laurarichardson said:

dandan said:

Have to agree. I can see why Prince fans enjoy the song (although personally, the lyrics make me cringe), but it is absolutely NOT a hit. Fallinlove2nite is the closest he's come to writing something that might work in the current music world, but even that was just too weak and uninspired to be anything special.

You guys have no idea how songs get radio airplay and become hits. If The Breakdown had the backing of a major record company the song would have received airplay and done well on Urban AC format at the minimum. As lost as P does not have the full backing of a major lable he will not get radio airplay and any video will relegated to the internet.

I honestly do not understand why this is so hard for people on this board to comprehend. Perhaps if he puts something out WB this year with the right promotion we will see more airplay and better sales. If John Legend can wobble his ballads all over the radio I am sure the public can handle P's ballads.

Beieve me, I understand how much marketing and promotion goes toward the success of a single. However, even with a major backing it I still don't think the song is 'hit' material. Musically it just doesn't have the ingredients needed for success in the charts - not to mention the horribly amateur mixing and mastering that would sound horrific on the radio.

Be careful what you wish for, you might just get Dinner Can Wait.

[Edited 6/17/14 14:55pm]

funkaholic1972 said:

databank said:

It's not the point, really. Obviously if they released it ( and WB) it's because they believe in it for better or worse. And we're not talking being #1 at the Top 200 for 10 weeks, just getting exposure. That's the key word, that's what any cultural product needs in order 2 meet its audience, however limited it may be: exposure. A music video, nowadays, probably multiplies said exposure by 3, so it's worth it. Now that u don't like that song is another matter... entirely

Well, it IS my point, whether you like it or not. The song is "nice" but not worthy of such an investment, the product just isn't relevant/good enough. If they (WB and Prince) had believed it was, we would have seen a major push.

You're leaving out the obvious, both of you. Prince is batshit crazy. I happen to love the song, but he doesn't perform it live. He plays it on the PA before shows now, which most fans have no clue what it is. No video, no live exposure, and no real tour, just batshit crazy shows where you have to be either rich or lucky to get a ticket at a last minute non-promoted show, where there may be a sellout, or there may be tons of empty seats. He just doesn't care. He claims on Aresenio that it is his favortie song, and then releases it with Star Wars stormtroopers battling it out

with a laser gun battle and overproduces it. The original snippet played at the 3EG shows

was better, raw, and what it should have been.

Aerogram said:

Be careful what you wish for, you might just get Dinner Can Wait.

[Edited 6/17/14 14:55pm]

stillwaiting said:

funkaholic1972 said:

Well, it IS my point, whether you like it or not. The song is "nice" but not worthy of such an investment, the product just isn't relevant/good enough. If they (WB and Prince) had believed it was, we would have seen a major push.

You're leaving out the obvious, both of you. Prince is batshit crazy. I happen to love the song, but he doesn't perform it live. He plays it on the PA before shows now, which most fans have no clue what it is. No video, no live exposure, and no real tour, just batshit crazy shows where you have to be either rich or lucky to get a ticket at a last minute non-promoted show, where there may be a sellout, or there may be tons of empty seats. He just doesn't care. He claims on Aresenio that it is his favortie song, and then releases it with Star Wars stormtroopers battling it out

with a laser gun battle and overproduces it. The original snippet played at the 3EG shows

was better, raw, and what it should have been.

CocoRock said:

stillwaiting said:

You're leaving out the obvious, both of you. Prince is batshit crazy. I happen to love the song, but he doesn't perform it live. He plays it on the PA before shows now, which most fans have no clue what it is. No video, no live exposure, and no real tour, just batshit crazy shows where you have to be either rich or lucky to get a ticket at a last minute non-promoted show, where there may be a sellout, or there may be tons of empty seats. He just doesn't care. He claims on Aresenio that it is his favortie song, and then releases it with Star Wars stormtroopers battling it out

with a laser gun battle and overproduces it. The original snippet played at the 3EG shows

was better, raw, and what it should have been.

Though, and I know this is a deeply divided subject, I like the lasers.

