Militant said:

Good job P!

[Edited 7/2/15 11:36am]

You know for what Tidal is charging they could have spent a little time on the UI - Princes page looks like any ol website page.

I maintain that Tidal is a turd sandwich.

RodeoSchro said:

herb4 said:

I recently read someone describe Prince as "the world's most popular underground artist" or something like that. Seems like an apt description.

Man, that is a PERFECT description!

Thanks. I didn't write it, I just read it but I thought it was a good description as well. Prince doesn't sell a lot of records but he can still sell out stadiums.

Basically he's removed it from any service with a free-tier?

There are still 31 official Prince and Prince-related videos on official YT channels. Let's see how long they'll last

Pentacle said:

Noodled24 said:

WOAH! Hold on there. Are we saying that as far as digital music goes. It's remasters or nothing?

Yes, normally. And if it's done right, there is no problem.

Remastered does not mean a completely different mix, although: yes, this is Prince.....

The evidence that he has re-recorded his entire back catalog seems to be there. Along with what the Leeds brothers have said about him being wholey unsentimental about his music...

I think the spotify thing is a renegotiation on his part. He just saw Taylor Swift rinse Apple, He's been dying to do the same thing with spotify. It's Prince, he needs to know he's getting paid more than she is.

BartVanHemelen said:

djThunderfunk said:

Wrong. I do own the CDs and with that ownership comes a license to listen to them as much as I want as long as I'm able.

.

For the moment, sure. But the record industry doesn't like that at all. Example: http://boingboing.net/201...uling.html

Too bad for them. They sold and profitted from this reality. This is the main reason I refuse to go 100% digital. With digital the rules can keep changing, licenses can come and go. With physical, the license came with the product. As long as I have or can acquire a player, I'm good to go.

jaawwnn said:

djThunderfunk said:

Wrong. I do own the CDs and with that ownership comes a license to listen to them as much as I want as long as I'm able.

cool, couldn't remember the exact clarification, cheers.

so the article on billboard states hes had everything taken down until the streaming companies can renegotiate the contracts with HIS publishing company.

and that my friends is a WIN, he owns his masters now, so there's no label in the middle - apparently he's not become exclusive to Tidal, he's going to renegotiate with the other services so he gets the deal he wants with each one.

this is big dog mega moves and its awesome! GO PRINCE GO!

terrig said:

so the article on billboard states hes had everything taken down until the streaming companies can renegotiate the contracts with HIS publishing company.

and that my friends is a WIN, he owns his masters now, so there's no label in the middle - apparently he's not become exclusive to Tidal, he's going to renegotiate with the other services so he gets the deal he wants with each one.

this is big dog mega moves and its awesome! GO PRINCE GO!

I still think remasters have something to do with it as well. Since PONO said that's why they were asked to take down what they had of Prince's catalog in hi-res.

Militant said:

terrig said:

so the article on billboard states hes had everything taken down until the streaming companies can renegotiate the contracts with HIS publishing company.

and that my friends is a WIN, he owns his masters now, so there's no label in the middle - apparently he's not become exclusive to Tidal, he's going to renegotiate with the other services so he gets the deal he wants with each one.

this is big dog mega moves and its awesome! GO PRINCE GO!

I still think remasters have something to do with it as well. Since PONO said that's why they were asked to take down what they had of Prince's catalog in hi-res.

woooo hoooo! looks like he's on the verge of another breakthrough - i'm so glad to know he's not exclusively on tidal....younger people dont buy as much music as us old heads do, but they DO go to shows, lots and lots of shows....so hoping it all works out well for him!

And what if the streaming services refuse to pay him what he wants? Will he just disappear from them?

I can't believe anyone really trusts in some random streaming site to take care of the music they love so much.

REALLY?

Streaming has only ever been a last resort for me - a bit like a musical bibliography, to explore what's out there before I find it from another source - for exactly this reason... everything's fine and then one day, an artist changes their mind (as they should, Spotify are only one tier up from daylight robbers with the 'fees' they pay artists - Spotify: great for listeners, terrible for artists), or a company goes bust and their catalogue goes with it.... or there's a massive hard drive/server crash and everything you've lovingly saved is toast, accompanied by a 'sorrrrryyyyyyy'.... we've all seen how fast things change in the technological world... why would anyone trust that?

