A lot of folks are worrying about the thing formerly known as "wrecka sales," viewer counts on You Tube, etc. and such.

Would it make any difference to you if Prince never gets "big" again? If no more albums chart in the upper echelon? If the estate doesn't come up with any huge sellers?

There's some belief on here that because Purple Rain Deluxe only sold "such-and-such number" there will never be new/old releases. This is nonsense because PLENTY of no-name-and-forgotten artists get their CD remastered and re-released.

Frankly, Prince, for the most part has always been a "niche" artist; although there were times, of course, when he was in the center spotlight?

So????

I am quite content with being blessed to have lived at the time in history when I was able to witness and enjoy the magic that was Prince. Sure, I want new generations to know him and enjoy his legacy of music but it wouldn't change how I feel about him if his musical legacy dries up. I was there, I was part of it, I loved what he did and the music he created. That will always be a part of my life.

One thing's clear, if the Estate wants to make Prince more popular again, they got some work to do. Promote the right things, stuff like that. But I think they'll handle it well and even if never gets popular again, so what? Did he even care about that? I think he once said that the music cares, not the sales. WE the Fams will never forget him, and he'll live through other artists music, because a lot of them are inspired by his sound.

Maybe Spike Lee will make a documentary just like Bad 25 or Off the Wall, this documentary could make him popular again, if it gets the right promotion.

Why are people so hung up on the sales of Purple Rain Deluxe? Purple Rain sold a ton after his death and they release a Purple rain deluxe with little fanfare soon thereafter. I imagine casual fans just assumed that it was a remastered version of the original with a couple crap outtakes included...plus this release came too soon after Purple Rain sold so well. Prince sold more records than anyone in 2016, did he not.

What I am worried about is people ignoring the Sign of the times concert on Showtime. Now, that is the kind of stuff they should have released widely and with fanfare after his death. Hopefully, the estate will figure out that rehashing PR until people are burned out on it is not going to help his legacy.

BTW, did you know that the next Kingsmen sequel will have "Let's Go Crazy" in it. If the estate was smart, they would allow blockbuster films to use his songs (and not just the overplayed ones) . He should have done this himself with movies he liked. I have personally learned so much about music through movies. I became an Eric Clapton/Cream fan (years after their prime) because of the movie "Goodfellas" and discovered AL Green because of Pulp Fiction and grew to love the Stones before of Martin Scorsese films.

Here's another possibility. The episode of Empire somewhat devoted to him sparks the imagination of some 20 year old who then goes on youtube to the Prince channel and then discovers what he/she has been missing.

sro100 said:

A lot of folks are worrying about the thing formerly known as "wrecka sales," viewer counts on You Tube, etc. and such.

Would it make any difference to you if Prince never gets "big" again? If no more albums chart in the upper echelon? If the estate doesn't come up with any huge sellers?

There's some belief on here that because Purple Rain Deluxe only sold "such-and-such number" there will never be new/old releases. This is nonsense because PLENTY of no-name-and-forgotten artists get their CD remastered and re-released.

Frankly, Prince, for the most part has always been a "niche" artist; although there were times, of course, when he was in the center spotlight?

So????

[Edited 9/22/17 18:23pm]

^ Same w/ The Stones n Al Green . As 4 his "popularity" .

Well that's kind of cool that "Let's Go Crazy" is in Kingsman.

I wonder if that will push it back onto the charts?

purplerabbithole said:

Why are people so hung up on the sales of Purple Rain Deluxe? Purple Rain sold a ton after his death and they release a Purple rain deluxe with little fanfare soon thereafter. I imagine casual fans just assumed that it was a remastered version of the original with a couple crap outtakes included...plus this release came too soon after Purple Rain sold so well. Prince sold more records than anyone in 2016, did he not.

What I am worried about is people ignoring the Sign of the times concert on Showtime. Now, that is the kind of stuff they should have released widely and with fanfare after his death. Hopefully, the estate will figure out that rehashing PR until people are burned out on it is not going to help his legacy.

BTW, did you know that the next Kingsmen sequel will have "Let's Go Crazy" in it. If the estate was smart, they would allow blockbuster films to use his songs (and not just the overplayed ones) . He should have done this himself with movies he liked. I have personally learned so much about music through movies. I became an Eric Clapton/Cream fan (years after their prime) because of the movie "Goodfellas" and discovered AL Green because of Pulp Fiction and grew to love the Stones before of Martin Scorsese films.

Here's another possibility. The episode of Empire somewhat devoted to him sparks the imagination of some 20 year old who then goes on youtube to the Prince channel and then discovers what he/she has been missing.

sro100 said:

A lot of folks are worrying about the thing formerly known as "wrecka sales," viewer counts on You Tube, etc. and such.

