I was just watching UTCM, and I suddenly wondered.

I couldn't see any artist of comparable sales signed to a major label today being allowed to make such a film, or release the kind of music Prince did.

Is this a commentary on Prince's unique talent, or a comment on the lackluster state of the music industry today?
[This message was edited Tue Nov 25 17:41:54 PST 2003 by Romance1600]

"From Justin To Kelly"

Prince was very lucky and blessed to come up in the time that he did.Companies were more artist-friendly.Now,they are all about product placement and crap!They tell ppl what shoudl be cool.The movie,Josie and the Pussycats wasn't that far off.( i watched that adn pluto nash because of my darling,Rosario)

You mean like Rick Springfield's "Hard to Hold"? Or Madonna's "Who's That Girl"? Or Kid'N'Play's "House Party" (I and II)? Or like every Elvis Movie? Or like Vanilla Ice's "Cool As Ice" (or whateverthehellitwascalled)? Or Britney's "Crossroads"? Or "Spice World"?

The question is not 'Would a pop music artist these days be allowed to do the things Prince did?'
But, 'Are pop music artist these days talented enough to do the things Prince did?'

Anxiety said:

Hmmm, point taken, but I think all those are more comparable (with poss. exception of Who's That Girl) to Purple Rain, in as much they were of their time, where as UTCM was very much "retro" (now their's a modern term!), it was a "homage".

Could you see ___ (fill in the blank) releasing a self-produced B&W romantic comedy these days?

Yowser, Prince was a lucky bastard. And we were lucky to get such a great run of albums.

That son of a bitch better honour his legacy and do some sweet remasters next year!!

Artists like Raphael Saadiq and D'Angelo put on amazing performances. Major labels just aren't about artists anymore.

Romance1600 said:

What d'ya call "Glitter"?

marcdeondotcom said:

I've seen D'Angelo. BoRINGGG! guy put me to sleep. zero musicianship 2. I wouldn't watch D in a black & white romantic french or maybe Fellini inspired film (UTCM).


Nero

I dont' think most artists these days have the charisma and personality that Prince has. He's not a great actor, but his charisma helped pull him thru. And like someone else said, there really aren't many artists these days that could pull off musically what he can and has. I don't think pop music has ever seen an artist as talented as Prince overall.

Or like every Elvis Movie? Or like Vanilla Ice's "Cool As Ice" (or whateverthehellitwascalled)? Or Britney's "Crossroads"? Or "Spice World"?


lol!!! yeah but look at these movies, cool as ice was along the lines of PR but with even worse acting and plot. crossroads was an utter cliche rom com fitting britneys target audience perfectly, as is spice world and the elvis movies, elvis admitted to the beatles that he would only ever play the same character in a film because the one time he didnt the film didnt make a profit. so he always had to play the same type of character! UTCM is completely outthere as something different, its b&w, set in the 50s/80s style, not a sort of mainstream comedy style and he dies! id be surprised if someone could do this nowadays, maybe eminem or something, with enough power to force the issue

Romance1600 said:

I love Prince’s music the best ...
But there are thousands of artist who make less commercial music and really don’t compromise.
And there are more than a few artists who have sold millions of albums without compromises.
Prince’s music is not alternative ... it’s mainstream ...

Viacom owns 185 radion stations, a network of movie theaters as well as..

BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO, MTV, VH1, PARAMOUNT PICTURES, CBS
SHOWTIME, COMEDY CENTRAL, 18 UPN TV STATIONS,
SIMON & SCHUSTER and BET..

If Viacom says you are a music "artist" then they can do much much more than Prince did..

Romance1600 said:

I think that are some artist or bands that get the opportunity to do something challenging in the commercial circuit. But I think it depends on:

1) how good you are as an artist (that counts a lot of contemprary 'artists' out!... );

2) the chance of meeting the right people in the right place (as was the case with P, who got the opportunity to produce his very first record himself).

The band Radiohead immediately springs to mind. After two succesful albums (The Bends and OK Computer), they radically changed image, sound and perhaps audience (not sure) with two ambient cds, Kid A and Amnesiac.

Björk also did some radical stuff in the past (Homogenic, and after that soundtrack to and starring in Dancer in the Dark).

Besides those, there are only long since established artists that can pull those tricks, like Bowie, U2, ...

So, no young new artists I'm afraid. Maybe Robbie Williams, Outkast, but I don't think they really re-think their careers in terms of musical ambitions etc. Am I making sense?

ThataintFunky said:

I agree.

jeya said:

get out of here! talent? prince can't act for shit, and neither could elvis. these artist were just hot at some point in time, and they/people wanted to take advantage of that to make some more money. that's business.

Romance1600 said:

basically no - and not based on whether they are as talented or more talented (unlikley) than Prince - basically the record industry, pop market and world business dynamics are so different that no artist would get/create the opportunities in the same way as Prince in the late 70s, into the 80s

It is also doubtful that there are many other artists that have the same motivations as prince to be able to repeat what he has achieved - who would have toured as relentlessly as he, + helped so many other bands and old artists, recorded so many tracks, taken so many career risks - most after a success like PR would have consolidated and tried to retain that size record sales rather than just follow their musical muse


that said as individual as he is, Prince played the game when he was younger - and thus had the support of the cogs in the machine that make artists have hits and become hot

ThataintFunky said:

Its both. I didn't like the Rainbow Children (for all the JW stuff) but come on u can't call that record mainstream. Mainstream is a constantly changing (anti-evolving) thing...

*sigh* UTCM *sigh*

Anxiety said:

Spice World rocked!

the only reason why Prince was allowed to make UTCM was because WB hit the jackpot with "Purple Rain" and they thought they would make it big again, obviously they were sadly mistaken, you see WB didn't take to well to "Graffiti Bridge"

As far as music goes, he should be allowed to make the type of music he wants, WB didn't like "Dirty Mind", ATWIAD, and "Parade", but as long as his contract was being fufilled, he could do the type of music he wanted, plus there were people at the record company who really believed in him.
People in music recently like Pink, Christina, Outcast, Mariah, ect. have made big leaps in their music, for two reasons:
1. They had a hit album before
2. People at the company really believed in them

So as long as you've had a hit and have someone at the company that believes in you, you can pretty much do whatever you want.