I mean, the production costs of a CD will not be more than a dollar or two, if not less. And he's gonna make enough money from the concert tickets anyway.

My guess is that Prince is tired of being an unheard, independent artist AND is tired of the current state of music in general. He wants his music, so-called "real music by real musicians", to be heard by the masses again, because he AND the public deserve to. So he produced "Musicology", an album that is all about "the feeling music gave you back in the day", but unfortunately for Prince it turns out that the major record companies don't want to burn their fingers on it ('real music' is a little too dangerous these days, plus Prince has a reputation of being a pain in the ass for record companies).

So what now in order to promote this album and his vision on music? He organises a 'greatest hits' tour to attract as many people as possible and visits all major TV shows to promote this tour. At some TV shows he plays the old hits, at others some material from the new album.

A lot of people suddenly realise he is still around and still kicks ass live. They buy a ticket to the concert and receive the new album for free. They would not have bought it otherwise, because they haven't heard it on the radio, didn't see it on MTV and the likes, didn't see any adds in magazines and on TV, etc.

After the great gig they pop the CD in their CD-player and most likely they wil hear a few good song on it (I mean, every vocal Prince album has at least a few good to very good tracks, so why not "Musicology"). Their interest is sparked again. Word of mouth could do the rest and make the album a (minor) hit and generate more demand for Prince albums.

And voila, Prince is back in the picture, record companies will realise he can still make them some money and they might be more willing to make a deal with Prince on terms suitable for both parties.

I really wouldn't be surprised if this is what Prince's plan is right now. Am I deluded or does this theory make any sense?

Actually, that's pretty much the same theory I have.

BorisFishpaw said:

Yeah, it does make sense in a way, doesn't it? Prince doesn't have much options left at this point, I guess...

Agree with what you say-however, Prince is already recieving the most positive media coverage he has since Diamonds and Pearls. Meaning-he's already "back in the picture" so to speak.

skywalker said:

Yes, but that is mainly because he's willing to play the promotional game again (doing all these TV shows and visiting all kind of events that have media value), and is giving the people what they want initially (the hits). I bet they wouldn't have let Prince open the Grammy's without Beyonce, playing 'Musicology, if ya know what I mean...

He also repeatedly (Leno, Ellen) asked the people to bring their children. Asking for this does not only help selling extra tickets, but also give him a chance to show the kids (new audience) what Prince is all about: very good (live) music and a great show! I'm beginning to suspect he (and/or his business advisors) might be smarter than we sometimes believe...