CocoRock said:

stillwaiting said:

You're leaving out the obvious, both of you. Prince is batshit crazy. I happen to love the song, but he doesn't perform it live. He plays it on the PA before shows now, which most fans have no clue what it is. No video, no live exposure, and no real tour, just batshit crazy shows where you have to be either rich or lucky to get a ticket at a last minute non-promoted show, where there may be a sellout, or there may be tons of empty seats. He just doesn't care. He claims on Aresenio that it is his favortie song, and then releases it with Star Wars stormtroopers battling it out

with a laser gun battle and overproduces it. The original snippet played at the 3EG shows

was better, raw, and what it should have been.

This.

NouveauDance said:

Nobody's going to play it any way, so why bother. Even if it was just slapped up on youtube, the song has had no promotion, it's dead and gone.

Well, u never know. When he released TMBGITW in 94 I was HIGHLY disappointed, 4 one thing I expected his first single as 2 be something drastically different, funky and wilder like what came later on the promo tape and The Beautiful Experience film, and 4 another thing I thought "who in the world's gonna play or buy a mellow ballad? This is 1994, either u go new jack swing or rap or metal or grunge but the youth (I was 17) want agressive shit or, if it's gonna be mellow, some new jack swing cool groove à la Janet Jackson". It really was a shock 2 me when the track became a huge hit, None of my friends cared 4 it and I had no idea y radios and MTV Europe played it or who bought it, but fact is that radios and MTV Europe played it in a loop and people (older people it seems) DID buy it. But at first I wouldn't have bet a penny on it. Conclusion: miracles of marketing.

TrevorAyer said:

prince don't promote warner brothers releases .. remember?

whadya think hit and run 2 is....

databank said:

databank said:

Well, u never know. When he released TMBGITW in 94 I was HIGHLY disappointed, 4 one thing I expected his first single as 2 be something drastically different, funky and wilder like what came later on the promo tape and The Beautiful Experience film, and 4 another thing I thought "who in the world's gonna play or buy a mellow ballad? This is 1994, either u go new jack swing or rap or metal or grunge but the youth (I was 17) want agressive shit or, if it's gonna be mellow, some new jack swing cool groove à la Janet Jackson". It really was a shock 2 me when the track became a huge hit, None of my friends cared 4 it and I had no idea y radios and MTV Europe played it or who bought it, but fact is that radios and MTV Europe played it in a loop and people (older people it seems) DID buy it. But at first I wouldn't have bet a penny on it. Conclusion: miracles of marketing.

Funny, when I heard TMBG, I thought it was an instant #1 smash if he didn't have the image problems, and the over-saturated market. I thought it would hit top 10, and it pretty much landed where I thought it would have given the circumstances. Had Prince only been releasing albums every 3-4 years without oversaturation, and it been the lead single from an album, it possibly would have been #1 in the USA. It just screamed smash hit from the first moment I heard it. It was, however, a telling sign of where Prince was headed based on the politics of Pop radio at the time...it was obvious, that he was becoming an oldies act, and even though he had a ton of

talent, he wasn't being marketed to anybody under 25 at the time, and this would rise very

quickly over the next few years.

Yet another reason, "The Breakdown" would not be a hit even if it was not overdubbed and overproduced...nobody under 40 is going to care, or be made aware, unless they are already

fans who will be looking for it.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

The heavy promoted De Niro starring promo was the official video. Videos are overrated anyway. This thread is so late & unnecessary.

What "heavey promoted De Niro starring promo" are you talking about? It couldn't have been too heaviliy promoted, because I'm on here all the time and have no idea what you're referring to.

The De Niro promo was featured on many blogs. Even 3rd Girl tweeted it out! So if that's not OFFICIAL Eye don't know what is. This site and the peeps here criticize EVERYTHING does.

He can't even release a new song without it being torn apart here.

The negativity here overshadows this site...

theblueangel said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

The heavy promoted De Niro starring promo was the official video. Videos are overrated anyway. This thread is so late & unnecessary.

What "heavey promoted De Niro starring promo" are you talking about? It couldn't have been too heaviliy promoted, because I'm on here all the time and have no idea what you're referring to.

I,too,have no idea what everyone's talking about when they mention a Robert DeNiro video

SoulAlive said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

The De Niro promo was featured on many blogs. Even 3rd Girl tweeted it out! So if that's not OFFICIAL Eye don't know what is. This site and the peeps here criticize EVERYTHING does.

He can't even release a new song without it being torn apart here.

No one's being being overly negative I truly have not seen,or heard of,that Robert Deniro promo video.I already said that the song is very good.Some fans are just wondering why it's not being promoted aggressively.

