Facts: Elvis has been dead coming up on 40 years....still makes news & money.

Prince has been gone a little over a month and his mentions in Mainstream Media getting fewer & farther between....of course there will be a uptick when the results of his passing are made public.

So what is the difference? ...Key observation is what if anything will be done to have Prince Music " Relevant" even just 10 years from now?.....Elvis gets play even a 2 hour radio show every Sunday Morning in Philadelphia that has WorldWide listeners & it has been running for years....continues to do very well they even have frequent get togethers that are very popular.

Of course the deeper Prince fans know his catalog can easily carry a 2 hour radio show....the lame Elvis movies still get play....Will Prince live shows? Videos? Films get play?

Folks that talk of a Paisley Park museum Like Elvis' Graceland....I have not heard anyone mention location....Memphis can be on the way to various spots- Florida/ Disney World or turn west and pick your spot....Dallas? For a Cowboys game? etc etc.....so folks make the trip and see Chanhassen then to First Avenue....ok now where?

Daily visitors like Graceland has?.....Will the house of Prince be visited enough yearly to pay the taxes and daily upkeep?

Elvis of course had Priscilla and his daughter pushing & working on things....since it is a fact they have been successful would having them be consultants be worth while?

I am somebody who knows the music of Prince is worthy of a continual push just like Elvis has had but with all the griping and eye rolling of a Madonna tribute...well that will equate to plenty of folks not bothering....there is only one Prince and only one Elvis....just like a oreo....nothing ever will beat the original.

Relevant....seems lately like it has been the word of the month of May....Elvis has remained " Relevant" Will Prince?

As it stands now personally and unfortunatly I can't see how...even here on the org when threads are posted about going at things to get Prince music more in the light it is met with silence or " why bother- I have all the music" comments.

I know there are several Michael Jackson fans on here...but he just does not have the catalogs of variety like Prince or Elvis to maintain a ongoing flow....this is not controversy these are facts and this observation with the way things are going seems sad....I just see in 5 years...not much ongoing Prince...sure they can release this or that but who besides Elvis gets regular play after they pass of new/ remixed material on Mainstream???...Hoping I am wrong ...I've spent much time for my job in the Philippines....they know who John Cena, Elvis and Michael Jackson are....no clue who Prince is....wish Prince would have known how much I have showed folks in the Philippines his flow.

if I am looking at things wrong....it is show n tell time....tell me how any type of ongoing Prince flow of Visibility is going to happen....I just don't see it happening.....Dead Like Elvis & looking more n more like Prince will be joining Sinatra...seldom if ever played or shown.

There are several reasons why your analysis is too rudimentary.

1. It's not just Elvis and Michael Jackson, other artists have passed away and are far from relegated to history books: Johnny Cash, Jimi, Marvin, Sinatra, Tupak, Biggie, etc. everyone knows who they are and more products came out, box sets, posthumous releases. Elvis and Graceland are just the top examples of how things might work, there are other profitable scenarios.

2. Prince recorded a lot of music. By all accounts, he leaves behind one of the most massive collection of recordings, but there's also videos and performance footage. Things can still be released from it 10 years from now if his hers want it.

3. Covers --- Prince wrote so many songs and often refused permission when acts sought to cover something of his. This can now conceivably happen, perhaps generating chart action in some cases.

4. Because Prince has one decent and massively iconic movie, he stands a better chance of being remembered.

Fans shouldn't dream up Purple Gracelands just yet, but they should be optimistic about the future of his legacy.

[Edited 5/24/16 2:10am]

Aerogram said:

There are several reasons why your analysis is too rudimentary.

1. It's not just Elvis and Michael Jackson, other artists have passed away and are far from relegated to history books: Johnny Cash, Jimi, Marvin, Sinatra, Tupak, Biggie, etc. everyone knows who they are and more products came out, box sets, posthumous releases. Elvis and Graceland are just the top examples of how things might work, there are other profitable scenarios.

2. Prince recorded a lot of music. By all accounts, he leaves behind one of the most massive collection of recordings, but there's also videos and performance footage. Things can still be released from it 10 years from now if his hers want it.

3. Covers --- Prince wrote so many songs and often refused permission when acts sought to cover something of his. This can now conceivably happen, perhaps generating chart action in some cases.

4. Because Prince has one decent and massively iconic movie, he stands a better chance of being remembered.

Fans shouldn't dream up Purple Gracelands just yet, but they should be optimistic about the future of his legacy.

[Edited 5/24/16 2:10am]

Sorry but when we talk about EVERYONE and MAINSTREAM...ELVIS PRESLEY and MICHAEL JACKSON they know.....marvin? Tupak? Biggie? Johnny Cash? Everyone knows???? I myself can not name you even 2 Biggie or Tupak songs....and couldn't care less about them although I did like Tupak's movie " Gridlocked"......however I can go deep with Prince MUSIC....and that is what it is about....THE MUSIC......step out of your world...step away from your pals & friends...sorry but most folks can't tell you much about Prince, Marvin, Tupak, Sinatra or Biggie....but they know about Elvis Presley......point to this exercise was looking at what is going to happen....cover songs by other folks? ...5 Women is a good song Prince wrote, did it, Joe Cocker did it= Went Nowhere.....not much action when folks covered Elvis songs because nothing beats the original....Just like Judy Garland's " Somewhere Over The Rainbow" many have covered that but her version still standing thru time......Having people cover Prince songs won't gain traction.....talking about ongoing here....there will be a uptick in Mainstream when it comes out how Prince died....still has nothing to do with the music.....if you read the article from the Vatican and the unfortunate prediction in that about Prince Music= looking more true than false......Dead Like Elvis...was just hoping I was missing something but 5 years from now looks like the purple music will pretty much be buried......tried even on here to go at things.....either no interest or comments like " what's the point I have all the music".

Strange but True.

Sad with no real avenue to go at....I'm all about action and getting involved but it takes more than one or even 4 or 5 folks to go at things with something like this.

jimmy3121 said:

if I am looking at things wrong....it is show n tell time....

.

Here's how you are looking at things wrong:

You are equating Prince with Elvis.

.

Prince was a musician to most people.

Elvis was a religion to most people.

In terms of generational impact, Elvis was a hero to boomers in their youth. In terms of race, Elvis was a hero to white America (but, as Chuck D said, "he never meant shit to me"). Prince's core fanbase were gen x-ers and, I'm presuming, African-American. Which demographics do you think are bigger and more likely to control cultural discussions? I'm writing this from a cafe staffed with millenials who've been listening to white dad rock all afternoon. When I caught Prince's Montreal aftershow in March, an 18 year-old I met in line let me in as her +1 because she couldn't convince a friend to come with her - none of them knew/cared enough about Prince (I bet they all like Beyonce though). Inside, the venue had gathered a handful of 18 year-old models, none of whom really knew anything about Prince, but sure as shit knew all the words to "Uptown Funk" when Pam the Funkstress dropped what amounts to a Prince/Time-pastiche with some James Brown thrown in. Prince also worked hard to make his legacy inaccessible. I bought LoveSexy as an import, probably because it was out of print up here. "Urban" radio doesn't play guitar music, classic rock stations barely play black music, especially not black music with electro beats or lyrics that might give Joe Homophobe an unwanted boner. Prince was too complex to fit an AOR format.

[Edited 5/24/16 12:30pm]

Er... which demographics are "better," I meant "bigger."

Cloreen said:

jimmy3121 said:

if I am looking at things wrong....it is show n tell time....

.

Here's how you are looking at things wrong:

You are equating Prince with Elvis.

.

Prince was a musician to most people.

Elvis was a religion to most people.

A religion to most people? Well most of those people are pensioners now. Elvis was there at the right time at the golden age of Rock and Roll. He's a mythic figure due to anything but his music through a relentless marketing of his image abetted by a mass white media. He was a great singer though.

Ask any young person about Elvis now and you'll probably get either a shrug, a mention of cheeseburgers or something to do with Las Vegas. He's been dead nearly 40 years.

Prince's myth will only grow in relation to his musical talent, vault of music and that he was a total fuckin maverick who marched to his own drum. Poor Elvis hadn't a clue what was going on in his career most of the time, because let's face it he was a generous big lug who wasn't the brightest.

Cloreen said:

jimmy3121 said:

if I am looking at things wrong....it is show n tell time....

.

Here's how you are looking at things wrong:

You are equating Prince with Elvis.

.

Prince was a musician to most people.

Elvis was a religion to most people.

To Elvis fans only.

Guitarhero said:

Cloreen said:

.

Here's how you are looking at things wrong:

You are equating Prince with Elvis.

.

Prince was a musician to most people.

Elvis was a religion to most people.

To Elvis fans only.

.

Well, there were a hell of a lot of Elvis fans. Was it most people? No. But it sure was a massive number. By all accounts Elvis is still the most photographed human being to ever walk planet Earth. That's big medicine.

.

To compare Prince to Elvis in public eminence is like comparing your county clerk to The President Of The United States.

Cloreen said:

Guitarhero said:

To Elvis fans only.

.

Well, there were a hell of a lot of Elvis fans. Was it most people? No. But it sure was a massive number. By all accounts Elvis is still the most photographed human being to ever walk planet Earth. That's big medicine.

.

To compare Prince to Elvis in public eminence is like comparing your county clerk to The President Of The United States.

WoW.....I actually put Prince equal or above Elvis....catalog, songs that he wrote, played the instruments etc....i see your point since Prince is just a county clerk....guess i will quit trying, stop wondering and just stay in my world & lane & play the Prince music- only room for one I guess at the top of the mountain & no one is knocking Elvis off anytime soon.

Salamat po.

Elvis was and is iconic far beyond the reach of Prince, tough sell to make that comparison with anyone.

XrayTed said:

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/ecnirp2004/Prince/PrinceogElvis-2.jpg[/img:$uid]



both were icons..........

RiotPaisley said:

XrayTed said:

Elvis was and is iconic far beyond the reach of Prince, tough sell to make that comparison with anyone.

Just wait...

For what, to see if he is still relevant in a decade ?

Sure they were both icons, and Mercury and Saturn are both planets. I personally think it was a very unfair comparison [to Prince], and slightly absurd. The level of international obcession and worship for decades that Elvis created was not and is not going to be rivaled by anyone ,,, And truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of either, just an observer.

what, did you OP speak about the 2 stars..... "mentioned by the media"...?


the past 20 years I have heard zero news reports here in Denmark about Elvis Presley, not that I don't like Elvis (I do, very much).


Prince on the other hand, he has got a lot of media attention, a lot of news reports, whenever he made a tour, released an album... and of course when the shocking news broke last month and was covered intense since, april 21....


But why judge both on media reports...

Both were icons and, both were amazing music artists....... yeah, I love them both....

thedance said:

the past 20 years I have heard zero news reports here in Denmark about Elvis Presley,

lazy bastard should do something newsworthy

Cinnamon234 said:

The marketing of Elvis' image has in fact been brilliant.

As for Prince, he has the advantage over both MJ and Elvis in that he has a huge catalog of music and tons of performance footage. There's a lot to work with where Prince is concerned. "Paisley Park" could maybe be turned into an attraction in the vein of "Graceland" for fans. I think you're underestimating the potential of Prince's legacy. There's a lot that can be done.

I think the marketing of Elvis' image is a litany of poorly-timed missteps and missed opportunities, with a few fortunate outlying events which were not planned or designed by his Parker-like estate (beyond the opening of Graceland). He's survived in the public sphere in spite of their management as much or more than because of it. Most of the comments about him in this thread simply underscore my point.

However I completely agree with you about Prince.

Without heirs even being settled, it's really too early for most of the OP's speculations/predictions. We need to see who gets the intial rights, for starters.

mtlfan said:

MoBettaBliss said:

thedance said:

the past 20 years I have heard zero news reports here in Denmark about Elvis Presley,

lazy bastard should do something newsworthy

hahaha... this is funny..... thank u

jimmy3121 said:

.

I actually put Prince equal or above Elvis....

.

Just because you do it doesn't mean it is correct.

.

Prince above Elvis? Wow. What are you going to say next....Keanu Reeves above James Dean?

jimmy3121 said:

Facts: Elvis has been dead coming up on 40 years....still makes news & money.

Prince has been gone a little over a month and his mentions in Mainstream Media getting fewer & farther between....of course there will be a uptick when the results of his passing are made public.

I know there are several Michael Jackson fans on here...but he just does not have the catalogs of variety like Prince or Elvis to maintain a ongoing flow....this is not controversy these are facts and this observation with the way things are going seems sad....I just see in 5 years...not much ongoing Prince...sure they can release this or that but who besides Elvis gets regular play after they pass of new/ remixed material on Mainstream???...Hoping I am wrong ...I've spent much time for my job in the Philippines....they know who John Cena, Elvis and Michael Jackson are....no clue who Prince is....wish Prince would have known how much I have showed folks in the Philippines his flow.