This is why i don't use the cloud for ANYTHING.... why would I entrust some 9-5 geek who doesn't give a shit sitting in an office someplace with a whirring and blinking server next to him with stuff that is important to me? These people have CONVINCED us that cloud/streaming technology is 'the future', because that's the business they're in. That's how they make their money, if they can convince the world that their way is the only way, they make that much more money. That don't make it so.

This goes for my work as well as my hobbies... pictures I take? Either taken on film, or stored on a local hard drive and backed up locally on another....

my music? Either on vinyl or CD.... nearly 11,000 albums in my iTunes library now, none of it in the cloud, all of it on local hard drives that are backed up locally...

Movies I own? On Bluray, DVD, or digitised onto local hard drives that are backed up locally.

And people go on about streaming services like they are the be-all end-all of music listening... you mean like we thought vinyl/8-track/cassette/CD/MiniDisc was?

It's always changing... and all the crying about 'how are the young people going to find Prince's music? Wah... he's going to become so obscure...!' - if a youngster has no more sense and wherewithal in finding their music than by going to a corporate company online then screw them. IF they LOVE music they will be curious about it and will hunt out the good stuff.... hey, that's what I did... through multiple ways and platforms. Online/friends/second hand record shops/eBay/boot sales, etc...

And who the hell wants those coporate companies deciding what I might like or want to listen to? 'oh, you told us you like x and y, so you must like this. WE have compiled a playlist that will fit you perfectly..' UGH!!! Can we turn music into ANY MORE OF A CORPORATE COMMODITY??!! COME ON! Wake the fuck UP people. There's nothing cool or rock'n'roll or EXCITING or romantic about discovering a new band because APPLE FUCKING MUSIC told you about them. JESUS.

But oh, it's cool, cause this playlist they compiled really fits my Sunday morning mood, when I'm making my coffee and loving me some weekend sunshine. And I didn't have to put ANY EFFORT into it either. It was just there, likw wallpaper, and is a perfect alternative to silence. BARF.

And as for Prince's music? Why does everyone care so much about 'the youngsters'? If his music is that good it will endure, one way or another, if it isn't it won't. And there's plenty of places on the planet where Prince's music can be found and enjoyed. Streaming services don't have any monopoly. They're just the latest flavor of the month.

THAT's why Prince is happy removing his music from them... because he foresees something better - he's done this a lot... 'just because these companies have decreed that this is how things are done now, that don't make it so'.*

*This does not excuse the fact that Prince is a terrible businessman in his own right. But he is a good 'ideas' man, with strong vision. He just usually fails at realising that vision when it comes to business models.

CandaceS said:

Fury said:

good for him! After almost 40 years in the business, he is calling his own shots! Sells out concerts in minutes and releases music when and how he feels like it. the core Prince demographic is 40 years old and up and already has his catalogue of commercial releases. Don't be mad at him, be mad at the hundreds of artists on streaming sites who don't get paid fairly, but can't sell an album or profit from a tour Prince put his career an reputation on the line with the "slave" years and proved that you can make it as a free agent artist.

Calling the shots and those shots include making it hard for new poeple to actually hear his music.

SoulAlive said:

We can only hope that he removed his music because he's getting ready to release some new,fresh remasters

The press release made a point that it was only available on TIDAL.

This seems to be more of a statement than Prince gearing up for anything great.

KingSausage said:

Strive said:

While Prince is removing his music, Amazon is advertising D'Angelo and more in Prime Music. Guess that's their message. Who needs Prince when you have Black Messiah

I've been saying that for months.

Hell to the naw. 3 albums vs. 30 plus?! Give me P all day! BM is overrated and lyrically indicepherable.

Meanwhile back to the OP, like Bobby Brown, his perogative!

Fury said:

good for him! After almost 40 years in the business, he is calling his own shots! Sells out concerts in minutes and releases music when and how he feels like it. the core Prince demographic is 40 years old and up and already has his catalogue of commercial releases. Don't be mad at him, be mad at the hundreds of artists on streaming sites who don't get paid fairly, but can't sell an album or profit from a tour Prince put his career an reputation on the line with the "slave" years and proved that you can make it as a free agent artist.