Would it make any difference to you if Prince never gets "big" again? If no more albums chart in the upper echelon? If the estate doesn't come up with any huge sellers?

There's some belief on here that because Purple Rain Deluxe only sold "such-and-such number" there will never be new/old releases. This is nonsense because PLENTY of no-name-and-forgotten artists get their CD remastered and re-released.

Frankly, Prince, for the most part has always been a "niche" artist; although there were times, of course, when he was in the center spotlight?

So????

[Edited 9/22/17 18:23pm]

[Edited 9/22/17 18:47pm]

Man, I'm old and selfish. As such, I don't give a ish if he's never "popular" again. I've got enough Prince music to last the rest of my grumpy ass life. As for a new generation of people discovering Prince, I have just one thing to say to them. GET THE EFF OFF MY LAWNNNNNNNNNNN!!!

Most everyone becomes un-"popular" as times goes on. How popular is Mozart or Beethoven or Count Basie or James Brown or Elvis at this point? The Beatles seem to maintain an impressive level of popularity, but even that will fade in time..

And eventually the human race will die out and then really no artists will be popular.

But Prince had a great run and his music touched millions and made us very happy and that's all you can ask for in this world.

.

.

[Edited 9/22/17 18:49pm]

Beatles. Stones. Zeppelin. Hendrix. Bob Marley. etc. etc.

tomcooper2323 said:

Most everyone becomes un-"popular" as times goes on. How popular is Mozart or Beethoven or Count Basie or James Brown or Elvis at this point? The Beatles seem to maintain an impressive level of popularity, but even they will fade eventually.

And eventually the human race will die out and then really no artists will be popular.

But Prince had a great run and his music touched millions and made us very happy and that's all you can ask for in this world.

tomcooper2323 said:

Most everyone becomes un-"popular" as times goes on. How popular is Mozart or Beethoven or Count Basie or James Brown or Elvis at this point? The Beatles seem to maintain an impressive level of popularity, but even that will fade in time..

And eventually the human race will die out and then really no artists will be popular.

But Prince had a great run and his music touched millions and made us very happy and that's all you can ask for in this world.

.

.

[Edited 9/22/17 18:49pm]

oh man, I would wish it to be the late 90s again

If the Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Hendrix, and Bob Marley can be "popular" so can Prince. As for Purple Rain Deluxe, it was not promotioned well and I thought it sold well. Also if you add Purple Rain Deluxe sales with sales when Purple Rain first came out, sales over the years, and sales after his death it add up to a big sucess.

It doesn't matter, I keep learning from him and his music, and I know I am not alone. He's surpassed popularity.

My kids know his music, they grew up with me listening to it. My grandchildren, when I'm blessed to have some, will also know his music. Prince will live on thru his music!!

PennyPurple said:

My kids know his music, they grew up with me listening to it. My grandchildren, when I'm blessed to have some, will also know his music. Prince will live on thru his music!!

AAAWWW Penny, this is IT!!! Pass it on, pass it down, pass Prince music all around. Let's think of OURSELVES as the 'real' heirs and do what we're destined to do. Let's get it done!

sro100 said:

There's some belief on here that because Purple Rain Deluxe only sold "such-and-such number" there will never be new/old releases. This is nonsense because PLENTY of no-name-and-forgotten artists get their CD remastered and re-released.

Of course it is nonsense. 99% of the dozens of albums and reissues that are being released every day sell less than 5000 copies and yet, records are still being released aren't they?

.

Besides, Sharon recently said that the siblings' purpose is to release the music independently once they control the estate and NPG Records, so it doesn't seem they're very interested in entrusting a major to try and sell millions. They know the audience is there, niche as it may be.

.

Those people obsessed with sales are probably confused by the difference between Prince's past history (majors not interested by artists that don't sell records by the millions because they leave this to the indies and are in for the big bucks, and Prince making a fuss because he can't get a 5M advance per album from WB when only a handful of artists in the whole world ever got such amounts) and the reality of the music industry (the great majority of recording artists and labels selling relatively small amounts of records and yet making profit). There is also this common belief, that i've heard often as an artist myself, that artists are either millionaires or starving, and that there's no other alternative, with few people realizing that in fact most professional artists make a modest but sufficient living from their work.

.

Some people went as far as to assume that Prince couldn't get any label to release his latest records, which is plain ridiculous. Maybe he couldn't get any label giving him a 5M advance, yeah, but even if the Big 3 wouldn't be interested, there are dozens and dozens of indie labels that would have sold their soul to have an artist of P's stature on their roster.

.

I certainly don't care about sales. The music will be released regardless, one way or another. That much I know.

Bodhitheblackdog said:

PennyPurple said:

My kids know his music, they grew up with me listening to it. My grandchildren, when I'm blessed to have some, will also know his music. Prince will live on thru his music!!

