jonylawson said:

man i have read some straight up BS on this thread

what's so wrong really with what prince has done in the 'selling out' department? and what's wrong by the way also with admitting that he did, in some form at least?

Timmy84 said:

Hell the thread was over in the first place.

4 pages and still alive and kicking

im still confused

so what ADVERT HAS PRINCE DONE??

fuckin NONE

NADA

NONE

jonylawson said:

im still confused

so what ADVERT HAS PRINCE DONE??

fuckin NONE

NADA

NONE

read the thread, we've listed them. from the verizon ad to taylor guitars, coke, pepsi and iceland

aye im just joking man

I think he nearly sold out when he was offering samples from his entire back catalogue for a one off fee of $750.

Was it a 7 disc set or something?

The exact details escape me at the moment but I'm glad he didn't go through with it.

muirdo said:

I think he nearly sold out when he was offering samples from his entire back catalogue for a one off fee of $750.

Was it a 7 disc set or something?

The exact details escape me at the moment but I'm glad he didn't go through with it.

Does anyone have that set?

namepeace said:

muirdo said:

I think he nearly sold out when he was offering samples from his entire back catalogue for a one off fee of $750.

Was it a 7 disc set or something?

The exact details escape me at the moment but I'm glad he didn't go through with it.

Does anyone have that set?

It was never released.

NouveauDance said:

namepeace said:

Does anyone have that set?

It was never released.

Oh. IIRC, it was announced in those heady days when Prince was marketing product via the Internet/800 number . . . and only occasionally delivering it.

pfan1978 said:

TrevorAyer said:

if prince did not "sell out" than what was that horrid verizon cell phone add doing on tv? the one with prince mouth full of marbles trying to sing that horrid "guitar" song ... prince also sold out when he stopped writing poetry and started trying to rap because prince thinks he is black and therefore can automatically rap. he also sold out when he started singing about how much money he has and how he can "buy" women and all the other materialistic crap he has .. 3121 was nothing more than an advertisement for his las vegas club .. i would rather hear a prince written song than a prince written advertisement .. prince sold out when he stopped working with artists who challenge him musically because he doesnt want to pay them what they are worth or share the spotlight .. prince sold out when he stopped selling his music in mom and pop record shops and instead made exclusive deals with cheap crap made by underage workers in third world countries stores like target ..

[Edited 9/24/11 7:11am]

the most important truth is that when prince was at the peak of his powers after purple rain he could have made a bundle from corporate america if he had got with the program-sing we are the world with quincy & micheal,tone his act down,stay clear of controversy,wait 3 years & release an album similar 2 purple rain and censor what he says so he wouldn't scare off nervous investors. but prince refused to be bossed even when he could have easily banked 10s of millions.maybe its integrity or maybe its stupidity. micheal & madonna sure didnt turn down the money when they were offered it in the 80's. if he made a little change selling out 5,10,20 years removed from his heyday-so what? also & if u asked prince he would tell u he doesn't rap- like james brown he speaks rhythmically.

The albums 'Prince', 'Diamonds and Pearls', 'Musicology' and '3121' have always sounded to me as albums that were created in the first place to win back commercial succes and mainstream appeal.

Prince did say himself in interviews he did create 'Prince' the way it is because he wanted to score hits. He did record the album very quickly and cheaply, because he went way over budget with 'For You' and owed a lot of money to his record company.

'Diamonds and Pearls' to me shows two aspects of his artistry: at one hand, the desire to go 'back' to a more band-orientated, organic type of sound. On the other hand, the desire to score commercially again, by including hip-hop elements into his music: a type of music he himself said he wasnt really that fond of on 'Dead on it' on the Black album. And when you look back at his career nowadays, you can tell his hip-hop / rap-phase was mostly shown on this album and the symbol album. He has done rap / hip-hop type of songs since, but you can tell its not really his main ingrediebt,

'Musicology' sounds to me like a more toned-down, MOR-version of what Prince was known for in the eighties: a bit of soul, funk and rock and the occasional pop-song thrown into the mix. All very safe and inoffensive.

'3121' is in the same vein of musicology, but on that album he also tries to copy his own copycats, with the use of modern contemporary beats and sounds.

When you are very strict you could even say Prince was 'selling out' in the period Controversy unto Purple Rain: i have read in biographies that Prince hired people in the early eighties, that did research about how he could get more popular within the mainstraim. The conclusion of that team: incorporate more pop / rock-elements into your music. Its no incident Prince dropped a lot of the falsetto vocals on 1999, and that Purple Rain was so guitar-solo heavy.

