

It strange because if Prince grew up in a Muslim country he would no way have been allowed to be the person he was creatively, he would probably have been punished for acting gay. I can't bear it when people argue against things that enabled them to be who they are, ie. praising Islam as opposed to the freedom given in Christian based societies.

purpledoveuk said:

I'm sorry but the man is absolutely mental....he's a lunatic spouting crap about digital music and noise; this is the guy who bent us all over and sever us up digital offle through his short-lived website and the same guy who had band members who described music as a 'composite of noise, you hear music everywhere you go' His head is so far up his own ass that he's re-writing reality....he's happy that some countries only have one religion and women where burqas...well fuck off and live in one then, stop bitching and moaning about the very things that have got you to a position where you can sit back on your little ass and live off the glory years, you're not doing us a favour by recording - if you're so unhappy then quit. Stop complaining about the systems, cultures and media that got you where you are - it's a real shame you regret so much of your past - what has happened to you?

GoldiesParade said:

I would not mind if he is done now. 20Ten was not really a keeper was it, and giving it away really summed it up. I can see him performing Vegas clubs well into his retirement and cashing in at the big events with the constant "last ever hits tour". He was inspired for Rainbow Children, but since then, his output has been slipping into mediocre.

Well i wish he did his 'pause' in recording after Lotusflow3r 3CD set as at least that was a great work to remember him by...20ten was bloody awful IMO.

[Edited 6/24/11 3:42am]

SquirrelMeat said:

And the fact that Glastonbury sold out months ago??? What extra tickets were they trying to sell then?

Prince is in la la land on this one.

Glasto sold out in hours. Hop farm can't seem to give them away. So who's the pull?

Yeah, but it's a much 'tamer' interview in the sense that most people will either bypass it completely or else won't think to much about what he's saying.

Anyone here that knows much about the Glastonbury festival will know that it's unlikely to be the organisers themselves that start and spread those rumours, and anyone that doesn't know much won't care, so no real harm done.

Reactions from the German media (found them on a German Princeboard)

This one only refers to the digital part:

http://www.gala.de/stars/ticker/BSBS156953/Prince-hasst-digitale-Musik.html

Prince kann digitale Musik nicht leiden und ist der Meinung, sie mache die Musik gefühllos.

Prince hält nichts von digitaler Musik.

Der Sänger ist ein konstanter Kritiker des Internets und findet es auch nicht in Ordnung, dass seine Songs über digitale Plattformen wie iTunes zu erwerben sind. Im Gespräch mit dem 'Guardian' erklärt er: "Ich persönlich kann digitale Musik nicht ausstehen, man bekommt Musik in Bits. Es wirkt sich auf einen anderen Teil des Gehirns aus. Wenn man es abspielt, dann kann man nichts dabei empfinden. Wir sind analoge Menschen, keine digitalen."

Während die CDs des Stars online zu erwerben sind, ließ der Sänger erst vor kurzem alle seine Videos von der Video-Plattform Youtube entfernen. Der Grund dafür; der 'Purple Rain'-Interpret sieht darin Parallelen zu einem Autodiebstahl auf offener Straße. "Ich werde ins Weiße Haus gehen, um darüber zu sprechen, wie man das Copyright schützen kann. Das ist da draußen wie der Goldrausch. Oder Autodiebstahl. Es gibt keine Grenzen", echauffiert er sich.

Zudem störe den 53-Jährigen auch die Tatsache, dass das berühmte Glastonbury-Festival ihn seit Jahren als Gast ankündigt, er jedoch nie kommen würde. "Sie benutzen meinen Namen, um das Festival zu verkaufen. Das ist illegal", wettert er. "Ich habe nie mit irgendjemandem darüber gesprochen, dieses Konzert zu geben. Niemals."

BANG Media International

This one only refers to the muslim part:

http://www.welt.de/print/welt_kompakt/kultur/article13447478/Popstar-Prince-lobt-den-sittenstrengen-Islam.html

Viele halten den religiösen Kontrollwahn in streng islamischen Ländern für belastend, aber der amerikanische Musiker Prince kann nichts Schlechtes darin sehen. Wie er dem britischen "Guardian" verriet, hält er Besuch in islamischen Ländern für Spaß. "Es gibt Regeln, man trägt eine Burka, man hat keine Wahl. Die Leute sind glücklich damit." Auf den Einwand, dass es auch Leute gibt, die unglücklich sind, keine Wahl zu haben, entgegnete er, dass es immer Leute gebe, die wegen irgendwelcher Dinge unzufrieden seien. Der 53-Jährige, der im Glauben der Zeugen Jehovas sein Seelenheil sucht, wurde in den frühen 80ern unter anderem damit berühmt, die geheimen Freuden des Geschlechtsverkehrs in all seinen Möglichkeiten zu besingen.

TheFreakerFantastic said:

[..], he would probably have been punished for acting gay. [..]