EyeHatechu said:

SoulAlive said:

I,too,have no idea what everyone's talking about when they mention a Robert DeNiro video

Put your typing fingers to work and look it up on a search engine such as google. You'll find it.

thanks...will do

SoulAlive said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

The De Niro promo was featured on many blogs. Even 3rd Girl tweeted it out! So if that's not OFFICIAL Eye don't know what is. This site and the peeps here criticize EVERYTHING does.

He can't even release a new song without it being torn apart here.

No one's being being overly negative I truly have not seen,or heard of,that Robert Deniro promo video.I already said that the song is very good.Some fans are just wondering why it's not being promoted aggressively.

Bingo! And if anybody's is being "overly negative" (is there such a thing?), it's some troll yammering on about a "late and unnecessary" thread that she didn't have to bother with in the first damn place.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

The De Niro promo was featured on many blogs. Even 3rd Girl tweeted it out!

Given that I ADORE De Niro and it was me who basically came up with the idea for this video... I just love it and I wouldn't want any other 'The Breakdown' video

Caroke said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

The De Niro promo was featured on many blogs. Even 3rd Girl tweeted it out!

Given that I ADORE De Niro and it was me who basically came up with the idea for this video... I just love it and I wouldn't want any other 'The Breakdown' video

It was a "MasterPiece"!!!!!!!!

Caroke said:

Caroke said:

I never made a video - I just jokingly tweeted 3EG that 'Analyze This' scene - commenting on how 'The Breakdown' made everyone who heard it cry like Vitti + I added how 'The Breakdown' obviously had more substance than the commercial in that scene. A little while later, someone had made the video and it got tweeted by 3EG

Cool Eye actually worked with De Niro....

Isn't the music enough for you?

RodeoSchro said:

Isn't the music enough for you?

I mean, I have yet to, nor will I, lose sleep over it, so... I guess?

Listen, it was a simple question. The intial push for the song seem to indicate something big was coming. Bigger than "BWC". At least that's what the song sounded like to me. A sort of return to from now that he was reunited wtih WB. And the so-called official videos that were attached were corny and incomplete. When I hear it, I envision a more stately, elegant video. Almost along the lines of "Diamonds And Pearls". Not a fucking STILL of a seemingly otherwise animated illustration, or a cheap ass knockoff of the Fatboy Slim/ Christopher Walken video (don't remember the name).

Shit is basic really.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Caroke said:

I never made a video - I just jokingly tweeted 3EG that 'Analyze This' scene - commenting on how 'The Breakdown' made everyone who heard it cry like Vitti + I added how 'The Breakdown' obviously had more substance than the commercial in that scene. A little while later, someone had made the video and it got tweeted by 3EG

Cool Eye actually worked with De Niro....

That was you?!?!

dandan said:

laurarichardson said:

You guys have no idea how songs get radio airplay and become hits. If The Breakdown had the backing of a major record company the song would have received airplay and done well on Urban AC format at the minimum. As lost as P does not have the full backing of a major lable he will not get radio airplay and any video will relegated to the internet.

I honestly do not understand why this is so hard for people on this board to comprehend. Perhaps if he puts something out WB this year with the right promotion we will see more airplay and better sales. If John Legend can wobble his ballads all over the radio I am sure the public can handle P's ballads.

Believe me, I understand how much marketing and promotion goes toward the success of a single. However, even with a major backing it I still don't think the song is 'hit' material. Musically it just doesn't have the ingredients needed for success in the charts - not to mention the horribly amateur mixing and mastering that would sound horrific on the radio.

Thanks DanDan, that is exactly what I mean.

-

And some airplay on the Urban AC is nice, but doesn't count as a proper hit in my eyes. That is a song that gets the big push and lands the mainstream top 40/50/100 (has mass appeal to more than just one category of listeners).

-

I am not the best person to ask when it comes to ballads though, I don't like ballads in general, save some exceptions. One thing I will give John Legend is that at least his lyrics make sense and therefore are more appealing to the general public. The lyrics to Breakdown are quite vague and not as universal as the ones that John Legend writes. Thus The Breakdown has less appeal to the general public. Another factor is that John is also a lot younger and less extravagant in looks and behaviour than Prince, and thus has more mainstream appeal in the pop market.

-

Not that I like John Legend's ballads, just trying to explain why "All of you" gets lots of airplay and the big push, and Prince's "The Breakdown" not...