Prince caused a lot of trouble from the middle 90's onward to today, that is the reason for his loss of respect/status in the industry. (not talking about musically, talking about the business) Think about it, if you were a record exec you might hate this guy too.

But shift back to the years from 1990 to 1994 and most executives in the industry and media (like him or not) still all labeled him "genius" and gave mad respect and leeway. For example, at the close of the 80's/ beginning of the 90's Prince won so many lifetime achievement awards it ain't funny (AMA, Grammy, Billboard,British, Soul Train, Naacp, Essence, etc. and the there is that legendary $100 mil. contract for an artist who had peaked not 1 year ago, but 8 years ago (1984-1992)

Please I love Prince's music to death and followed it's creators' career across 3 decades, but the guy must have the worst management/publicist/business skills in the history of entertainment. Oh and then there was the name thing...oh my lawd.

Prince is music's Marlon Brando. nuff said
[This message was edited Tue Jul 15 21:37:53 PDT 2003 by lmas]

I think when he changed his name and started to write "slave" on his face, many people thought he had gone crazy or somthin' (maybe he did!). From then on though, the media portrayed him as just another Michael Jackson (now that boy's got some real problems!). It's unfortunate, but it's the music that got me interested, not the media!

Interesting, the brother gets a little enlightenment, gets tired of being raped by Warners for his craft and seeks to start an independent distribution network through the web. If you were an exec would you not be afraid and a little upset. Usually when one seeks to challenge the status quo those trying to protect the establishment fight the most to squash any radical thinking. Probably will be remembered as a pioneer for artist rights.

I agree with you that his business decisions sometimes leave one guessing, but you have to expect that from someone who's probably never really challenged on a regular basis. They tend to think that everythin they say or do is right.

Vincent Van Gogh or Salvador Dali didn't give a fuck about to be respected in the entertainment community

popgodazipa said:[quote]Interesting, the brother gets a little enlightenment, gets tired of being raped by Warners for his craft

Warners never "raped" him for his craft. The relationship was good once - they made Prince. And even when it soured, for the rest of the contract, they still presented what Prince did with a lot of class.

I think Prince knows this and deep inside he feels like a bit of a jerk for the way he played things back then. He won't stop going on about WB to this day.
[This message was edited Tue Jul 15 23:27:26 PDT 2003 by frankjotzo]

jn2 said:

Vincent Van Gogh also never sold many paintings in his lifetime. As for Dali - he became as famous as he did because he courted the entertainment community. Hell, he even made a radical movie with Bunuel.

Let's not forget that, at the end of the day, genius and madness are two sides of the same coin. Prince "lost" his mind...c'mon, we're talking about a guy eho showed up on the stage in a thong and thigh high stockings WAY back in the early days of his carrer. It was always the nature of his genius to shun anything conventional...The only difference between then and now is that he happened to hit the right nerve with what was happening socially, and now he doesn't. The madness was always there, like a lover who's snore is beautiful until you aren't in love anymore.

As far as Warner Brothers, he exploited them AS MUCH as they exploited him. He demanded, from the beginning, things he's not "earned" the right to demand, and they gave it to him. Record Companies are exactly that...COMPANIES. It's the musicians job th make art...it's the companies job to make money, so that it can continue to PAY the musician to make his art...and of course to pay itself. WB lost money on P's album for years before the conflict got ugly.

Just my thoughts!

tHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO READE "he'd not earned"...Meaning he was new and unproven...meant for the past tense...excuse the typo.

Actually, I think Prince has gained respect in the entertainment community. At least the one that counts. Just because he isn't featured in the pages of People or EW mags anymore is hardly a measure of loss of respect.
And WB hardly made Prince. You make it sound like he's some empty headed pop star with no musical talent. They didn't write his songs, or play his intruments. They DID have the cash to pay radio stations to play his songs a zillion times a day until they were embedded into our brains. Thank God that they were great songs. I think One Nite Alone Live proves that when it comes to talent, WB had nothing to do with it.
Prince has made a lot of mistakes since going out on his own, no doubt about it. But going from a big corporation that's paying all your bills and doing your marketing to going it alone is bound to be risky and uncertain. It's a choice he made and the journey continues. And hopefully those who follow in his path will learn from his mistakes.

popgodazipa said:

*snigger*

popgodazipa said:

That's pure BS.

Nobody held a gun to his head when he re-signed with Warner in the early 90s. At about the same time, REM re-signed with Warner and managed to own their masters.
Prince just got greedy and took the $$$.
Only later did he realise he stuffed up, and tried to weasel out of a deal he signed willingly.

