Is the Musicology CD being given away at the concerts in the regular packaging, or is it just in some kind of paper-slip?

Manci

A card-stock slip, kinda like a CD single. No picture of Prince, but the same Musicology background and font . . .

CD label: plain white with song titles - no photograph.

No liner notes or artwork . . .

Se7en said:

Yes -- and a notation that the CD is for promotional use only.

Doozer said:

so, will the store bought version be any different?

Thats great that he's giving the new CD at the concerts... good for you prince

Yeah, great, right! Too bad he hasn't started giving away his music for free at concerts before, even though he's been bitching about it since 1993. Plus this is going to kill Musicology sales on the charts. A good idea would have been giving away a sampler, and EP with alternate mixes, or any other album, but not Musicology which should be charting as a major release... Prince, you never quite do things right...
[This message was edited Sun Apr 18 5:11:58 2004 by ivdf]

ivdf said:

You mean he should be giving away or even selling the live show from the soundboard AT the concerts... it could be done.. yeah it should be done. Why not? Bootleggers do it from the wheelchairs

He's not really "giving" Musicology away. The CD is included in the ticket price.

The first copy I received at the broadcast of the LA show had no upc and "PROMOTIONAL COPY NOT 4 SALE" printed on the back bottom right (and "Continue the xperience online..." and the copyright line on the bottom left)...

The one I got at the Pittsburgh show on 4/14 had a UPC sticker placed over the "PROMOTIONAL COPY" part...

The one I got at Penn State on 4/18 had the UPC PRINTED on the bottom left of the package, "Continue the xperience" on the right side, the copyright line in the center under the NPG logo, and no mention of "PROMOTIONAL COPY" anywhere...

I'm not sure if the actual CD changed at all (I don't want the value of the CD I'll never sell to drop by putting a tear in the worthless plastic enclosing the package).

Looks like by the time the tour is over, I'll have to dedicate another room in my house just to store the giveaway CD variations. (Probably next to my "For You" label variation room.)

ivdf said:

It's not going to kill sales at all. Instead it's helping to create a buzz about the album that will ultimately boost sales. And he's guaranteeing the album will ship at least 1 million copies because he's giving away about that many on the tour. It's all about becoming relevant again, and he's doing a phenomenal job thus far at doing that this year.

stephaniebrown said:

I noticed the same thing! I wonder if this is how they can count arena sales towards Soundscan? I spoke to someone who works in the industry over the weekend, and they said that arena sales DO count towards Soundscan...

4nowneway said:

Yes, or the package will anyway
Photos, lyrics and a glossary kind of thing from what I've seen on the web