[img:$uid]http://i59.tinypic.com/ngy4p0.jpg[/img:$uid]

Rimshottbob said:

I can't believe anyone really trusts in some random streaming site to take care of the music they love so much.

REALLY?

Streaming has only ever been a last resort for me - a bit like a musical bibliography, to explore what's out there before I find it from another source - for exactly this reason... everything's fine and then one day, an artist changes their mind (as they should, Spotify are only one tier up from daylight robbers with the 'fees' they pay artists - Spotify: great for listeners, terrible for artists), or a company goes bust and their catalogue goes with it.... or there's a massive hard drive/server crash and everything you've lovingly saved is toast, accompanied by a 'sorrrrryyyyyyy'.... we've all seen how fast things change in the technological world... why would anyone trust that?

This is why i don't use the cloud for ANYTHING.... why would I entrust some 9-5 geek who doesn't give a shit sitting in an office someplace with a whirring and blinking server next to him with stuff that is important to me? These people have CONVINCED us that cloud/streaming technology is 'the future', because that's the business they're in. That's how they make their money, if they can convince the world that their way is the only way, they make that much more money. That don't make it so.

This goes for my work as well as my hobbies... pictures I take? Either taken on film, or stored on a local hard drive and backed up locally on another....

my music? Either on vinyl or CD.... nearly 11,000 albums in my iTunes library now, none of it in the cloud, all of it on local hard drives that are backed up locally...

Movies I own? On Bluray, DVD, or digitised onto local hard drives that are backed up locally.

And people go on about streaming services like they are the be-all end-all of music listening... you mean like we thought vinyl/8-track/cassette/CD/MiniDisc was?

It's always changing... and all the crying about 'how are the young people going to find Prince's music? Wah... he's going to become so obscure...!' - if a youngster has no more sense and wherewithal in finding their music than by going to a corporate company online then screw them. IF they LOVE music they will be curious about it and will hunt out the good stuff.... hey, that's what I did... through multiple ways and platforms. Online/friends/second hand record shops/eBay/boot sales, etc...

And who the hell wants those coporate companies deciding what I might like or want to listen to? 'oh, you told us you like x and y, so you must like this. WE have compiled a playlist that will fit you perfectly..' UGH!!! Can we turn music into ANY MORE OF A CORPORATE COMMODITY??!! COME ON! Wake the fuck UP people. There's nothing cool or rock'n'roll or EXCITING or romantic about discovering a new band because APPLE FUCKING MUSIC told you about them. JESUS.

But oh, it's cool, cause this playlist they compiled really fits my Sunday morning mood, when I'm making my coffee and loving me some weekend sunshine. And I didn't have to put ANY EFFORT into it either. It was just there, likw wallpaper, and is a perfect alternative to silence. BARF.

And as for Prince's music? Why does everyone care so much about 'the youngsters'? If his music is that good it will endure, one way or another, if it isn't it won't. And there's plenty of places on the planet where Prince's music can be found and enjoyed. Streaming services don't have any monopoly. They're just the latest flavor of the month.

THAT's why Prince is happy removing his music from them... because he foresees something better - he's done this a lot... 'just because these companies have decreed that this is how things are done now, that don't make it so'.*

*This does not excuse the fact that Prince is a terrible businessman in his own right. But he is a good 'ideas' man, with strong vision. He just usually fails at realising that vision when it comes to business models.

Well, most of it anyway. Great rant!

CandaceS said:

And what if the streaming services refuse to pay him what he wants? Will he just disappear from them?

They will make a deal - it's ineveryones best interest to do that. Whoever gets Prince also wins the PR game first and will probably pay the most for it.


I think Tidal is a pump and dump scheme for JayZ et al. They will spend 5 years or less trying to reach a certain subscriber number, then they'll overvalue it and sell it and all the big names will cash out.

The other reason to have a higher subscriber fee is to show a profit on less subscribers. Once they hit their magic target - boom time to cash out

Denniscool said: