Ok, hold on, this is not a shitty thread. It actually wants to be a serious thread

I know NOBODY knows for certain how much money Prince has (or had), but this thread has been inspired, partially, by those who claim that Prince, after the "noble" experimental 00-03 years, took the high road and started releasing ultra-commercial, sellout, rehashed mainstream albums, from Musicology to 20Ten, basically because he wanted (needed?) some BIG MONEY...

so, my question is? does anyone know if Prince actually made some HUGE money with those "mainstream" albums (Musicology, 3131, Planet Earth, MPLS, 20Ten), or does Prince have (roughly) the same money he already had during the 90s?

discuss...speculations will be accepted, but if someone provides some real facts, I'll thank him for it

he probably made more from every tour he did since 2004 than from all those albums

combined.

but i'm sure he worked out some sweet deals for his albums and some good advances.

roughly guessing, i'd say he's made about 20 million from those 5 projects in all.

one successfull tour rakes in, what, 50 million? that's what you should be adding up if

you want to find out how much he's made the last decade.

I have reason to believe Prince is doing very well for himself. Meaning better than he did in the 90's. If I was to speculate, I would say he made at least 70 million since 2004? Possibly more..Considering the success of tours and etc...It's likely he has really maxamized his income GREATLY. I think his band members are getting paid nicely as well...(JUST A PRESUMPTION...)

So I AM not completely sure...BUT I still say around 50-70 if not more?

Why doesn't he pay his lawyers and others??? LOL..

I hope he gets all of that cleared OUT; sometime soon..if it is not already...

WHAT is he doing with all of that money..When you think about it...Prince is alone. I mean he isn't totally alone, but he does not have much family (As Far as we know)....We don't know much about him, so I suppose I should not speculate too much..But Prince has a lot money, and I think he has really made a LARGE profit since 04, he has never really slowed down.

I think he made more money just from the Musicology Tour than he has any tour he's ever done. He's made enough money to only do a show here and a show there.

He hasn't really done a full-blown tour since. And it's probably because he's made a very comfortable living just from that tour.

He has played quite a few corporate gigs and birthday (private parties) during times when he isn't touring. Obviously he hasn't maximized his earning potential with a big solid "Musicology" type tour so he must be earning enough where that isn't necessar.

He's one rich 'slave'. I know that much

He's been using the same stage and no frills light shows for ages now, and performing his ass off.

He keeps doing it, so I would imagine he's making a lot of money---much more than his old days

as a rapid pace recording artist.

By name, he's Prince again, but on the concert trail he was king. Prince's "Musicology" tour grossed $87.4 million in 2004, tops among concert attractions in North America, according to Pollstar magazine.

The concert-industry-tracking publication will finalize figures this week for some acts that are on tour through the end of the year, but no one will earn enough in the next few days to dislodge Prince, whose tickets averaged $61.04 on his stops in 69 cities. He also sold more tickets than any other act, more than 1.4 million.

During Prince's Welcome2(fillin the blank) tour he was making roughly up to 2 million a night.

example:

He bought a house in the turks and caicos island so he must be doing very well

linus4000 said:

He bought a house in the turks and caicos island so he must be doing very well

I understood that this was not the case.

He has certainly spent a break there and subsequently attended New Year's Eve celebrations.

langebleu said:

linus4000 said:

He bought a house in the turks and caicos island so he must be doing very well

I understood that this was not the case.

He has certainly spent a break there and subsequently attended New Year's Eve celebrations.

I read the message Gav wrote in the Prince.org thread, so according to him it`s not true. Didn`t know that! Thanks!

Good question!!!

And I don´t mind if he has made a lot of money but I´m also curious.

Didn´t that British newspaper pay him 2million pounds 4 Planet Earth?

So I guess he also got a great deal in Europe when he released 20Ten in each country through newspapers AND tour there that summer.

What about 21 nights in London?? Someone here allready mentiond figures in another thread.

We all know how much the Musicology tour made, including album sales on that tour.

So i guess Musicology didn´t earn much more outside the US.

I think the 2 million per big concert could be right , smaller venues ?

