Now, I haven't been put in a situation where he was at. But if I were, I wouldn't call myself a "slave" (although it had good effect to make WBs look bad). I'd call myself "creatively tooken captive".

From what I know, Prince's problem with Warner Bros was that he couldn't release what he wanted, when he wanted; and also that he did not officially own the rights to his music. I mean, I think I'd be pretty pissed off to if it were me. But since it wasn't me, I can only talk about this in my own perspective.

But, with that said, you also have to give Warner Bros major, major props to signing him in the first place, and then giving him a sweet life for the rest of his remaining years.

Think about it; even though they had problems with the ownership of the catalog and on when and how much to release, Prince was getting paid by WB. The poverty wasn't bringing him down for the majority of his life.

So, was he a "slave"? In my opinion, hell no. Was he pissed off? Of course, who wouldn't be?

Plus, at least he got ownership of his music back in 2014. That probably made him happy.

PurpleTrollster said:

Now, I haven't been put in a situation where he was at. But if I were, I wouldn't call myself a "slave" (although it had good effect to make WBs look bad). I'd call myself "creatively tooken captive".

From what I know, Prince's problem with Warner Bros was that he couldn't release what he wanted, when he wanted; and also that he did not officially own the rights to his music. I mean, I think I'd be pretty pissed off to if it were me. But since it wasn't me, I can only talk about this in my own perspective.

But, with that said, you also have to give Warner Bros major, major props to signing him in the first place, and then giving him a sweet life for the rest of his remaining years.

Think about it; even though they had problems with the ownership of the catalog and on when and how much to release, Prince was getting paid by WB. The poverty wasn't bringing him down for the majority of his life.

So, was he a "slave"? In my opinion, hell no. Was he pissed off? Of course, who wouldn't be?

Plus, at least he got ownership of his music back in 2014. That probably made him happy.

You didn't mention the part hat Prince said many times regarding contracts and his experience with WB. Paraphrasing here -- 50/50 is a partnership. 90/10 makes you an employee or slave. He was all about being paid fairly for HIS work.

[Edited 7/31/16 17:21pm]

PurpleTrollster said:

Now, I haven't been put in a situation where he was at. But if I were, I wouldn't call myself a "slave" (although it had good effect to make WBs look bad). I'd call myself "creatively tooken captive".

What is tooken?

First, I always perceived Prince's statement of being a "slave" as a metaphorical presentation to show/discuss how unfair the record industry is. Artist often communicate in the most exaggerated metaphorical language as possible to communicate their ideas. Two, no, Prince wasn't a slave because he had a choice to work for WB. Three, while American slaves didn't have a choice to work, some were paid, some even became "cheap labor superstars" that could be hired to other plantations because they were so great at their particular jobs, and some, a very few, were able to purchase their freedom. So, while slaves had no legal rights whatsoever, this notion that anyone being paid can't be a slave is just nonsense. Finally, I like the entire discussion that Prince raised because it allowed those interested to have wider or more extensive conversations about race, class, entertainment, and economics. So, in this regard, Prince was accomplishing his artistic mission of having people discuss an important issue about the manner in which artists and all laborers are paid and treated.

All of show business is a dirty game, but the music industry is its filthiest department. Everyone in the music industry is tainted by it. Prince could have just walked away from it altogether if he didn't want to be in it.

NinaB said:

Are u 13? for real?

Yes. Yes I am.

TrivialPursuit said:

PurpleTrollster said:

Now, I haven't been put in a situation where he was at. But if I were, I wouldn't call myself a "slave" (although it had good effect to make WBs look bad). I'd call myself "creatively tooken captive".

What is tooken?

Parden me for that. I believe i meant " *taken. Don't bully me for bad grammar, this is the internet, everyone does it. xD

PurpleTrollster said:

DakotaLady said:

PurpleTrollster said:

Now, I haven't been put in a situation where he was at. But if I were, I wouldn't call myself a "slave" (although it had good effect to make WBs look bad). I'd call myself "creatively tooken captive".