0 sympathy for him there.

pr1ncebl0ws said:

I agree.It's absurd for anyone to suggest that Prince was "raped" by Warners.For the most part,Prince was spoiled rotten when he was signed to WB.He was given complete artistic freedom and was paid very well for his efforts.

Raped? for a hundred millon? sacrificed entertainers

wtf? are u serious? prince could have produced anything he wanted too, all WB said was we only want what we want - the rest is for ur live shows or private parties as they are not mainstream...

he was not raped and if he was - can i get some of that.
i haven't heard any one complaining about his sexual prowess so therefore the rape of prince has not left any lingering issues.

perhaps he just wanted all that money for himself..and couldn't bear WB telling him what was a hit and what was not...

Yeah Prince is really struggling in the business because of lack of respect.

You people are a trip sometimes.

pr1ncebl0ws said:

ding ding ding! as the sayin goes--you can't rape the willing.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Isn't all this WB v. ancient history by now? I'm sure both parties had their sides of the story and regardless both sides seem to have moved on.

As far as Imas' point goes, yeah Prince is probably not a record execs favorite artist since he encourages major label artist to keep a close eye on their $$$, but I don't think that he cares that much about the execs opinions. Alot of his peers in the "entertainment community, actual musicians, have expressed alotof respect for what he's trying to do.

Warner never lost money on a Prince project. Records companys are set up in a win/win prophit kind of way. Meaning there ass will be covered one way or another. And remember that the 1 million contract also meant that The Artist would have to pay a certain amount of money back to Warners if each album he released did not hit the platinum sales mark. The money it takes for a major conglomerate and distributor like Warners to market and promote Prince is small bings compared to the amount of money The Prince Estate would have generate by the end of the year. Record companys are only concerned with making the MOST amount of money possible, meaning every release is expected to be a huge cossover hit.

Shut Up Already!Damn!

popgodazipa said:

i think you typed the wrong word. The word you're looking for is PAID.

Why even worry about this?

Nefertiti said:

Exactly! too late 4 this talk now!

prince was equally responsible for what happened to him with WB. he should have READ the contract, not just signed it.

just wondering - has anyone, anytime ever once heard of prince actually apologize for the mistakes he's made?

to WB? to his fans for all of the NPGMC delivery fiascos? for some of his more (arguably) questionable lyrics?

i think if prince has lost respect in the entertainment community it's for failing to acknowledge that his judgment is less than perfect and that he, too, has fucked up now and again. my 2c

shygirl said:

Don't let BlaqueKnight catch you saying that! It'll be on!

I joke, but I made the same argument on another thread in May and he got on me!

yeah but does anybody see the similarites between Prince and Brando...it's creepy

pr1ncebl0ws said:

---

I guess REM are not greedy artist. After all they worked for Warners for free (LOL) Everybody wants to get paid for what they are worth. There is nothing wrong with getting paid.

Don't you think it is interesting that REM, who have not sold as many records as Prince were able to get back their masters and then proceed to put out the biggest bomb CD of their entire carreers. Is it not interesting that they have not been dropped by WB yet.

lmas said:

---
The last time I looked Marlon is 400 plus pounds.

XxAxX said:

---
Why the fuck should he apologize to a corporation? You apologize to people not corporate entities.

WB made shit loads of money off of Prince. Some dumbass executive gave the green light to his wasteful side projects. What should he apoligize for. He does not have a contract and must hustle for himself. Some fat cat excutives wreaked WB and received a nice golden parachute.

In addtion, no one forces fans to buy anything from NPGMC or listen to the lyrics.

Meloh9 said:

---

Finally, someone who understands the crooked record industry.

All artist should learn one thing from the Prince situation.
No matter how talented you are or how many CD's you sell you are just a product to them and once they think your fading they will drop you like a hot potato.

All artist should get all the money and perks they can from the record company.

What the hell...? Anytime anyone in the industry talks about him you hear the word "genius". How has he lost respect? Hell, even the teeny bop acts gave him his props. Prince hasn't lost respect, most people in the industry just seem to see him as a royal pain-in-the-ass-control-freak. He hasn't lost any respect, not one shread.

Prince has no one to blame but himself for the way his career has turned. He was the one who walked around protesting in his own way about Warner Bros. He was the one who bad mouth Arista & Clive Davis, when Rave did not put him back up in the charts. What is even worse is the fact that he relies on the internet to keep his career going...when the truth is no one really cares anymore about him.