one way to decide how important an artist is to think how
different music would be without them.

scenario one: what if owen didn't get PRince his deal?
say prince's stubborness to produced himself was so strong
none of the major comapnies signed him,period?

scenario 2: he got signed by WB ...went way over budget
with his first two albums,and they didn't sell. no hit
single Soft & Wet or WANNA be you lover. which got him
dropped by Wb before he could make a DIRTY MInd?

fate is everything in MUSIC. if elvis had failed...if the
BEATles didn't make it here in 1964-music would have definitely turned out different.

if prince didn't get signed by any company it would have
forever changed what happened to all of his Minneapolis
brethren & sistas. true or false?

timing is everything because a Career has to have a few factors.Talent,the Right People in your Corner,Money,&Lots of Luck because there are always 20-30 Cats that can do the same thing all through out the Country but only 2-3 of them will get that Shot.Prince would have made it Because the way Him&Owen Hussey Concieved His Image&His Talent as One you know a Major Label would have gladly taken that Gamble.but Cats like Jam&Lewis would thrive no matter what the same with Jesse Johnson&Also Andre Cymone. Fate is everything in Music because Stevie Wonder almost got dropped by Motowen in 1965,Marvin Gaye almost didn't get to put out "What's going On".The Supremes almost didn't Hit.Michael Jackson:if it wasn't for His Group Effort for the "Destiny" Album back in 78 He was on the verge of Being dropped from Sony then CBS.but the difference was back then you got 3-5 Albums to Prove yourself nowadays 3-5 songs&you could be done regardless.

good points m-maxx. i didn't know about the JACKSONs almost
being dropped-which would have definitely changed MJ's path to the top. (he wouldn't have gotten a chance to do OFF THE
WALL) Your say Prince would have made it anyway...i'm don't
know. He came out during the DISCo era and his style wasn't
really in that vein (although some critics say I Wanna Be
Your Lover is a disco/pop tune) and his LOOK was different
than most r& b acts then.

if he didn't get a record deal there's a good chance none of
his minneapolis contemporaries would have got a Look.
(after he got in ANdre,alexander o'neal,jesse,morris,jam.
and lewis,st.paul,brownmark got deals (sonny t got a gig
with JESSE's group,too) here's something to ponder.
if prince doesn't fire Jam & Lewis they don't get a chance to do jump-start their NOW successful career and would have
never gotten a chance to reinvent JANET(who at the time was
on FAME and had made a poor selling album for Motown.
prince's firing was the best THING for JAM & lewis.
and for janet j!