V10LETBLUES said:

leadline said:

If there is no physical realease, or at least a digital release elsewhere, ie. Amazon, this will be an absolute disaster for sales on this album. The only people who will spend $25 at Tidal, and then spend another 12-15 for the album to only be able to stream it, are absolutely crazy imo. I want a physical copy or at least the ability to acquire this without having to join a service. Sales of this album will be anemic if this is truly the only way he is releasing it, regular people who love music, and might even like Prince, will walk away from the thought of getting this album in a split second.

Prince is about the money plain and simple, if he was not, he would have his own site to distribute his music, but he knows there is more money in the initial payout for rights to sell, etc. What a shame, the dude is worth 500+mill, they ain't turnin the lights out on ya anytime soon brother.

[Edited 8/8/15 10:19am]

Of course there will be a download available at some point.

Yep. "Of course." While I hope there will, I also hped there'd be an American 20Ten.

RobotDevil said:

Haven't read through this entire thread yet, so maybe someone else has brought this up but... I wish Prince (or Josh, or whoever came up with the idea) would move past the RUNNINGEVERYTHINGTOGETHERINTOONEWORD kick. It's lame and it's tired.

*

*

*

THANKSPRINCEANDJOSHIHOPEYOUTAKEMYOPINIONUNDERCONSIDERATIONSIGNEDALONGTIMEPRINCEFAN

Actually, it wouldn't bother near as much if he went old-school with it, and did it P-Funk style. In other words, lose the all-caps.

So HERE is my (drum roll) OFFICIAL POSITION on this whole matter.

So many on this site have been claiming Prince releases such lacklustre music. The last time around, AOA got leaked, so many people got it for free, then you read news about the ridiculou penny cheques artists get THEN TAYLOR SWIFT herself bitches that artists are getting a raw deal which sounds like everything Prince said was happening is being recognized as a problem by older and newer artists.

With this release, Prince is practically giving away an album to a cause. He knows it will upset his fans that he's releasing music in such an exclusive, restrictive manner that forces you to pony up money so that artists get a better deal out of streaming. At the same time, he saw much of the Org get his last WB release well in advance, he knows the fight is on, not only from people who want free stuff but also the streaming services.

He is using his prestige to put his money where is mouth is. The artists on Tidal are for the most part very wealthy and they see the industry is broken, they want another model and I think it is needed. Whether Tidal is it is another story, but who can love music and condone its creators being fleeced and penny-pinched? Musicians are exploited in terms of their neck-breaking contracts that can make them loan slaves or multimillionnaires. Over the years, they have added streaming to the options, but it is yet another example of the creators getting a raw deal. Prince is taking a stand and since so many here only expect vastly substandard stuff to be released, you have to wonder about the commotion. At least we learned that most of the Org will be getting the album after all, one way or another. The hoopla shows that Prince has kept fans hungry for more, no matter how they say they piss on whatever he's been doing since Lovesexy.

This being Prince, expect something on Spotify and Apple Music. This is happening because someone explained streaming to Prince -- God help us, he got curious and those are the days of streaming wild.

[Edited 8/8/15 13:57pm]

Prince should change the name of his company from NPG to Whack-A-Mole because you never know when, where or if his next release will pop up.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

KingSausage said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said: Buddy, you passed the moon ages ago, and crash landed right in Uranus.

What's wrong? D'angelo haven't released a new album yet? Do we have to wait another 15 years?

While has already released 38 with another on the way next month.

*BUYS A LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP TO TIDAL*

*INVESTS LIFE'S SAVINGS*

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

djThunderfunk said:

BullSHIT!

Eye agree with on September 7V3N but NOT sooner......

Simple English and things people can read are fine.

EddieC said:

Noodled24 said:

Yup.

Prince: "Here are two free songs, and the new album is practically free"

Fans: "What a fucking rip off, Prince... you've gone too far this time!! Why should we go to that website to get your music, can't you put it on a different website and just eat the hoasting and PR costs yourself?"

It'll certainly be fun seeing who eats their words and signs up to Tidal next month.

How is paying for it over and over again every month in perpetuity (or until Tidal dies, or Prince and Tidal's contract runs out) FREE? Or even "practically free"?

You have a strange concept of the language.

Because by the end of that free month it will likely be available via other sources too.

V10LETBLUES said:

djThunderfunk said:

Bother somebody else, I have no time for your trolling...

It's called an education.

