TKO said:

Some of his fans are delusional , please, if you like Prince and you live for example in South America you should travel to US and buy his used cd's in some record store and if you don't you are lazy... really? The real thing is his music isn't available to his fans worldwide. I had to buy an import version of HnR Phase 2 and it was very expensive. Watch some rude member say 'If you really love PRINCE you should work extra time to buy his music imported.

I agree.

It's not delusional as more as it is outdated... some members saying it's his decisions blah blah... can c they just old. they outdated. most of his fans r middle aged as well, they don't even understand the concept of social media and the exposure it has.

Germanegro said:

Legacy is beyond an artist's control. Legacy is what exists once the artist is gone and the body of works is complete. Prince wishes to build toward his legacy in the way that an artist can, by collecting resources to continue his creative works while living a reasonably comfortable lifestyle. Youtube will not pay him enough. He is negotiating with the record company that has the ability to offer him much better recompensation. He probably cares less about his popularity of today--he has already experienced that brand of success in life. I think that he is betting on coming to an agreement toward a pay rate that will be more equitable for his present-day A&R/artist partnership. I imagine that Prince is a bit less arrogant than people around here believe. There is a business side to all of this gifting of song to the public, and Prince is handling his business through the means available to him. I don't feel that Prince is going to self-destruct. He has made it through a pretty great part of a long career with more to come if he sees his way through the present dealings.

>

Besides, Warner Brothers will most certainly see that his name lives on in perpetuity if they have any ounce of influence in the matter!

I agree with this to an extent. Prince is limiting his music, videos, and brand for a cost. This new generation does not have access to his classics, music or videos. He is not accessible. Thus, that does have an impact on his legacy if generations are not exposed to his legendary music. On that front, he most definitly can control. He is hurting his legacy but not making his brand and music accessible.

mjscarousal said:

Germanegro said:

Legacy is beyond an artist's control. Legacy is what exists once the artist is gone and the body of works is complete. Prince wishes to build toward his legacy in the way that an artist can, by collecting resources to continue his creative works while living a reasonably comfortable lifestyle. Youtube will not pay him enough. He is negotiating with the record company that has the ability to offer him much better recompensation. He probably cares less about his popularity of today--he has already experienced that brand of success in life. I think that he is betting on coming to an agreement toward a pay rate that will be more equitable for his present-day A&R/artist partnership. I imagine that Prince is a bit less arrogant than people around here believe. There is a business side to all of this gifting of song to the public, and Prince is handling his business through the means available to him. I don't feel that Prince is going to self-destruct. He has made it through a pretty great part of a long career with more to come if he sees his way through the present dealings.

>

Besides, Warner Brothers will most certainly see that his name lives on in perpetuity if they have any ounce of influence in the matter!

I agree with this to an extent. Prince is limiting his music, videos, and brand for a cost. This new generation does not have access to his classics, music or videos. He is not accessible. Thus, that does have an impact on his legacy if generations are not exposed to his legendary music. On that front, he most definitly can control. He is hurting his legacy but not making his brand and music accessible.

Some interesting points. The two things I will sya is that firstly, as mentioned, Prince has had a huge amount of success, money and awards already throughout his career.

Secondly, and I truly mean this in the positive and curious sense, Why would any artist particularly care about their legacy. Prince, I imagine, will continue to make music for as long as he wishes to, after which, what interest would he have in his legacy. People's legacy are usually only established after they are gone, it is of no real conern to them. Prince's legacy will be in the hands of fans to a certain extent. Are people in 35-40 years going to be heavily into MJ, Madonna or Bowie? It would be nice to think so but ask yourself how heavily most people are into Mid-70's music now. A few but utlimately it is still a niche interest.

mjscarousal said:

Germanegro said:

Legacy is beyond an artist's control. Legacy is what exists once the artist is gone and the body of works is complete. Prince wishes to build toward his legacy in the way that an artist can, by collecting resources to continue his creative works while living a reasonably comfortable lifestyle. Youtube will not pay him enough. He is negotiating with the record company that has the ability to offer him much better recompensation. He probably cares less about his popularity of today--he has already experienced that brand of success in life. I think that he is betting on coming to an agreement toward a pay rate that will be more equitable for his present-day A&R/artist partnership. I imagine that Prince is a bit less arrogant than people around here believe. There is a business side to all of this gifting of song to the public, and Prince is handling his business through the means available to him. I don't feel that Prince is going to self-destruct. He has made it through a pretty great part of a long career with more to come if he sees his way through the present dealings.

