Do you think Prince could've had the same worldwide appeal as Madonna? I use her as an example because, personally I feel Prince's sex appeal and "danger" could be comporable to her. I feel if he put more money into his promo (i.e. videos, tours, better movies), he could easily rival Madonna in terms of worldwide popularity. Madonna was a true worldwide star whereas Prince, arguably, never made it that far in terms of worldwide popularity. People all over the world can recognize an MJ or Madonna song or see a picture of them and know who they are. Prince, not so much.

[Snip - luv4u]

TrivialPursuit said:

Of course OP has a point, where Prince was usually playing arenas in europe, usa and japan, Madonna and MJ were selling out stadiums on almost every continent.

Both MJ and Madonna are in the top 10 best selling artitst wordwide, Prince isnt even top 20.

I always wondered about this mayself. I think Prince isn't as commercial as you might think for such a superstar. Madonna and MJ had a much wider appeal and were more accessible. I mean, can you imagine MAdonna or MJ releasing an album like ATWIAD in the 80's?

Yes, of course.

But I really dislike when we play Armchair RecordExec around here. Philosophically. Absolutely there are ways he could have been more of a mainstream pop monolith like a Madonna or a Michael Jackson.., I mean this is why WB wanted him to slow down releases and not do one every year, pare down multi-disc concepts into formats more palatable for the consumer, play nice cheesin' it with big time press and better PR moves and the like.., but the thing is, do we as fans of his music really want that? More Diamonds & Pearls, less Crystal Ball? More Batman, less Around the World in a Day? "Bad"?

I mean what are we advocating here exactly, ways to ca$h out systemically? The premise behind these always feels so contrary to everything Prince was... everything would be different...

[Edited 4/25/20 0:20am]

TrivialPursuit said:

[Snip - luv4u]

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No.

Ìt's not.

Be carefull about staging things like this.

There's no need for this.

This is a a genuin question for an interesting debate.

Peace though.

-

Prince tried to do it. And he did. Around Purple Rain, he was bigger than Madonna, Bruce Springsteen en arguably, Michael Jackson. And he got bored to tears with it. There is a reason we got Around The World In A Day when the others were milking every album they made with extensive tours, more singles and a marketing led campaign.

.

In short, could Prince have been bigger? With Purple Rain he proved to himself that he could (and to lesser extent, with Diamonds & Pearls later on), but he could have never sustained it like the others, because he wanted to let the art lead his work, not the marketing. He just wasn't patient enough for a 4 or 5 year marketing plan for an album. (Madonna, to her credit, only had a 3 year planning for most of her albums)

.

Of course, he still felt that without him playing the game he should be entitled to the same status and investment as the others got, which led to many of his fights with record labels, but that's another story for another time.

[Edited 4/25/20 3:20am]

I'm not saying this thread has no merit. We all wanted Prince to achieve more (as if he hadn't already) but I think to comapre him to Madonna or MJ is pointless. We all know ther were things that Prince could do that those other two could not. And there were things that they could do that Prince could not. I love Prince's music because of very specific reasons and of which make me gravitate to his over those their's.

I can only speak for myself but as a fan, I am satisfied with how Prince's work stood. Sales and larger audiences only account for so much and who's to say those two were/are even really happy. Far as I'm concerned all three had demons which is very evident but for me, it's about the music. Prince achieved A LOT and so his legacy is secured.

Princes legacy will out do MJ and Madonna in the long run, mainly because of the amount of music and shows etc he did. As a warners suit once said, Prince has done in ten years that most artists dont do in a lifetime! Im going through a Prince purge at the moment. And it is mindblowing the amount of stuff he did and recorded! If i live to 200, I wont get through it all. Of course Im including bootlegs in that. But not including any other stuff in the vault that hasnt leaked out.

Milty2 said:

We all wanted Prince to achieve more (as if he hadn't already)

I completely disagree.

I wanted him to achieve less. I wish he went full underground obscuro after proving he could dominate the world in one fell swoop with Purple Rain: The Movie, The Album, The Tour. To me the scattered moments where he did briefly recapture the public conscious at the expense of fleeting cheese like Batman or Diamonds & Pearls are momentary blights on the legacy... agreeing to widdle down Crystal Ball to 2 albums, taking back "Kiss".... he should have went full insular and never even attempted to have a #1 again. It's a more befitting legacy, which he did mostly manage to retain.

Vannormal said:

TrivialPursuit said:

[Snip - luv4u]

-

No.

Ìt's not.

Be carefull about staging things like this.

There's no need for this.

This is a a genuin question for an interesting debate.

Peace though.

-

If it's genuine, then what level of being a fan is the OP? Prince doesn't have worldwide appeal??? Pffft, okay then.

TrivialPursuit said:

Vannormal said:

-

No.

Ìt's not.

Be carefull about staging things like this.

There's no need for this.

This is a a genuin question for an interesting debate.

Peace though.

-

If it's genuine, then what level of being a fan is the OP? Prince doesn't have worldwide appeal??? Pffft, okay then.

He qualified what he meant in the very first sentence. And it isn't at all what you're attempting to streamline right here.

General public really does not know Prince songs like the others he compared him to. This really is not disputable, unless you have complete tunnel vision and inability to relate to a world outside of what you know.

Being a "fan" really shouldn't mean lapping everything up without any critical thought or ability to percieve what the non fan or uninitiated percieves.

[Edited 4/25/20 17:57pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

Yes, of course.

But I really dislike when we play Armchair RecordExec around here. Philosophically. Absolutely there are ways he could have been more of a mainstream pop monolith like a Madonna or a Michael Jackson.., I mean this is why WB wanted him to slow down releases and not do one every year, pare down multi-disc concepts into formats more palatable for the consumer, play nice cheesin' it with big time press and better PR moves and the like.., but the thing is, do we as fans of his music really want that? More Diamonds & Pearls, less Crystal Ball? More Batman, less Around the World in a Day? "Bad"?

I mean what are we advocating here exactly, ways to ca$h out systemically? The premise behind these always feels so contrary to everything Prince was... everything would be different...

[Edited 4/25/20 0:20am]

my bad i sent you an orgnote on accident

MattyJam said: