prince

Earlier this week, a clip surfaced on YouTube showing the first-ever performance of Prince's "Purple Rain."


Unveiled at a benefit concert in Minneapolis in 1983, the clip is absolutely breathtaking. With some slight tweaks, Prince ended up using the cut for the eponymous album.

But within a few days' of the clip's posting, it was taken down. It was briefly salvaged by Slate, but they too were forced to remove it last night, after receiving a similar warning.

Prince has gained a reputation as one of the most aggressive protectors of copyright in the world. He famously painted the world "slave" on his face upon realizing the extent of Warner Brothers' ownership of his image and music. You'll only find two Prince music videos on Youtube, and no fan clips of any of his recorded songs. Indeed, he once threatened to sue super-fan bootleggers of his material for $1 million each.


But if you believe in what Taylor Swift has to say about the music industry, you really shouldn't be getting too mad at him. In her recent op-ed for the Wall Street Journal,

Swift described the unique artist in 2014 who is able to form a lifelong relationship with his or her fans. "...Some artists will be like finding 'the one,'" she wrote. "We will cherish every album they put out until they retire and we will play their music for our children and grandchildren. As an artist, this is the dream bond we hope to establish with our fans. I think the future still holds the possibility for this kind of bond, the one my father has with the Beach Boys and the one my mother has with Carly Simon."


For Duane Harriott, a DJ at WFMU and the former sales manager at legendary record store and label Other Music, this is exactly the type of bond Prince enjoys with his fans. As such, they should accept Prince's bringing the hammer down on unlicensed use of his stuff.

"YouTube and all that other stuff is the reverse of what his philosophy is," Harriott told us recently. He continued ....