>

Besides, Warner Brothers will most certainly see that his name lives on in perpetuity if they have any ounce of influence in the matter!

I agree with this to an extent. Prince is limiting his music, videos, and brand for a cost. This new generation does not have access to his classics, music or videos. He is not accessible. Thus, that does have an impact on his legacy if generations are not exposed to his legendary music. On that front, he most definitly can control. He is hurting his legacy but not making his brand and music accessible.

Yes, Prince suffers a cost today in terms of sales right now but the music will not just go poof and disappear due to this temporary neglect of people's easy access of what he's already put out for consumption. So the youth are deprived--can't view or rip a video from Youtube--of their Prince? I don't feel this is the case. We all know that people are going to find the musical heroes that exist within their own generation since that is simply the way it goes, one old, brilliant fogey's legacy concerned, or no. Legacy is not Prince's concern. It is a historian's concern, and one for those who maintain to profit from the legacy-making. And I don't understand what the big deal is for people to fret over "Prince's legacy" anyway, to be honest. I would rather we place more concern toward funding schools for the arts, and music education programs in our schools in general. But that's just me and my own utopian idea. And furthermore, if Prince's music is really all that great for everybody to be sweating so much, people need to go the library, for crying out loud, and listen to his stuff on loan! Or read a music transcript. They'd get all the education they'd need.

So Prince's sales are down today, arguably due to a change in the quality of his tunesmithing, songwriting, or because of his music and images' inaccessibility on internet music/video services. Of course, fans forever want more product and can pine about obtaining the next new box set, remastered album, or HD concert video. The music/entertainment conglomerate that Prince is now working with wants to see this too, obviously. Sometimes I think that corporate reps are on the Org regularly trumpeting the statement to "release the remasters." You see the same names doing so in these threads all the time, but even super-fans even have other things to do with their time and interest, so it that is what it looks like to me. Regardless, what is happening right now while the Prince product remains scarce is of great value to Prince for the future of his ability to reap better profit from his labors, for whatever remains left of his time. What would you do if you felt that a situation could be improved? You'd do your darndest to make it better, so I can respect his current actions. Furthermore, these efforts could translate to better deals for other acts to earn better shares from sales and through intellectual property ownership in the music biz. Warner Bro.'s ain't gonna let any potential revenue slip through their hands--no way on Earth! But they can do better to support the talent that feeds their product machine and turn the "record plantation" into a more evenly-matched relationship with those responsible for making the music.

Germanegro said:

So Prince's sales are down today, arguably due to a change in the quality of his tunesmithing, songwriting, or because of his music and images' inaccessibility on internet music/video services. Of course, fans forever want more product and can pine about obtaining the next new box set, remastered album, or HD concert video. The music/entertainment conglomerate that Prince is now working with wants to see this too, obviously. Sometimes I think that corporate reps are on the Org regularly trumpeting the statement to "release the remasters." You see the same names doing so in these threads all the time, but even super-fans even have other things to do with their time and interest, so it that is what it looks like to me. Regardless, what is happening right now while the Prince product remains scarce is of great value to Prince for the future of his ability to reap better profit from his labors, for whatever remains left of his time. What would you do if you felt that a situation could be improved? You'd do your darndest to make it better, so I can respect his current actions. Furthermore, these efforts could translate to better deals for other acts to earn better shares from sales and through intellectual property ownership in the music biz. Warner Bro.'s ain't gonna let any potential revenue slip through their hands--no way on Earth! But they can do better to support the talent that feeds their product machine and turn the "record plantation" into a more evenly-matched relationship with those responsible for making the music.