From what I know, Prince's problem with Warner Bros was that he couldn't release what he wanted, when he wanted; and also that he did not officially own the rights to his music. I mean, I think I'd be pretty pissed off to if it were me. But since it wasn't me, I can only talk about this in my own perspective.

But, with that said, you also have to give Warner Bros major, major props to signing him in the first place, and then giving him a sweet life for the rest of his remaining years.

Think about it; even though they had problems with the ownership of the catalog and on when and how much to release, Prince was getting paid by WB. The poverty wasn't bringing him down for the majority of his life.

So, was he a "slave"? In my opinion, hell no. Was he pissed off? Of course, who wouldn't be?

Plus, at least he got ownership of his music back in 2014. That probably made him happy.

You didn't mention the part hat Prince said many times regarding contracts and his experience with WB. Paraphrasing here -- 50/50 is a partnership. 90/10 makes you an employee or slave. He was all about being paid fairly for HIS work.

[Edited 7/31/16 17:21pm]

Still was not a "slave". Pissed off over not being paid fairly and not being paid at all are very different things.
To WBs, music is a business. So, they were just going about it that way. Not even defending them, just saying

PurpleTrollster said:

NinaB said:

Are u 13? for real?

Yes. Yes I am.

time for bed

Se7en said:

Prince was paid millions to perform music. Not a slave. Did he get a bum deal? Maybe. But he should've finished out his contract with dignity and then left WB on good terms.

co-sign. it may have started off a bad deal, and one he never had to renew, but it ended up a shit-show because of his beligerent behavior.

PurpleTrollster said:

TrivialPursuit said:

What is tooken?

Parden me for that. I believe i meant " *taken. Don't bully me for bad grammar, this is the internet, everyone does it. xD

If everyone ate a steaming pile of crap, would you? Say what you mean, and mean what you say.

TrivialPursuit said:

everyone thought he'd lost his mind at the time. I remember a nationally known critic/author who said "he's so far gone he's never coming back" that was the sentiment. The deal warner brothers conned him into, yes conned, was unrealistic and they played his ego perfectly. I heard that he had to sell five million of each and every album to make the 100 million dollar deal a reality, but I recently read that it was 10 million, totally unrealistic either way. I also read, don't know how true it is, WB was getting the money from his live performances of his catalogue, now that was ridiculous if true. I'd never heard that for any artist, as bad as Little Richard and all the rest have been getting fucked since the beginning of rock and roll, live performance was the one sure way they could make a living without the shenanigans of the record company. So, if they somehow got part of prince's live gate, that's fucked up. "Slave" is being too dramatic, but the record companies weren't even close to being fair. On top of that, is anyone ever happy with the money they make? No, they always feel like they deserve more. All things considered, my opinion, as a musician who knows how hard a business it is, Prince had it better than thousands and thousands of very talented people, most of whom can't make any money from their gifts. I kinda feel bad how Prince let those assholes rent space in his head for the last twenty years or so, but he had a point.

also, Prince was proven right by time. most artists get raked over the coals, either because they don't have any business sense or they just don't want to stand up for themselves. Elvis had a crazy deal with his manager, 50/50, crazy. Elvis had less than a mill in his account at the time of his death, many musicians die broke. Little Richard has been blessed many times over, Michael Jackson gave him back his catalogue which was beautiful, just beautiful.

I deeply the music from the 1993-95 era...

But that nonsense of being a slave better be forgotten, already..

However it looked good with Slave on his face.. (I have to admit), with Prince making this protest, but noone cared - he was after all a millionaire, not exactly a "slave", and he did sign that 100 mio. con-tract himself..

Too bad, all this public mess, because The Gold Expreience deserved a better promotion since it's a complete masterpiece..

TGE.....

thedance said:

I deeply the music from the 1993-95 era...

But that nonsense of being a slave better be forgotten, already..

However it looked good with Slave on his face.. (I have to admit), with Prince making this protest, but noone cared - he was after all a millionaire, not exactly a "slave", and he did sign that 100 mio. con-tract himself..

Too bad, all this public mess, because The Gold Expreience deserved a better promotion since it's a complete masterpiece..