Well... I don't necessarily think so. The Islamic culture doesn't really have the western stereotypes of gay men, where being affirmative or feminine is seen as gay. In most of Middle East ordinarily heterosexual men tend to be very, let's say, touchy and intimate with each other. When I travelled Turkey back in the 90s (great f' country for a tourist on foot) I saw a lot of men grabbing each other's crotches, almost as like a handshake-thing, like a way of saying "You the maaan".

I think Prince in the Middle East would rather than be seen as gay, would be seen as someone who is overly excessive - and that would probably be sinfull.

But I'm no expert.

[Edited 6/24/11 4:21am]

KeithyT said:

Full article/interview here (not sure if this link has been posted yet?)

http://www.guardian.co.uk...e-internet

The full article reads better. The interviewer's commentary throughout represents the majority's viewpoint I think.

I don't think there is anything to be concerned about. Prince is (and remains) Prince. I think he realises from people's reactions that his views can be seen as naiive and general and he does at least attempt to deflect attention back to the music (as Nu pointed out above).

Good to see his views on some current artists performance and image (Gaga, Adele, etc) at least he is paying attention to a degree.

Not quite so offputting as the teaser article yesterday IMHO.

[Edited 6/24/11 2:18am]

That's true.

TheFreakerFantastic said:

We all better hope to God he doesn't become a Muslim, he would burn his whole entire vault for heresy.

Fans would then look back to his time as a JW as a golden age!!

It strange because if Prince grew up in a Muslim country he would no way have been allowed to be the person he was creatively, he would probably have been punished for acting gay. I can't bear it when people argue against things that enabled them to be who they are, ie. praising Islam as opposed to the freedom given in Christian based societies.

In fairness, it really doesn't seem as if he was praising Islam, per se, nor did he give any indication that he wished to convert to the Islamic faith - in fact, parts of the article very much reinforced his commitment to the JW faith.

I think he was attempting to use a Muslim country as an example of a united, structured, law-abiding society where people respect the agreed boundaries of social behaviour and are not always trying to go against the system.

The fact that there is no country in the world that I know of that operates that way (with the possible exception of Switzerland ) AND that he himself has been highly critical of his government and country for a long time now (most notably since joining a religion that advises its members to stay out of politics) are a couple of the reasons I find what he said puzzling.

However, I'm mindful that he doesn't have a particularly easy means by which to exercise a 'right of reply', so I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt here and assume that he was intending to use the example of a Muslim country to illustrate the benefits of a united, socially responsible society and perhaps realised all too late that it was likely to be misconstrued.

[Edited 6/24/11 4:04am]

It sounds to me like Prince is saying that God's Masterplan is sovereign over all of us. By submitting to the authority that governs us all, we can love and grow together without strife.

Even without releasing a new album, I'm loving Prince's new songs

[Edited 7/9/11 20:43pm]

The Glastonbury comment are ridiculous though. Does he still thinks that he has that much affect on the music industry? hes dreaming and living in cookoo land if he does, or maybe his inflated ego is playing mind tricks on him. If Prince didnt exist Glastonbury would of still sold out I bet half of the youngsters there dont even know who he is anyway. He cant even sell tickets for his own shows....its crazy.

I thought he was gonna go down the James Brown route as he got older. JB knew his position in the industry, whether when his popularity was going up and down over the decades he went with the flow of it and would do the small venues or larger ones to reflex that, he took anything that was offered and was grateful.

colorblu said:

It sounds like he is saying that God's Masterplan is sovereign over all of us. By submitting to the authority that governs us all, we can love and grow together without strife.

But how is a society with forced marriages full of love? How is it growth that women have next to no rights? Or if we're not talking gender, how is a society that fake having human rights, rather than actually having them anything close to "growth"?

Seems to me the only way Prince's "analogy" could make sense, would be if one lacked insight, perspective and knowledge on what's actually happening in the Middle Eastern world, in regards to human rights and women's rights in particular, not to mention the rampant capitalism that exploits the lands for oil, at the benifit for the priests and the monarchis, but at the cost of its citizens and nature*.

Can your love and growth only happen (for the benefit of you only) if I accept my fate as being oppressed, if I accept that I have no rights? Why must I pay for your utopia?

'/of which the Western world of course contributes a great deal.

[Edited 6/24/11 4:27am]

TheDigitalGardener said:

Trashcat said:

We should all blame Larry Graham for this.

it's just to embarrassing for me to discuss it any further.

I think I'll stay away from the 'Prince: Music and More forum' for a while.

My thoughts too, see you in a few days.

Goddamnit.. I was raised in Islam.. and he does not know what the hell that entails.. I love u Prince.. I do.. but DAMN.. HE MAKES IT SO DIFFICULT.... LE SIGH..

and yes smh, he does sound mad Krazy.. what the hell happened NO REALLY .. that made him this way .. I mean why is he so "tight" now .. I would have never thunk it.. Change is good.. it is .. but he just wants us to NOT DO SHIT.. hell does he realize in most muslim countries they probably couldn't even rock with him anyway.. EVER.. Talk to somebody KID !!!!