... 2 b honest it's a mixture of both. as a fan, i'm still very appreciative that he is putting out music, and we've gotten 4 albums in less than 2 years...

quality wise, do i think there has been anything special in the last 15 years of his catalouge... honestly... no. but he can still sell out arenas on short notice. so his musicanship and as performing artist is never in question...

however do i think his lack of "exposure" on the everchanging "digital age" has affected his sales in music... absolutely.

when you can't find PRINCE on YOUTUBE, FACEBOOK or SPOTIFY... in an age where digital access is KEY for current exposure and relevance in some way... it's very daunting that a legend, musical genius, and gift from GOD is not more accessabille for a day and age of technology as we are currently in.

it's real sad that a younger fan can search for his concerts on youtube, or incredible videos that made him iconic like WHEN DOVES CRY, LITTLE RED CORVETTE, etc... yes his stuff is still out there in various other "lesser known" sites... but the fact he is probably the most strict artist with filteration of his catalouge... it's very sad, especially for the new fans.

i read other members giving a list saying what youtube videos are still up... or how they can go buy the vinyls or cd's... that's not the point... it clearly shows how outdated and irrelevant to the current generation and the use of social media... a comment like that just basically shows the middle aged PRINCE fan defending the "artists rights" rather than the pleasure of exposure to spread his gift and talent of PRINCE music, which we all have a common interest in.

What's really going on here is that the Internet took Prince by surprise.It's something that's become bigger and more powerful than any of us ever expected.Prince is a notorious control freak and this is something that even he can't really control,lol.Youtube is this generation's MTV but the difference is,the listener can choose what he/she wants to see and when they see it.I truly believe that's the *real* reason why Prince is against Youtube.It's not the money (he's already a multi-millionaire anyway),it's the lack of control that he has over it.Just my opinion.

feeluupp said:

Germanegro said:

So Prince's sales are down today, arguably due to a change in the quality of his tunesmithing, songwriting, or because of his music and images' inaccessibility on internet music/video services. Of course, fans forever want more product and can pine about obtaining the next new box set, remastered album, or HD concert video. The music/entertainment conglomerate that Prince is now working with wants to see this too, obviously. Sometimes I think that corporate reps are on the Org regularly trumpeting the statement to "release the remasters." You see the same names doing so in these threads all the time, but even super-fans even have other things to do with their time and interest, so it that is what it looks like to me. Regardless, what is happening right now while the Prince product remains scarce is of great value to Prince for the future of his ability to reap better profit from his labors, for whatever remains left of his time. What would you do if you felt that a situation could be improved? You'd do your darndest to make it better, so I can respect his current actions. Furthermore, these efforts could translate to better deals for other acts to earn better shares from sales and through intellectual property ownership in the music biz. Warner Bro.'s ain't gonna let any potential revenue slip through their hands--no way on Earth! But they can do better to support the talent that feeds their product machine and turn the "record plantation" into a more evenly-matched relationship with those responsible for making the music.

... 2 b honest it's a mixture of both. as a fan, i'm still very appreciative that he is putting out music, and we've gotten 4 albums in less than 2 years...

quality wise, do i think there has been anything special in the last 15 years of his catalouge... honestly... no. but he can still sell out arenas on short notice. so his musicanship and as performing artist is never in question...

however do i think his lack of "exposure" on the everchanging "digital age" has affected his sales in music... absolutely.

when you can't find PRINCE on YOUTUBE, FACEBOOK or SPOTIFY... in an age where digital access is KEY for current exposure and relevance in some way... it's very daunting that a legend, musical genius, and gift from GOD is not more accessabille for a day and age of technology as we are currently in.

it's real sad that a younger fan can search for his concerts on youtube, or incredible videos that made him iconic like WHEN DOVES CRY, LITTLE RED CORVETTE, etc... yes his stuff is still out there in various other "lesser known" sites... but the fact he is probably the most strict artist with filteration of his catalouge... it's very sad, especially for the new fans.

i read other members giving a list saying what youtube videos are still up... or how they can go buy the vinyls or cd's... that's not the point... it clearly shows how outdated and irrelevant to the current generation and the use of social media... a comment like that just basically shows the middle aged PRINCE fan defending the "artists rights" rather than the pleasure of exposure to spread his gift and talent of PRINCE music, which we all have a common interest in.