It's called wasting your money every 1 to 2 years to "upgrade" your shit and paying top dollar for crap that will be obsolete before you can even figure out how to sync it all up and make it work in the first place. Maybe you're rich and/or are one of those retards who stands in line over night to buy a new phone or video game system on Black Friday and then spends hours on hours making it work and waiting for software patches. Then runs up credit card debt and and wonders what happened. A sheep.

talk about being a "SLAVE"

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

djThunderfunk said:

BullSHIT! This will be available illegally on September 7 or SOONER. This is no safer yet far less accessible than selling the album as lossless downloads from his own site like he did with the tracks on 3rdeyegirl.com.

Eye agree with on September 7V3N but NOT sooner......

*RAPIDLY SUBSCRIBES TO TIDAL*

*BUYS 5 MEMBERSHIPS*

*MAXES OUT CREDIT CARD*

Also, listnen, plain, legible narrative English is fine. You don't have to prove your commitment to Prince to anyone here. You are the anti-Bart. The yin to his yang.

I mean the "th3 Aunt Eye BaRt. YiN 2 th3 Yang."

You can't support him by yourself, babycakes, although I suspect U want h1M 2 5upP0rt U dAy.

Yhe weird thing is that I'll have this one way or the other, on CD and otherwise, witout paying a single dime. If Prince doesn't want my money and wants to make things hard, OK by me. KCOOLMUZIQ can support his entire career.

I'm beyond giving a shit.

herb4 said:

If only there were some way for Prince to create some sort "website" that people can "sign up for" and "join". Perhaps for a small $7.77, $19.99 or even $31.21 "membership fee". Through this a hypothetical, imaginary, pie-in-the-sky invention that has never been attempted before, Prince could perhaps allow his fans to "shop" there and he could offer the material they desire, whether streams or downloads and then maybe a separate area provides physical material, like "vinyl" or "CD's". Maybe even "DVD's of live concerts?

I'm thinking WAY outside the box here, but that LAST area could "Ship" these materials via a process called "The United States Postal Service" or something called "United Parcel Service", perhaps for an additional and nominal fee. Further, if a given fan is impatient, they could pay a sort of "express fee" or "overnight delivery charge" to expidite the delivery of said product.

I know this all sounds crazy and that technology hasn't caught up to this level of service and unique approach to delivering product to willing consumers, but a man can dream can't he?

....

Kidding aside, fuck everyone saying "you old farts don't know about streamin". I know about it fine and I'm 48. Also a bit of a tech hound who knows my way around computers.

Streaming is OK for some things but it is often fickle and unreliable. Ever had a slow night on Netflix or YouTube? Ever been camping or somewhere more remote and gotten shitty signal service? It also forces you to "upgrade" your technology every fucking year it seems and it gets slower and worse every time you do so until you utlimately feel compelled to by a new "state of the art device" to replace the one you just bought 2 or 3 years ago.

It's a fucking pain in the ass a lot of times too. Having to remember 100 different passwords, update your firmware and software every five minutes, security breaches and holes that let people hack into your shit unless you spend hours a month changing the channels on your router, setting WPA, WPS and WTF passwords and all sorts of other shit.

People are also forgetting that the telecoms gouge the ever loving shit of you, choke your service, provide NO customer service, raise their rates all the time, suffer outages and maintain a monopoly, so don't forget about the prohibitive cost that YOU'RE ALREADY PAYING just to get these awesome devices to consistently. Even forgetting about the TIDAL membership fee or what have you.

Being online all the time also has its disadvantages. If you drive an older model car (which is where I liste to MOST of my music) and you don't have the "latest and newest" tech installed in your vehicle. I have a 2008 and a 2007 car. Neither has all this new shit and, being middle class with a kid and all that, I'm not paying to have it put in. Telecoms and websites also track you online, fill your e-mail or message box with spam, share your information with others and tailor unwanted advertising at you based on your online activity.

Lastly, my Ipad and my laptop are not joined up to my sound system which is not THAT old. My Ipad goes on a charging station that has decent sound but not great and not surround. My desktop has a couple of nice speakers but sits in my office where I use it for work. As the number of wireless devices in my home increases (Xbox, Ipad, 2 phones, laptop, desktop, visitor's devices, etc.), my service chokes and sputters sometimes. I guess I can just PAY MORE for Super Duper High Speed - TURBO Version Xtreme!!!!

There are a lot of reasons people are indifferent or don't care for streaming services, the latest tech and prefer physical media. I've listed several, but this smartass "hahahah. You stupid OLD PEOPLE just don't UNDERSTAND streaming" may be true for some, but not all, and probably not most. I won't be using my phone to pay for stuff anytime soon either but that doesn't mean I don't UNDERSTAND how it works.