[Edited 7/9/12 11:44am]

[Edited 7/9/12 11:44am]

Its a shame that Prince has become so money hungry these days. Money has definately ruined him like the world too. ITs too bad. It used to be music first. Those days are long gone unfortunately

He's doing alright income wise I'd guess - not sure why that would something for fans to celebrate (or commiserate), I don't see any new product to wet my knickers over.

[Edited 7/11/12 7:22am]

I strongly suspect that the cumulative effect up to the 'Gold' / slave era taught him some harsh financial lessons i.e. don't piss around with your art & income or else you're gonna go broke !. Since he's been working on his own terms he would appear to be doing very well - just pray he isn't daft enough to give away big$ to the JW cause.

funkyhead said:

I strongly suspect that the cumulative effect up to the 'Gold' / slave era taught him some harsh financial lessons i.e. don't piss around with your art & income or else you're gonna go broke !. Since he's been working on his own terms he would appear to be doing very well - just pray he isn't daft enough to give away big$ to the JW cause.

He doesn't have to be daft....... When I WAS a practising JW, The church member contribution was around 10% of yearly wage. This was well before Prince became one & here in Australia, so I don't know whether it's the same worldwide, but if so then he has paid a fair chunk out of his "money" to the church.

lovesexy06 said:

funkyhead said:

I strongly suspect that the cumulative effect up to the 'Gold' / slave era taught him some harsh financial lessons i.e. don't piss around with your art & income or else you're gonna go broke !. Since he's been working on his own terms he would appear to be doing very well - just pray he isn't daft enough to give away big$ to the JW cause.

He doesn't have to be daft....... When I WAS a practising JW, The church member contribution was around 10% of yearly wage. This was well before Prince became one & here in Australia, so I don't know whether it's the same worldwide, but if so then he has paid a fair chunk out of his "money" to the church.

wow, 10% !. is that the norm?. Was there a strict form of income verification or was it based on trust?. Is this compulsory by the way?

In Princes' case I've oft wondered if the ticket sales from the aftershows are his 'contribution'.

funkyhead said:

lovesexy06 said:

He doesn't have to be daft....... When I WAS a practising JW, The church member contribution was around 10% of yearly wage. This was well before Prince became one & here in Australia, so I don't know whether it's the same worldwide, but if so then he has paid a fair chunk out of his "money" to the church.

wow, 10% !. is that the norm?. Was there a strict form of income verification or was it based on trust?. Is this compulsory by the way?

In Princes' case I've oft wondered if the ticket sales from the aftershows are his 'contribution'.

It's not compulsory( but most members who can, do) & if you don't then you are actively encouraged to donate to the church. It's not really discussed between members.Arrangements regarding details are done through private meetings. There is both income verification & trust. I would submit my pay details & the amount over a year would be worked out, generally it was between 5% & 10%. I chose to pay my contribution weekly. If I got a pay rise then it was left to me to tell them. When I was a member there were quite a few members who didn't work (usually singles) & they would be completely supported by the church. They are a very strict religion & this includes the type of work a member can do. It really is a very complex religion. Being a member is very hard, especially for a convert, there are so many changes to your life. All in the name of Jehovah.

JoeTyler said:

artist76 said:

As to your question, no I don't think his aim is to make the most amount of money possible. Of course, he's in the music business, so he needs to make money, and he wants to be able to do things like have Paisley Park and to maintain a certain lifestyle. But beyond that, I don't think his primary motivation is money. There are many performers of whom it could be said they just want to maximize their money (Madonna? PDiddy?) but Prince has always been an oddball and not motivated by the typical things. JoeTyler said:

Ok, hold on, this is not a shitty thread. It actually wants to be a serious thread

I know NOBODY knows for certain how much money Prince has (or had), but this thread has been inspired, partially, by those who claim that Prince, after the "noble" experimental 00-03 years, took the high road and started releasing ultra-commercial, sellout, rehashed mainstream albums, from Musicology to 20Ten, basically because he wanted (needed?) some BIG MONEY...

so, my question is? does anyone know if Prince actually made some HUGE money with those "mainstream" albums (Musicology, 3131, Planet Earth, MPLS, 20Ten), or does Prince have (roughly) the same money he already had during the 90s?

discuss...speculations will be accepted, but if someone provides some real facts, I'll thank him for it