Well, I'll just say that mine are the ramblings of a concerned music fan--artists getting paid matters. If this were a big source of your own livelihood you would agree! It doesn' even have to be about Prince. It could be about my favorite obscure dubstep dj creating the best scene possible. But Prince is not trying to nurture a small cottage enterprise--he's looking to impact the major labels--yes, the establishment of his origin, you've nicely observed. Anyway, people who want to hear Prince are going to hear him, regarless of what what's up on Youtube--most can agree with that! So we're talking about issue of making the media accessable for easy, mass consumption. That case is not the concern of the hour for the fogey artist in question, I'm afraid to say.

>

Some like to rally against this situation. I'd say to e-mail, tweet, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Tumblr, Vine, etc. your favorite artist's record company peeps today if yours is signed to one (Warner Brothers for Prince). Ask them to find a way to make the business terms better to allow the music to be published. In the meanwhile, people will hit up all the torrents out there. The record companies will continue to lose potential revenue. Maybe once a good deal gets done Mr. Prince will be easier on the social media networks. Probably not, because he likes his earnings and could set up his own direct "Sign 'O the Times" media access setup, beyond what we have in the present subscription TIDAL sevice. I think an indepenent site would work best for him as far as internet access & his revenue interests are concerned. That'd probably be better than just giving it away to the people who want to be pleased by the man's entertainment. What do you think?

SoulAlive said:

What's really going on here is that the Internet took Prince by surprise.It's something that's become bigger and more powerful than any of us ever expected.Prince is a notorious control freak and this is something that even he can't really control,lol.Youtube is this generation's MTV but the difference is,the listener can choose what he/she wants to see and when they see it.I truly believe that's the *real* reason why Prince is against Youtube.It's not the money (he's already a multi-millionaire anyway),it's the lack of control that he has over it.Just my opinion.

i don't think it took him by "surprise"... remember he was one of the first artists as well as David Bowie who actually took to the internet to distribute their music in the mid 90's...

feeluupp said:

SoulAlive said:

What's really going on here is that the Internet took Prince by surprise.It's something that's become bigger and more powerful than any of us ever expected.Prince is a notorious control freak and this is something that even he can't really control,lol.Youtube is this generation's MTV but the difference is,the listener can choose what he/she wants to see and when they see it.I truly believe that's the *real* reason why Prince is against Youtube.It's not the money (he's already a multi-millionaire anyway),it's the lack of control that he has over it.Just my opinion.

i don't think it took him by "surprise"... remember he was one of the first artists as well as David Bowie who actually took to the internet to distribute their music in the mid 90's...

True,but I really mean is....it wasn't exactly what he thought it would be.I recall all of those interviews in the 90s where he gleefully predicted that record companies would fade away and artists would be able to distribute their music on the Internet with no middle man.Sounds simple enough,right? Well it certainly hasn't turned out that way.He's now back on Warners and has utilized record companies to distribute his music.The "freedom" and "control" he spoke about in the 90s didn't really happen,at least not the way he planned.That's why,these days,he makes comments like "the Internet is dead".If he can't control something 100%,he's automatically against it.

SoulAlive said:

feeluupp said:

i don't think it took him by "surprise"... remember he was one of the first artists as well as David Bowie who actually took to the internet to distribute their music in the mid 90's...

True,but I really mean is....it wasn't exactly what he thought it would be.I recall all of those interviews in the 90s where he gleefully predicted that record companies would fade away and artists would be able to distribute their music on the Internet with no middle man.Sounds simple enough,right? Well it certainly hasn't turned out that way.He's now back on Warners and has utilized record companies to distribute his music.The "freedom" and "control" he spoke about in the 90s didn't really happen,at least not the way he planned.That's why,these days,he makes comments like "the Internet is dead".If he can't control something 100%,he's automatically against it.

"The Internet is dead" was Prince's way to describe the inability of musicans to profit from it. Some markets certainly profit more than others on Internet sales. But figures of the pay to musicians shows their small cash receipts, and artists will agree that even with ther own vast Internet exposure they must continue to hustle and play shows on the concert circuit to gather some real currency to eat and afford more studio time for the next recording project. Sure, Prince is a control freak--it his his blessing and curse, I guess. He does have some concern about not having the older "wild Prince"--that most of us love, BTW--showcased in public, but it is just that. To keep that "wild and loose" Prince for your private collection and off the Internet. His music today is still pretty fonky, he can croon, rock out, do a jazz-lite workout, and be as sensual as he's ever been in his new stuff, so I continue to listen to it. I think that although his strict stance toward managing has something to do with image control it also has much to do with managing the biz--cuz he still ain't too far gone to forget about all of that! Production takes cash! He's got many staff and bandmembers to pay with all of what's going on in Prince World. Distribution is a very important part of Prince's utilization of the major labels--they posess a good facility to run that part of the busniess side This and profit-share are the issues on the table in his dealings with these big companies--to have some better control of these things, I think, is all right.

peppeken said:

As a fan since the early 80s, I still can't understand his logic on this. A young neighbour of mine said he had heard the usual hits but was unsure about investing in his albums.... As someone who's first prince purchase was a fake copy of purple rain I see his point... I went on to buy all his albums day Of release and the pre purple rain days... So, this kid wanted to listen to some tracks from the likes of gold experience.... Can't even buy the cd anywhere!!!! Must he and the younger generation have to wait till prince is dead and all that they will get is a bombardment of compilations....😓😓😓😓😓😖😕 [Edited 3/22/16 18:25pm]

I think it's more likely that he has people who told him one thing and he's never rethought it. It isn't like Prince himself is sending out the takedown notices. His people are on it.

There was that one time that Prince called the owner of some user uploaded streaming site to chastise him and the owner tried to convince him that 'hey, let's do this legally. there's clearly a demand. let's monetize what's going on' and Prince refused to listen.

That's how you can have one arm issuing takedown notices and the other arm releasing "stolen" demos. Prince didn't even realize how Groovy Potential was released before HNR Phase 2. He thought they put it up on Soundcloud for free and pulled it down shortly after.

[Edited 3/28/16 5:30am]

Strive said:

peppeken said:

As a fan since the early 80s, I still can't understand his logic on this. A young neighbour of mine said he had heard the usual hits but was unsure about investing in his albums.... As someone who's first prince purchase was a fake copy of purple rain I see his point... I went on to buy all his albums day Of release and the pre purple rain days... So, this kid wanted to listen to some tracks from the likes of gold experience.... Can't even buy the cd anywhere!!!! Must he and the younger generation have to wait till prince is dead and all that they will get is a bombardment of compilations....😓😓😓😓😓😖😕 [Edited 3/22/16 18:25pm]

I think it's more likely that he has people who told him one thing and he's never rethought it. It isn't like Prince himself is sending out the takedown notices. His people are on it.

There was that one time that Prince called the owner of some user uploaded streaming site to chastise him and the owner tried to convince him that 'hey, let's do this legally. there's clearly a demand. let's monetize what's going on' and Prince refused to listen.

That's how you can have one arm issuing takedown notices and the other arm releasing "stolen" demos. Prince didn't even realize how Groovy Potential was released before HNR Phase 2. He thought they put it up on Soundcloud for free and pulled it down shortly after.

[Edited 3/28/16 5:30am]

I think this is the article to which you refer. https://www.linkedin.com/...tt-goodman

TKO said:

Some of his fans are delusional , please, if you like Prince and you live for example in South America you should travel to US and buy his used cd's in some record store and if you don't you are lazy... really? The real thing is his music isn't available to his fans worldwide. I had to buy an import version of HnR Phase 2 and it was very expensive. Watch some rude member say 'If you really love PRINCE you should work extra time to buy his music imported.

I was told that I should carry around my music collection so that if at some point I want to expose someone to his music, instead of saying; "Youtube the video for XXX", I should play them my copy.

PurpleJedi said:

TKO said:

Some of his fans are delusional , please, if you like Prince and you live for example in South America you should travel to US and buy his used cd's in some record store and if you don't you are lazy... really? The real thing is his music isn't available to his fans worldwide. I had to buy an import version of HnR Phase 2 and it was very expensive. Watch some rude member say 'If you really love PRINCE you should work extra time to buy his music imported.

I was told that I should carry around my music collection so that if at some point I want to expose someone to his music, instead of saying; "Youtube the video for XXX", I should play them my copy.

Tell them: they'rs S-O-L! Listen to a 30-second sample on Amazon, and buy a Warner Brothers' best-of compilation. If they don't like it they can leave Prince alone. The end. Sheesh--everybody wants to be treated to a free download for their musical exploration. What we need to do is bring record stores back to the streets so people can have a FREE listen to a song without sticking it on their hard drive.

>

The musical revolution must be revised.

[Edited 3/28/16 11:25am]

Long live Tidal! A 30 second listen on ITunes or Amazon is ridiculous. But just read on the linkedin link that Spotify pays 14c per 1000 streams. That is just criminal basically. Only consolation in all this is that it's not only musicians who are getting screwed by these giants. It's ordinary people too with ordinary jobs. But for music industry revenue to drop to 7 billion, almost a third of what it was just shows how bad it is. Maybe the music industry needs Hackers like Anonymous who are on the artists' side.

TKO said:

Some of his fans are delusional , please, if you like Prince and you live for example in South America you should travel to US and buy his used cd's in some record store and if you don't you are lazy... really? The real thing is his music isn't available to his fans worldwide. I had to buy an import version of HnR Phase 2 and it was very expensive. Watch some rude member say 'If you really love PRINCE you should work extra time to buy his music imported.

Yes same in Australia we dont get everything - Planet Earth was not availalbe forever and same with 2010 - had to import from UK and that was expensive at the time and was charged ridiculous prices because of the rareness of them at the time. But not everyone can afford to do that.

Bohemian67 said:

Long live Tidal! A 30 second listen on ITunes or Amazon is ridiculous. But just read on the linkedin link that Spotify pays 14c per 1000 streams. That is just criminal basically. Only consolation in all this is that it's not only musicians who are getting screwed by these giants. It's ordinary people too with ordinary jobs. But for music industry revenue to drop to 7 billion, almost a third of what it was just shows how bad it is. Maybe the music industry needs Hackers like Anonymous who are on the artists' side.

James Blunt has revealed '“I get paid £00.0004499368 per stream. Beers are on me! Cheers @Spotify,” http://musically.com/2015...royalties/

^^Knowing about these kind of dealings makes me feel sick. It looks like many of the streaming services are now the Record Companies 2.0. They can claim a decent part of their share of earnings due to administrative services, advertising and tech/facility overhead, and some profit margin, but when the people who supply the product they deliver to subscribers get only a meager fraction of the total earnings, that is just not right. Analysts need to go to these companies--Spotify, iTunes, Soundcloud, etc.--to break down the real costs of the companies' services and right the wrongs inflicted on the poor music creators. Pay these people. Otherwise this all looks like pimping--pay them enough to buy some groceries, then, "hit the streets, people! Make us some more tunes. We love you, though!"

Well, this would have been nice to see: http://www.billboard.com/...wie-heroes

LittlePurpleYoda said:

Well, this would have been nice to see: http://www.billboard.com/...wie-heroes

-

And if Prince put it as a download on Tidal would you buy it or would you wait until u could download it illegally? "Money for nothing and your chicks for free?"