Regarding the bolded, How has that worked out, the one's in the Philippines that you have showed his flow/music? The one's you showed did they dig it???

Cloreen said:

jimmy3121 said:

.

I actually put Prince equal or above Elvis....

.

Just because you do it doesn't mean it is correct.

.

Prince above Elvis? Wow. What are you going to say next....Keanu Reeves above James Dean?

Too bad you do as Mainstream Media does...just taking a part of a quote - why didn't you include the other part? Was talking about the AMOUNT of work left behind.

Now I understand what Donald Trump bellyaches about so much.

jimmy3121 said:

Was talking about the AMOUNT of work left behind.

.

Amount of work? Uhh, have you ever loked at the Elvis Presley catalogue? The guy's got nearly 100 albums! Add in over 100 singles, countless B-sides, live albums, and over 30 feature length films...I'd say the amount of released work that Elvis left behind is more than triple what Prince left behind.

Cloreen said:

jimmy3121 said:

.

Amount of work? Uhh, have you ever loked at the Elvis Presley catalogue? The guy's got nearly 100 albums! Add in over 100 singles, countless B-sides, live albums, and over 30 feature length films...I'd say the amount of released work that Elvis left behind is more than triple what Prince left behind.

Not to mention he has an extensive gospel catalog that includes some of his best, most inspirational work - Lots of holiday hits as well.

From what I have read here, even alot of Prince fans conceed that what may be in "the vault" is not going to be his best work [else it would have been released, I presume] and might be a random, disappointing collection. True, Prince has an extensive catalog of released work, I'm wondering, while we are discussing relative posterity/legacy of 2 major reocrding artists, if Prince even broke top 10 outside of purple rain ?

thedance said:

what, did you OP speak about the 2 stars..... "mentioned by the media"...?


the past 20 years I have heard zero news reports here in Denmark about Elvis Presley, not that I don't like Elvis (I do, very much).


Prince on the other hand, he has got a lot of media attention, a lot of news reports, whenever he made a tour, released an album... and of course when the shocking news broke last month and was covered intense since, april 21....


But why judge both on media reports...

Both were icons and, both were amazing music artists....... yeah, I love them both....

If I am in the Philippines and heard in a Main News story that just 2 days ago a Elvis guitar sold for big money in the UK ...sold on May 23rd...I tried to copy & include could not.

So lets see news report just as of May 23 hits the Philippines & UK & who knows where else so when you figure out what is wrong with your news in Denmark you will be able to comment on current events....since you asked there is your answer.

Also understand it was not about judging on media reports.....more about can Prince Music & Catalog follow thru like Elvis and how....I'd like to see that happen as many out there have no clue about Prince so what could be done to keep it going?

Folks here in the Philippines have no clue who Prince is/was....Many in USA know Purple Rain and that is pretty much it.....note " Many not All".

jaypotton said:

mtlfan said:

Prince's core fanbase were gen x-ers and, I'm presuming, African-American

I agree with most of what you say except this. It might be the case in the USA but in the UK Prince's fanbase is definitely NOT defined by race. That was always one of the coolest things about going to a Prince gig. You had absolutely every type of person there regardless of colour of skin, sexuality, religious belief. It was always a multicultural party. In the UK that mix has never changed or shifted in one direction. I believe (though don't know this) that the UK media (radio stations) are not as segregated by genre as they are in the USA. The charts in the UK are far more heavily focused on the single main "pop" chart with all others being side shows. In the UK Prince was seen as a pop star/icon rather than a black pop star/icon. Oh and just to qualify that last statement. I am not saying he shouldn't be considered a "black" artist or that to be so is in any way wrong. I just think in the UK we are less likely to draw colour lines when we define someone. Prince was just Prince and we could not have cared less what colour he was! [Edited 5/24/16 23:58pm]

I'm probably a little off-base with my racial profiling of Prince fans. The crowd at Muzique was mixed, he's obviously had crossover appeal for most of his career. But I do think Elvis' legacy is entrenched by a generation with more rigid beliefs about race, gender and sexuality. And even though the US is the world's leading producer of porn, "Head" isn't getting played on the morning drive any time soon.