ALL WORLD WIDE SALES

1978 For You - 135,000

1984 Purple Rain- 17.1 million

1988 Lovesexy 1.2 million

1991 Diamonds and Pearls- 6.5 million

1996 Chaos and Disorder- 500,000

1999 The Vault- 200,000

2003 News- 122,000

(it seems like yesterday he was selling over a million records right? lol... it shows you how when he first just started out he was playing in front of a couple thousand people in theaters then to stadiums then back to amp. theaters... Bruce.. Michael... Madonna... still can sell out arenas why not Prince

He can still sell out Theatres, certainly in Europe. It's just that hes not shifting records anymore. Thats due to many factors, not least that he has no major global record company behind him. Thats his choice, there are many other reasons for the downturn, One reason leads to another...

Cause people are not use to change. Prince changes every year with a new style so its like its just another artist.

So appeeled to big audiences at different times. thats all.

the other artist basically stayed the same with a few changes but the songs they play, like their hits, are still played the same, so people know what they get.
Plus prince just doesn't want to follow the rules of the industry so its noit gonna give him what he wants.

There its answered the best way i could.

Bruce, Michael & Maddona!

Well Bruce is ok but people just see MJ as the best freak show in town (how he gets away with kids sleeping in his bed is beyond me!) while Maddona isn't so much a musician as a business women who always follows (i.e. jumps-on-the-bandwagon) of the latest and upcoming music trends by hireing the producer of the moment.

But getting back to Prince . . . yeah, he dosn't sell as many records anymore. So what. I'm sure this point has been made before but I think he's now much happier having total control over what he releases and selling less rather than selling millions of something he's not entirely happy with (remeber, Sign 'O' The Times was actualy a cut down version of The Dream Factory/Crystal Ball projects).

I'm sure he'd love to reach the masses again but only on his terms and not those of a record company exec, and in this day and age that just isn't going to happen. Unless you play the media game and do what your told your not going to the top of the charts.

lildragon said:

two words: he's prince.

Jem said:

Have to disagree. If Prince was signed to a major, and was a little more 'media friendly', he could easily shift albums by the million, no matter how much his style changes year by year. And he could still pack the stadiums, particularly in europe and japan.

But Prince has decided to do things a certain way. In one sense thats good, but in another thats bad. I suppose you can't have it both ways.

gambool said:

Signed to a major . . . media friendly . . . shift albums.

in other words, forget his new found artistic integrity and just play the game like all the other pop muppets. Great idea! Now if only we can get that fantastic rapper Tony M back in the NPG and all Prince's problems will be solved.

Reverend said:

Hey, it was just an opinion of what could be achieved if Prince went that route, not a suggestion that he should.

I happen to like the albums that Prince produced whilst signed to a 'major', and the concerts he played when he was a little more 'media friendly'.

But I also like the stuff hes putting out now, and the way hes trying to do it.

Fact of the matter is that theres good and bad both ways. Shifting albums is not just about money, but about more and more peole hearing good music. Prince has gained the artistly freedom that he deserves, but less and less people are getting to hear the resulting output.

Over six million people got to hear Diamonds and Pearls, but less that a quarter of a million will hear NEWS. Its a damn shame, but I guess thats what comes with the territory.

Prince could sell out arenas.

he just chooses 2 play smaller venues these days.

tho if he toured OZ & announced an arena tour,most people would expect Cream & Kiss except for us real followers

thats not true as much as i wished he can not sell out arenas... the us lovesexy tour nerver sold out.. he there were so many empty seats... he plays in theaters now.. even if he went 2 stadiums they would not be sold out now adays.. he cant even make gold status in records now

lildragon said:

How many more times are you going to start this exact topic? first u tried it with that perv MJ.. now a solo topic with the same info.

~ since 1996 Prince has more money on his own.. I bet all these other artist wished they had the balls to do his plan.

when you make 90% of the profits on everything you put out.. albums,merch & tours .. you are going to be loaded.

Prince is loaded.

Everyone of these little 100,000 album sales puts more then a $1 Million in his pocket. NPG Soul album alone.. Prince bought a Mansion in Spain

Whatelse does a person need.. when you make music whenevere you want. about any subject .. Tour sell out everywhere with tickets prced around $50-125 bucks

Plus just put out a NPG Records DVD Product that is #2 on Billboard.

psst.. Prince keeps most of the profits on that too

where is the problem when he can say & record what he wants but has money to buy mansion in spain,canada or whevere else he wants to hang at?
[This message was edited Sat Aug 30 18:21:26 PDT 2003 by locoarts]

lildragon said:

he will sell out arenas because he is Prince.
people know that name & will go expecting 2 hear those old hits.
thats why.

oh,& whats this fascination u have with sales figures & charts???

these in no way determine the greatness of an Rtist.
[This message was edited Sat Aug 30 18:30:37 PDT 2003 by Joshy]

Just the other day I could have sworn that "Purple Rain" sold 18.6 million. Where are these stats coming from every five seconds. And I would be shocked if the "N.E.W.S" sold over 100K since you can't find it in stores in America.

i know u don't want 2 hear the #1 at the bank crap
but if those numbers R even close 2 real...

the little dude will clear over a million dollars on this
cd. This is using the $8 per cd he said he was getting from the time of new power soul. NEWS is brand new
and there is a tiny chance word of mouth will keep it selling thru X-mas , even if he doesn't celebrate.

Not bad 4 an instrumental he knocked off in ONE DAY!

"when you make 90% of the profits on everything you put out.. albums,merch & tours .. you are going to be loaded."

are you his accountant..?

people need to get wise to the fact that Prince speaks a LOT of crap (especially when he's on his anti-record company soapbox).

Yes, he's taking a larger cut than he did in before, but not much more. It's his COSTS that have gone down.

He doesn't have to pay out huge amounts of money for promotion (records compnay charge the artists back as promotion is a re-coupable cost to them).

He tours with a vastly scaled down crew. Diamonds & Peals tour made no money due to the huge crew involved. One Night Alone, probably had around 20 travelling crew.

But one thing that Prince doesn't mention is that his distribution and production costs will be HUGE compared to the WB years. He can't guarantee large numbers of stock orders as he's not doing he commercial thing and more importantly he encourages his harcore fans to buy through his website - low stock orders means he gets a very bad price per disc. scales of economy.

put it this way, if he wasn't still collecting royalities from Kiss, Purpe Rain and 1999, he would be 'fucked at the bank' to put it in his terms.

>put it this way, if he wasn't still collecting royalities from Kiss, Purpe Rain and 1999, he would be 'fucked at the bank' to put it in his terms.<

He still makes a killing from going out on tour. And his DVD seems to be selling very well right now.

VinnyM27 said:

Actually,I have seen the NEWS CD at my local Media Play

Joshy said:

Prince will not sell out arena's anymore precisely because he is Prince.
People are 'fascinated' with sales figures because they can say a lot about the greatness of an artist. In the case of Prince he used to sell a lot simply because his albums were masterpieces and innovative. Since the ending of the 80's that is gone and so are the sales and arena concerts.

Abrazo said:

Prince won't sell out arenas because he doesn't have that many fans anymore. He's just not mainstream. His fanbase is smaller yet more hardcore. I believe this is why he plays smaller venues with expensive tickets. That won't change. It's all marketing.