Bohemian67 said:

LittlePurpleYoda said:

Well, this would have been nice to see: http://www.billboard.com/...wie-heroes

-

And if Prince put it as a download on Tidal would you buy it or would you wait until u could download it illegally? "Money for nothing and your chicks for free?"

If he put it as a download on Amazon Music or iTunes, I would buy it.

STOP.POINTING OUT PRINCE'S FLAWS. It makes some people around here UNCOMFORTABLE.

PurpleJedi said:

Bohemian67 said:

-

And if Prince put it as a download on Tidal would you buy it or would you wait until u could download it illegally? "Money for nothing and your chicks for free?"

If he put it as a download on Amazon Music or iTunes, I would buy it.

-

PURPLEJEDI - You are probably one is a million.

deAD TOPIC...

Bohemian67 said:

LittlePurpleYoda said:

Well, this would have been nice to see: http://www.billboard.com/...wie-heroes

-

And if Prince put it as a download on Tidal would you buy it or would you wait until u could download it illegally? "Money for nothing and your chicks for free?"

Did I say that? No. But thank you for putting words in my mouth.

YouTube is a resource that fills a void. Many of us would certainly welcome legitimately released, tangible product to add to our home library that we could purchase directly from the source in the highest quality & add to his coffers, but that is not forthcoming, & frankly, the Hits VHS is not exactly reason enough to hold onto a VCR.

Defending Prince at every turn is a bit laughable. As is failing to acknowledge the potential of YouTube.

[Edited 4/1/16 4:57am]

BobGeorge909 said:

Maybe he's not wrong? Maybe he has it set up to once he dies, it'll all just be free and out there. Maybe...obviously he doesn't have the same concerns about his legacy as us. Maybe he's prepared to loose some cash in an effort to make a statement about a musicians worth. That much seems obvious to me cuz he consistently makes moves that loose him dough but gain him ownership and control of his creations. Which to me, is a very important and worthwhile statement to make and stand to take. Cuz at the end of the day...the people who WANT to hear his music can hear it.

Your actually right on that!

LittlePurpleYoda said:

Bohemian67 said:

-

And if Prince put it as a download on Tidal would you buy it or would you wait until u could download it illegally? "Money for nothing and your chicks for free?"

Did I say that? No. But thank you for putting words in my mouth.

YouTube is a resource that fills a void. Many of us would certainly welcome legitimately released, tangible product to add to our home library that we could purchase directly from the source in the highest quality & add to his coffers, but that is not forthcoming, & frankly, the Hits VHS is not exactly reason enough to hold onto a VCR.

Defending Prince at every turn is a bit laughable. As is failing to acknowledge the potential of YouTube.

[Edited 4/1/16 4:57am]

-

Dear Little Purple Yoda,

-

The question was a legitimate question.

-

May I refer you to Prince's tweet today, which includes a link to the RIAA.com website, who announced via a blog that a Music Community Commission (comprised of nearly 400 individual artists, songwriters, managers, and music organizations), submitted Docket No. 2015-7 yesterday, to the U.S. Copyright Office Library of Congress. A quote iin the blog from CARY SHERMAN, Chairman and CEO, RIAA: “I don’t recall a time when the entire music community has united behind an issue like it has this one – speaking with a collective voice for reform of the DMCA..." (Digital Music Copyright Act). The joint brief was drafted by J. Rosenthal, Esq. Steven Metalitz, Esq. of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP in Washington DC.

-

The submitted 100 page brief (pages 1-46 for your reading), outlines the facts, legal status, statistics of music industry financial losses, Google's failure to invest in software, costs for artists in policing Youtube to prevent their art being devoured by the 'I want it for free culture" in detail. Please let me know if you still feel the same way about Youtube's current potential.

-

Might I suggest that you look beyond the choppy surface waves of the ocean and instead, dive deep down to the ocean floor so that you expose your awareness to the real picture.

-

Yours sincerely,

Bohemian67

[Edited 4/1/16 6:52am]

[Edited 4/1/16 7:07am]

[Edited 4/1/16 7:22am]