All these examples (the forementioned albums, the research) don't mean that i think that Prince is or was a big sell out, but they at least show that commercial succes and mainstream appeal have always been important throughout his career. On the other hand it never was his ONLY or main goal. Within his overall output you also see the type of (indie-)artist who wants to follow his one muse, and deliver commercially unappealing stuff like the jazz-rock musings on The Rainbow Children and News, or stand up for his soul and funk inspirators during the late nighties (Chaka, Larry, his own NPS album and tour).

The tension between his commercial / mainstream aspirations, him following his own muse, and him also wanted to be respected by the serious music press, has always made him a far more interesting artist to me then Michael Jackson for example: Michael seemed to be obsessed with sales and succes in the first place. I always did get the idea that he was trying to get an even bigger commercial succes with every album after Thriller, like everything less would be a failure. Which it isnt of course.

Prince has taken so many left turns, made so many weird choices: the talent is obviously there, but he uses it in sometimes unpredictable ways, sometimes it seems like he is 'selling out', at other times you are thinking he is killing his own career. That probably the reason why i still follow him to this days, allthough the albums from this last decade have failed to impress me on an artistic level.

[Edited 9/27/11 11:12am]

[Edited 9/27/11 11:14am]

Lol paisleypark4.. how did i forget about 'rave'?

It probably shows how less that album has made an impression on me.

When i listen to that album i hear an artist / performer that just doesn't wants to be there, who is going through the motions, who is doing a 'guest star' album according to Santana-comeback like standards, but burrying the input by these 'guest stars' into the mix.

If there should have been any moment Prince should have taken time off from recording and releasing music it should have been then, i think.

jonylawson said:

im still confused

so what ADVERT HAS PRINCE DONE??

fuckin NONE

NADA

NONE

You are absolutely right.

And this is why the 3121 perfume folks are suing him...

okay when he was a mega star he never sold out !

jonylawson said:

okay when he was a mega star he never sold out !

He's a megastar since 1979 till now.

jonylawson said:

okay when he was a mega star he never sold out !

i think when he did the cash4gold advert he sold out

Riverman37 said:

Lol paisleypark4.. how did i forget about 'rave'?

It probably shows how less that album has made an impression on me.

When i listen to that album i hear an artist / performer that just doesn't wants to be there, who is going through the motions, who is doing a 'guest star' album according to Santana-comeback like standards, but burrying the input by these 'guest stars' into the mix.

If there should have been any moment Prince should have taken time off from recording and releasing music it should have been then, i think.

Yeah..I mean I am happy that Rave, Pretty man and So Far So Pleased got release, but the others are very ho hum.

Funny, I thought of Santana fame around that time too!

Money means you're selling, right? Labels are corporations. If Prince had wanted to go indie in 1978, he would've but Warner Bros was no indie company so I don't know how anyone can say that he didn't "sell out". Selling out is not even as bad as some make it out to be. There's good and bad in "selling out".

Thanks for the laugh.

jonylawson said:

okay when he was a mega star he never sold out !

Dude, just admit you were wrong, you've been corrected and then we can all move on.

The fact he made business decisions / sold out doesn't alter the impact of his music.

Swa said:

jonylawson said:

okay when he was a mega star he never sold out !

Dude, just admit you were wrong, you've been corrected and then we can all move on.

The fact he made business decisions / sold out doesn't alter the impact of his music.

Right.

I remember an advert / article with a photo of prince and mani sipping some jamba juice.

[Edited 9/27/11 17:22pm]

I fuckin love this thread to bits. Thank u.

ludwig said:

I remember an advert / article with a photo of prince and mani sipping some jamba juice.

[Edited 9/27/11 17:22pm]

twas a candid papp shot

a man needs to quench his thirst

sold out?

as bill withers said whats the ONE sign a businesman wnats to see??

SOLD OUT!

Just face it, not everyone agrees with how you look at it and no one is bashing Prince for it (except the usual subjects). Just move on man.

Timmy84 said:

Just face it, not everyone agrees with how you look at it and no one is bashing Prince for it (except the usual subjects). Just move on man.

timmy..im movin on man

and up!

jonylawson said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Wrong.

And he also did it for a car.

bart!

the only orger who gives me the creeps!

so come on then.......

proof

He pimped LRC. Google it.