AAAWWW Penny, this is IT!!! Pass it on, pass it down, pass Prince music all around. Let's think of OURSELVES as the 'real' heirs and do what we're destined to do. Let's get it done!

We were lucky to live it first hand.

Most orgers don't have a clue about music market in 2017, they think Purple Rain reissue ONLY!!! sold 150,000 copies, what a flop! When in fact, pop artists right now struggle to sell physical albums even with smash hits. There are like 15m people who has purchased Purple Rain but the new version still debuted in Top 10 this year.

Re-issue any old album and sell 100k+ units is a win-win for any label.

sro100 said:

A lot of folks are worrying about the thing formerly known as "wrecka sales," viewer counts on You Tube, etc. and such.

I haven't seen a lot of folks worrying - my impression is that most people simply don't care.

TKO said:

Most orgers don't have a clue about music market in 2017

Really? There might be a few orgers who say things which reflect a lack of knowledge about the current state of the music market. But 'most orgers' don't usually express a misinformed view - in fact, most don't express any view at all.

langebleu said:

sro100 said:

A lot of folks are worrying about the thing formerly known as "wrecka sales," viewer counts on You Tube, etc. and such.

I haven't seen a lot of folks worrying - my impression is that most people simply don't care.

TKO said:

Most orgers don't have a clue about music market in 2017

Really? There might be a few orgers who say things which reflect a lack of knowledge about the current state of the music market. But 'most orgers' don't usually express a misinformed view - in fact, most don't express any view at all.

Unfortunately, people that express misled opinions or twisted views of reality are often the most vocal. Indeed, statistically most orgers are very likely to be decent, smart and/or well informed people, as well as people who refrain to express hasty, judgemental opinions about everything and nothing. But because of a very vocal minority of people who have always been waging some sort of war against Prince or prone to declare his career over, the Org has often given readers the impression that it was a madhouse, as in a fansite full of people who hate the artist they're supposed to love since they're fans.

I couldn't care less.
I love his music, always did and always will ... I don't need others to agree or radio stations to play it ... they didn't for a while so why should I beg for it now?
the estate will have the choice to sit on his unreleased music or release it no matter what ... guess the choice is not too difficult ...

monkeytennis said:

I don’t want his legacy popularised to the point where it gets inserted into movie soundtracks or tv commercials.

Too late! I haven't seen the new Kingsman movie yet, but I hear that Let's Go Crazy is prominently used.

To me, it depends on the movie and the usage.

monkeytennis said:

I’m quite content to having Prince music as my secret. I don’t want his legacy popularised to the point where it gets inserted into movie soundtracks or tv commercials.

As long as he is popular to you, why does it matter? You can still enjoy all of his music regardless of what others think.

[Edited 9/23/17 16:11pm]

Prince has been dead for a year and a half - and people are still thinking he's going to be "popular again"? Stupid.

langebleu said:

sro100 said:

A lot of folks are worrying about the thing formerly known as "wrecka sales," viewer counts on You Tube, etc. and such.

I haven't seen a lot of folks worrying - my impression is that most people simply don't care.

TKO said:

Most orgers don't have a clue about music market in 2017

Really? There might be a few orgers who say things which reflect a lack of knowledge about the current state of the music market. But 'most orgers' don't usually express a misinformed view - in fact, most don't express any view at all.

Most people in here said PR re-issue sales were BAD, and said there wasn't going to be another one in the future. At least when discussing the commercial performance of PR. Sorry, i didn't mean to offend anyone. But some people here still think albums are still selling millions, when in fact NOT EVEN ONE album crossed the 1m mark this year.

PR is in the TOP 50 best-selling albums of 2017 thanks to reissue. Not bad at all.

Best-selling CATALOG ALBUMS 2017

Rank - Estimated 2017 Sales - TITLE - Artist ( Estimated Total SoundScan Era Sales (m) )
01 - 276,000 - GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: AWESOME MIX VOL. 1 - Soundtrack ( 1.95 )
02 - 240,000 - SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND - Beatles ( 5.04 )
03 - 153,000 - METALLICA - Metallica ( 16.64 )
04 - 133,000 - PURPLE RAIN - Prince & the Revolution ( 3.70 )
05 - 126,000 - LEGEND - Bob Marley & the Wailers ( 12.23 )
06 - 121,000 - THE LEGEND OF - Johnny Cash ( 3.70 )
07 - 118,000 - THE ULTIMATE HITS - Garth Brooks ( 3.11 )
08 - 109,000 - VESSEL - Twenty One Pilots ( 0.81 )
09 - 106,000 - GREATEST HITS - Journey ( 9.13 )
10 - 104,000 - HYBRID THEORY - Linkin Park ( 10.53 )