I'd agree that money hasn't always been the main motivator for his music business choices and that's one more thing that makes him cool. But, his primary focus increasingly seems to be the money.

kewlschool said:

artist76 said:

As to your question, no I don't think his aim is to make the most amount of money possible. Of course, he's in the music business, so he needs to make money, and he wants to be able to do things like have Paisley Park and to maintain a certain lifestyle. But beyond that, I don't think his primary motivation is money. There are many performers of whom it could be said they just want to maximize their money (Madonna? PDiddy?) but Prince has always been an oddball and not motivated by the typical things. JoeTyler said:

I'd agree that money hasn't always been the main motivator for his music business choices and that's one more thing that makes him cool. But, his primary focus increasingly seems to be the money.

That's because he increasingly needs to focus more on the business since he's an independent artist and the state of the industry is as it is. I think he's trying very hard to create and release music without having to "give in" to the "middlemen" like record companies, itunes, radio stations, etc. If he were just trying to maximize money, he'd just go the route of Madonna, Katy Perry, PDiddy, will.i.am, etc. - have a record company contract, have 360 contracts, expand into non-music media/products, get exposure guesting or judging on reality shows, do tons of interviews and endorsements, become a record company executive himself and sign performers who are not his gfs and old fogey friends but are marketable w/ songwriters from berklee school of music, license/write songs for movies... there's so many ways for him to make money that he doesn't do!

It seems like he's in this "cat and mouse" game with "the industry," and that's what it's about nowadays. I do think this "game" of trying to one-up the system is taking away his focus on his artistry and craft. But I don't think it's ultimately about money. I think he gives away a lot of it too - he's more generous than negative org'ers are willing to acknowledge. Money's not what makes him tick - he's not the type who will dance like a money for you if you toss him some dollars.

pureTsexy said:

Saw online his networth was about 240million. I wouldn't doubt that most of that was made from 04-present.

I think that's about right, and isn't it amazing?

Here's a guy that made most of his net worth TWENTY YEARS AFTER he was the biggest star on the planet.

kewlschool said:

I'd agree that money hasn't always been the main motivator for his music business choices and that's one more thing that makes him cool. But, his primary focus increasingly seems to be the money.

I am not so sure, he used the word money in nearly every album...from the beginning.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

kewlschool said:

I'd agree that money hasn't always been the main motivator for his music business choices and that's one more thing that makes him cool. But, his primary focus increasingly seems to be the money.

I am not so sure, he used the word money in nearly every album...from the beginning.

I think artistic merit meant more to him than money in the beginning.

Here is some non-money motivators:

Prince has allowed for NPGMC members to get tickets for concerts, early admittance to see the jam rehearsals, and ask him questions. (Prince has a busy schedule he doesn't need to be asked questions by fans before a show.)

Changed his sound from album to album in the 80's (esp after Purple Rain). Most bands/artists keep the same sound.(Reason for the no change in sound is money.)

Could have toned down the language after Purple Rain and his album sales could have increased. But he was being who he was at the time. (Had he gone clean like MJ-that would have made him more accessible to the masses.)

Just because Prince uses money in his songs as a way of making it in the world-Doesn't make it all about the money (old WB music). Unlike today's use of the word money in most songs/rap is used to front and to be all about the money.

Profanity used to sell quite a lot of records to a certain demographic as well. Especially after the "Parental Advisory" warnings started to appear on albums - they just more likely boosted the sales in many cases.

novabrkr said:

Profanity used to sell quite a lot of records to a certain demographic as well. Especially after the "Parental Advisory" warnings started to appear on albums - they just more likely boosted the sales in many cases.

True, but I do think his lyrics/subject matter made many of his songs, some really good songs, unfriendly for radio or other broadcast. It's not just some words that can be edited out, and it's not teenybop sex; it's too mature or too raunchy or too sensual or taboo. It's not just "there's some explicit words" - it's that it can make people uncomfortable, even the music without the words. Like the original unreleased "Extralovable" and "When I Lay My Hands on You." How "Erotic City" got so much play is a befuddling exception.

I think that has hurt him in terms of money. But again, I don't think he's trying to play the game to maximize dollars.