TGE.....

i thought he poured his heart and soul into the symbol album, you know, i'm not super critical so i never really thought too much about the rap stuff until the people on here beat that dead horse to death. I thought he had lots of fine, fine albums.

thedance said:

I deeply the music from the 1993-95 era...

But that nonsense of being a slave better be forgotten, already..

However it looked good with Slave on his face.. (I have to admit), with Prince making this protest, but noone cared - he was after all a millionaire, not exactly a "slave", and he did sign that 100 mio. con-tract himself..

Too bad, all this public mess, because The Gold Expreience deserved a better promotion since it's a complete masterpiece..

TGE.....

he had a point about being exploited though, a true point which made him an example for other musicians to stand up for themselves. It is exploitive whether you are a millionaire or not to have people getting 90 percent of the income off of your labor, its not unusual, in fact it's the american way. Prince learned and came out of it a much smarter person, i just wish he hadn't become obsessed by the shit, you can really drive yourself crazy with bitterness, and that man had it better than 99.9 percent of us musicians.

Alan Leeds said it best when he told Prince that he was the only slave that owned the plantation.

Prince was inarguably the most gifted artist of his generation, but he was also a petulant twat who wanted to have his cake & eat it, too. He was given the tools to create his art by a record label & willingly entered into a contract to make that happen. As he later discovered, other artists (such as Ani DiFranco) find a measure of success without the assistance of a major label. Even knowing he recorded at a pace that WB would not allow him to saturate the market, he saw dollar signs as his peers in the industry signed huge deals & he wanted the same. Rather than look elsewhere, or shift his focus, he instead spent years boasting about being "number one at the bank," enslaving fans to years of nonsense & substandard music, as his releases became questionable, with release dates becoming inconsistent, reliance on music clubs & mailings being a distaster & one-off record contracts burning numerous bridges.

We don't really know the details of the most recent deal with WB, do we? Yes, we know what was hyped, but we have also seen what was not delivered. Perhaps the return of his master recordings was conditional? We may never know.

Bunsterdk said:

LBrent said:

LittlePurpleYoda said:

Alan Leeds said it best when he told Prince that he was the only slave that owned the plantation.

Prince was inarguably the most gifted artist of his generation, but he was also a petulant twat who wanted to have his cake & eat it, too. He was given the tools to create his art by a record label & willingly entered into a contract to make that happen. As he later discovered, other artists (such as Ani DiFranco) find a measure of success without the assistance of a major label. Even knowing he recorded at a pace that WB would not allow him to saturate the market, he saw dollar signs as his peers in the industry signed huge deals & he wanted the same. Rather than look elsewhere, or shift his focus, he instead spent years boasting about being "number one at the bank," enslaving fans to years of nonsense & substandard music, as his releases became questionable, with release dates becoming inconsistent, reliance on music clubs & mailings being a distaster & one-off record contracts burning numerous bridges.

We don't really know the details of the most recent deal with WB, do we? Yes, we know what was hyped, but we have also seen what was not delivered. Perhaps the return of his master recordings was conditional? We may never know.

Naw, Prince owning the plantation would be being the ceo of WB. I can see his point, i really, really can. Lots of people have been destroyed in their souls because some corporate entity gave them a good salary or living. I can only speak for myself and my experiences and what I've seen happen to others. It is possible to become brainwashed, prince has referred to it as being hypnotized in the song Slave, "how'd they keep me under for so long?" it's true, it really is but Prince wasn't saying that when he was winning grammys and riding high, you only look at those kinds of things when shit gets fucked up. Prince was young when he was signed, so damned young and so talented so he never got trapped in the kinds of contracts which end musicians career, it used to be, an act was signed to a three record deal, if the first record flopped, the second album would never be financed and they would never get out of the contract, therefore they would be done in the businness, just horrible and dirty. Prince avoided that fate because he was brilliant but the true colors of the business eventually showed itself to him. I look at it the same way as when i was in the pro fight world, i could have gone places but to me, it seemed antithetical to even being a fighter to let weak men dominate you, and that is what you had to do, so, do you do that? what does that do to you as a man and a fighter? It does have an effect and for me it wouldn't have been worth it, they take things you can never get back and even if they give you the whole world, it's not enough.