Here's a funny thing too. I can pay $10 - $15 JUST for the CD and make it work across ALL of those platforms. How novel and antiquated of me.

Touche!!!

Lol.. this thread is hilarious. I like how so many people assume his career and life is supposed to revolve around them.

Aerogram said:

So HERE is my (drum roll) OFFICIAL POSITION on this whole matter.

So many on this site have been claiming Prince releases such lacklustre music. The last time around, AOA got leaked, so many people got it for free, then you read news about the ridiculou penny cheques artists get THEN TAYLOR SWIFT herself bitches that artists are getting a raw deal which sounds like everything Prince said was happening is being recognized as a problem by older and newer artists.

Funny thing was, I listened to AOA and PE for free and then went out and bought them.

You're also skipping over the point that Prince could just sell this stuff directly to us, milk what he has left and make it easy. See my rather long winded post a page or two back.

The internet and technology are designed to make things EASIER and SIMPLER, not HARDER and more complex, yet here we are. Prince's entire base is saying "fuck it. I'll get it for free somewhere since he wants to be a giant pain in the ass about it" and they're not wrong.

It's hilarious to me that half the people pposting in this thread that support this move are saying that, on the one hand, we don't understand streaming, tech, and the modern internet but 95% of those people are saying "Fuck it. Why jump through hoops? I know where to download it for free anyway."

If Prince doesn't want to make it easy for us to HAND HIM our money than he doesn't deserve it. I at least hope the record is good though. I've been encouraged with what I've been hearing lately. But keep it up and before long you'll be down to KCOOLMUZIQ's 401k plan and credit card balance to pay for your new clothes and gold canes.

But, good on you Prince. Congrats, you giant pain in the ass. I'll let you know how I like the album once I obtain it through the usual methods at my disposal. Have it your way like you always do.

If you weren't so good (and your are the best) I'd have checked out a long time ago.

Guitarhero said:

herb4 said:

herb4 said:

If Prince doesn't want to make it easy for us to HAND HIM our money than he doesn't deserve it.

this says it all for me

i don't want to be dictated to as to which streaming sites i join

make it available... and i'll decide how i purchase it

Aerogram said:

Guitarhero said:

Prince aint had a masterpiece since Sign o the Times , , black messiah is still not masterpiece , vanguard can jam , pity D cant sing.

That's what a lot of critics say including the bbc. But for me there's a case for saying each of lovesexy, batman and graffiti bridge are just as good. The real drop in quality comes with the next album diamonds and pearls.

djThunderfunk said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

luv4u said:

It seems that a huge majority here are not in favour of this. Hope Prince sees this and reconsiders.

U of ALL people should trust vision 4 his muziq. This is a way 4 more peeps to access his muziq. What kind of example are U setting 4 this site as a moderator?!

I made the comment about the huge majority, that I noticed at the time.

And btw I am not your parent

"Phase 1"...wreaks of "3121 - The Music", which we all know never eventuated to the intended full project. Like most of these concepts Prince has one day and loses interest in the next, HitNRun seems destined to become a headline one day and forgotten the next.

In times such as this...I ponder where Prince and his fans would be at this point in time had he never split from WB in the first place. Probably would have his masters now anyway with the ownership retention law, and we as fans would most likely have continued to receive proper distributed, advertised, and tour themed annual album releases that would have seen Prince able to 'give' us a darn sight more music than we have seen in recent times. The whole thing is ironic.More 'freedom' apparently equates to less music...the very philosophy he opposed as a slave.

No way I am joining Tidal for this album. I see it in a store or even online to purchase a physical CD copy...sure thing.

[Edited 8/8/15 18:13pm]

luv4u said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

U of ALL people should trust vision 4 his muziq. This is a way 4 more peeps to access his muziq. What kind of example are U setting 4 this site as a moderator?!

I made the comment about the huge majority, that I noticed at the time.

And btw I am not your parent

feeluupp said:

LittlePurpleYoda said:

Jay-Z recognizes real musicians? Like his wife? How many instruments has she mastered?

I'm amused.

I knew Prince made a deal with TIDAL... Said it all along. It's obvious Jay-Z, Beyonce and PRINCE have a close friendship... PRINCE always does deals with people who are his "friends/fans" The bad thing about this deal is once again it is not as mainstream as the other streaming platforms, he should have just let it stream on all platforms and put it on iTunes, that's the easiest way...

So now Prince fans have to join TIDAL just to here his new album?