Since he starting doing interviews (round Emancipation) he's talked 'more shit than a bit' as he once said. As everyone knows he's a walking contradiction and u take everything he says with a pinch of salt but he is becoming a bit of a senile grandad or the idiot in your local pub spouting garbage.

It was so much better when he never spoke and he had this mystique and aura

catpark said:

I thought he was gonna go down the James Brown route as he got older. JB knew his position in the industry, whether when his popularity was going up and down over the decades he went with the flow of it and would do the small venues or larger ones to reflex that, he took anything that was offered and was grateful.

Thats what I hoped for. Someone who still loved their music and their audience.

Alexandernvrmind said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

This subject is going to become very ugly over the next couple of days.

Yep people have such a sense of entitlement... you can already read the comments calling Prince stupid.

I read that shit and thought Prince is right. We do need boundaries... we don't live in a world where anything goes and everything is ok. There are consequences for our actions.

The United States is such a fucking mess right now politically, culturally, religiously, socially, etc...

Everyone at each other throats.... Chaos and Disorder everywhere... Look at the responses to an article that we don't even know that it’s true. A Prince board no less

Too many of you want Prince to still act he is 20 years old wearing high heeled boots and singing about bangin his sister like some cat in heat

Let this dude do his thing or bounce... I have no idea why most of you even post on this board with the rude and obscene things that many of you say about him.

I understood exactly what Prince was talking about. Some of you need to get out more… there was nothing negative or stupid or foolish about his comments.

The reaction to them without the kind of serious introspection they deserve is disgusting

TheFreakerFantastic said:

We all better hope to God he doesn't become a Muslim, he would burn his whole entire vault for heresy.

Fans would then look back to his time as a JW as a golden age!!

It strange because if Prince grew up in a Muslim country he would no way have been allowed to be the person he was creatively, he would probably have been punished for acting gay. I can't bear it when people argue against things that enabled them to be who they are, ie. praising Islam as opposed to the freedom given in Christian based societies.

if you knew anything about the middle east or muslims for that matter, you would know that majority of people in the middle east HATE the dictatorships in those countries , partly because of the lack of freedom. It is the "Christian based socities" (like America for example) who support these oprressive reigimes for their own interest.

bellanoche said:

toejam said:

Sheesh. No one's acting like it's the end of the world

Yes, Prince has the right "2 speak what he feels". But equally, we also have the right to point out the flaws in his (and his most adoring defenders') reasoning that this kind of talk is somehow OK.

What he said was completely out of line. He's stereotyping, making incorrect assumptions, and altogether contradictorary.

[Edited 6/23/11 19:27pm]

But therein lies the problem. Why is this kind of talk not OK? Because you don't agree with it? The very idea of stating that a counterview is flawed because it is not alignment with your opinions is flawed. In fact, to use your words, it is contradictory to what you appear to be asserting.

At the end of the day they are OPINIONS!!! No matter how much you THINK you are right, it is your OPINION. Is Prince or anyone agrees with him (not all adoring defenders by the way) not entitled to an OPINION? Is it flawed simply because you don't like it? Where is the logic in that line of "thinking?"

listen to the lyrics of uptown. when u preach individualism, say u believe in it and encourage others to believe it too, then don't be surprised when people think you're an arsehole when they find out you're a fake!

purpledoveuk said:

Why doesn't he go and live in a cave? He seems mad at everyone and everything in the world!!! The organisers of Glastonbury have, to the best of my knowledge, never said Prince will be playing. They've said they'd like him to one day but they have NEVER hidden who will be playing or mentioned him as an artist...cone on Prince, sue them, you must be familiar with the system by now having gone through it so many times - gather your evidence, write it on a postage stamp and take it to court. Clearly he has no ideaof the popularity of the festival and how long its been going....i bet hes not joking, he genuinely thinks its sold because of him. Oh and by the way, picking a festival nobody has heard of won't be considered 2 fingers up to Glastonbury if that's what you think So let's just recap... He doesn't like his music being played He doesn't like western society and the things it brings He doesn't like the Internet He doesn't like countries with variety He doesn't like Glastonbury He doesn't like the 21st century and misses the earlier years He doesn't like the earlier years because it seems he didn't like the way he was He doesn't like his fans anymore Apart from money and burqas...is there anything he does like? [Edited 6/24/11 4:24am]

Maybe he'll make his own burqa made out of $100 notes

After having read the full article here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jun/23/prince-interview-adele-internet

I think the interviewer did him a disservice. The tone of the author is condescending and now that Ive read the whole thing, I think Prince was mostly misunderstood. There is also an implication that Prince further tried to explain what he meant on his example of Islam but the author leaves it out and instead says that Prince sighed in a realization that he wasnt getting this interviewer to understand what he meant and reverted to telling the guy to not worry about what he thought of the world, and to just listen to his music.

He probably could have been better off not opening the box on religion and used a different metaphor but what I think he meant was that he hopes for more stability and structure in a society that lacks values and substance and he finds a certain kind of peace in order. Good sentiment. Bad example.