I think that is a bit of a leap. Just because he is streaming his album through TIDAL doesnt mean they are "close" which is a word that is carelessly thrown around to often with celebrities. I think Prince is more close with Janelle than he is with those two IMHO. I think Prince is just arrogant and set in his ways with how he feels the music market should be which is why he is on TIDAL. I dont think it has anything to do with Jay Z or Beyonce.

lezama said:

Lol.. this thread is hilarious. I like how so many people assume his career and life is supposed to revolve around them.

Well, it does doesn't it? His livelihood is predicated on the idea that we all buy his music. Wait...

purpledove123 said:

http://go.tidal.com/us/reg/US2000/usTIDAL6VBk4gGTICJIMMY/PREMIUM

That link doesn't seem to work. Brings to the home page..

mjscarousal said:

feeluupp said:

I knew Prince made a deal with TIDAL... Said it all along. It's obvious Jay-Z, Beyonce and PRINCE have a close friendship... PRINCE always does deals with people who are his "friends/fans" The bad thing about this deal is once again it is not as mainstream as the other streaming platforms, he should have just let it stream on all platforms and put it on iTunes, that's the easiest way...

So now Prince fans have to join TIDAL just to here his new album?

I think that is a bit of a leap. Just because he is streaming his album through TIDAL doesnt mean they are "close" which is a word that is carelessly thrown around to often with celebrities. I think Prince is more close with Janelle than he is with those two IMHO. I think Prince is just arrogant and set in his ways with how he feels the music market should be which is why he is on TIDAL. I dont think it has anything to do with Jay Z or Beyonce.

We don't know what the personal details among them are... However they were both there backstage at the BALTIMORE concert, and remember the beginning part was streamed on TIDAL.

Noodled24 said:

EddieC said:

How is paying for it over and over again every month in perpetuity (or until Tidal dies, or Prince and Tidal's contract runs out) FREE? Or even "practically free"?

You have a strange concept of the language.

Because by the end of that free month it will likely be available via other sources too.

I saw the response to someone else, and meant to go back and edit before you saw it. I suppose I understand--but that does suppose that it will be expanded to other services. Which then would not be free, either...necessarily.

But, let's just wait and see how it plays out. We're all kind of guessing, ultimately.

lezama said:

Lol.. this thread is hilarious. I like how so many people assume his career and life is supposed to revolve around them.

I'm not talking about his life and career--I'm talking about the part of MY LIFE that intersects with this album. I know it doesn't matter to him either way.

This is an interesting response. It seems like Prince fans really don't want the man to own his masters and release music on his terms. Everything Prince did was a ploy from 'the internet is dead' to pulling his music off of streaming services(owning your own masters allows one to negotiate on his behalf without input from warners, I can't understand why so many fans here, who are informed, missed this point). This was a clear negotiating tactic to see which streaming service would give Prince and his music the best opportunity and Tidal won the exclusive streaming rights for the album and will also stream Prince's catalog. If Prince is satisfied with the compensation he's getting from Tidal why would Prince's fans feel such rage about it? The same fans that wanted Prince to own his masters and had the right to release music however he saw fit. The same fans that were fine when Prince released new albums for free in newspapers or along with concert tickets or via direct download. I find it strange that people who regularly post comments and intimate feelings about various subjects on a website are suddenly less technically astute about listing to music from a streaming service. Still, just because Tidal has exclusive streaming rights doesn't mean the album will not be released at a later date on a CD. On another note, I would invite all of you to the 3rdeyegirl youtube account to view a cool video of an orchestra tracking a new song. Sounds very promising.

.

Funny... So Prince loves Freedom but this time he wants to FORCE us to subscribe to get his album?

Who said Double Standard to talk about how to make slaves?

I'll patiently wait until somebody rips it and upload it. If I like it, I'll buy it in a PHYSICAL FORMAT. If it's not in Physical, I'll enjoy my FREE download. Absolutely NO REGRETS.

.

[Edited 8/8/15 22:05pm]

feeluupp said:

mjscarousal said:

I think that is a bit of a leap. Just because he is streaming his album through TIDAL doesnt mean they are "close" which is a word that is carelessly thrown around to often with celebrities. I think Prince is more close with Janelle than he is with those two IMHO. I think Prince is just arrogant and set in his ways with how he feels the music market should be which is why he is on TIDAL. I dont think it has anything to do with Jay Z or Beyonce.

We don't know what the personal details among them are... However they were both there backstage at the BALTIMORE concert, and remember the beginning part was streamed on TIDAL.

RECEIPTS???/

Just because it streamed from TIDAL does not mean they were backstage LOL By the way I as actually THERE lol

[Edited 8/8/15 23:27pm]