The total for Prince's first Columbia outing will be enhanced by new-fangled venue sales, as the purchase of every ticket on his current tour includes the cost of his new album, which is distributed at his shows. Since there is a value ascribed to those CDs, Nielsen SoundScan will count those copies in its tallies.

To remain consistent with other pre-street sales windows—including direct-to-consumer sales or albums that are sold in Christian outlets before they move to mainstream accounts—The Billboard 200 will only count CDs from shows that happened on or after the street date for Prince's "Musicology."

The cycle for venue sales is Thursday through Wednesday because of the extra steps required to verify that data, so the only show from the tracking week that will count toward Prince's opening week will be the April 21 show at Colonial Center in Columbia, S.C. Capacity for that venue is 17,500, so that is the maximum contribution that concert-distributed CDs will yield in the first week. Got it?

© 2004 VNU eMedia Inc. All rights reserved.

http://www.billboard.com/...1000495560

I guess everybody will copy Prince now.

Damn brotha might go platinum afterallmight even beat that steaming pile of monkey crap i call Daimonds and Pearls

Damn, he really is a pimp

Well fuck, i think Sony must have something going on with Billboard.

Obviously i'm pleased for Prince because he'll have a big-selling record for all to see for the first time in ages, but I think Billboard have set a stupid fucking precedent by doing this. So now we look forward to inflated prices from every damn artist to include a CD which the fans may well have bought anyway so they can sing along to the songs at the concert.

i bet ya all the morons who bought musicology for a second time feel stupid lol
then again
they prolly don't
Purple Lovin
azz kissiin Mofos lol

The brother learned his lesson well and knows how to play the game...he took a time off the major league and got it straighten out...to the max...cool that.

Peace

Juize

"Pimpology"

If this is true then it is funkin genius of Prince!

Just the concert ticket sales alone will keep the album in the Billboard charts for quite some time!

The brutha is a true pioneer....

Big up Prince!!!!


The one thing we can all say is that he is an innovator!


I'm actually proud of the little man!!!

This is more that interesting - this could be revolutionary for the music industry. Think about it! Every artist that tours and gives away CDs could be on the chart. No more dealing with record companies at all. You could have a #1 album and not sell a record through a store. The industry certainly is changing...

FunkyMan said:

The Billboard chart updates every week, so unless you play a bunch of stadium dates during a 7 day period, there's no way you could be #1 on the album chart.

What makes this move so brilliant is that those CDs where only promo copies. They had to cost less to produuce than the glossy flap thing with the nice thick booklet and the video file added. If the idea was to move units to get on the charts, that is smart. I dont think Prince is looking for that as much as he wants to simply get the music to as many people as possible. I cant count the number of concerts that I have been to - by Prince and other veteran artists - where the vast majority of the crowd doesnt even know that the artist has some new recordings out. They all simply come to here the old hits that they know and are lost if there is any new material included in the setlist. Prince is giving us hits and new material in the show and also an entire album to take home. Getting the new music out there has been the challenge for him these past years and it is the reson that people are incorrectly calling this a comeback. They have simply missed Prince's most productive years because he was not on the radio or TV.

For those who are saying that Prince isnt cutting edge anymore, Prince has silenced them - artistically and commercially. Who else has ever had the insight or courage to do this on such a grand scale - and have it work! Watch the other artists that the industry want to make into the new star begin to do the same thing. Not onyl will half of them be copying the Prince sound, but now they will follow his example of true business acumen.

And that is why Prince is the man

Yes, I do believe Prince was counting on this as a strategy. As far back as the "Emancipation" days Prince has mentioned in interviews that he was looking at the idea of having a new cd on every seat in the venue and incorporating the cost of the cd into the Price of the ticket. This is also why I believe Sony/Columbia records had no problem with Prince using this method. Why? Because I suspect that Sony/Columbia received their fair share of the cd cost that was built into the ticket price... much the same as they would've received if the cd was sold in a retail outlet. So no, this is not a new idea at all for Prince. Seems he was just waiting for the right time.

Also, Prince mentioned something to the affect of selling the equivalent of 400,000 cds just through concerts and that if that happens "Norah Jones had better watch out" referring to her high sales debut of her recent album. So I absolutely believe this was all part of the plan for Prince.

So Far, So Pleased...

I guess a big number should be subtracted from the total album sales. If people start cheering cuz it sold a lot of copies, they need to check themselves a bit cuz the concert sales account for a shit load of album sales. It's a sneaky move, but it doesn't mean the album is selling well.

BinaryJustin said:

oh goodness i hope not!!

So what's the deal? Even if Tom Jones starts giving cd's in his concerts, he'll be #1 too. Or Ted Nugent, or Jackson Browne, or ZZ Top, or Liberace... UUPPSS!, sorry, he's dead.

This new technique will only apply, and be successful, to the A list artists who can sell out 20,000 seat venues on mulitple dates.. Prince, the Rolling Stones, Springsteen, and the like will benefit, while the "flava of the months" won't.

why does everyone say he's "giving" these CDs away?

As I understand it, the cost of the CD is included in the ticket price.

Therefore, these CDs are all being bought. Presumably, if P was not doing this, the concert tickets would be about $12.00 cheaper.

They are legitimate sales. Part of the reason some justify the expense of going to the show is that they know they are also buying the CD along w/ the ticket.

EvilWhiteMale said:

I don't that the amount of CDs sold at the shows will make the number that big. From what I've heard, the CD appears to be selling out of the stores. How do you explain that? Do you think that Prince is sending out his henchmen to Best Buy an having them grab copies off the shelf and when they get stopped by sercurity, they say "It has his name on it, so he owns them". Concerts or not, the CD appears to be selling well in retail stores. The concert idea isn't half as sneaky as record companies buying a ton of copies in order to inflate sales. Ask Alicia Keys and Ashanti what I mean!

VinnyM27 said:

I agree with all your points. Just remember that EvilWhiteMale is basically a "playa hater". He's just one of those so-called fans who hates to see Prince be successful on his own terms. For all we know, Evil may be a former Prince associate who just has an axe to grind. But for whatever the reasons, some people on the org go beyond playing "Devil's advocate" and just play the Devil instead. Go figure.

i think evilwhiteman is an ex associate. he might be larry graham

Sounds like Billboard is doing the fair and right thing. Yes, those albums have been "paid for." It's a shame that they couldn't count all of the albums leading up to the end of the release week (I can CERTAINLY understand not counting the shows after the week and understand why they won't count the early ones, but a boy can dream).

I don't believe that this will set a precedent, as some of you have suggested. I think there's too much effort involved in doing what Prince is doing and the average performer isn't going to waste his/her time or energy on it. I could, however, see Britney Spears charging you an extra $10 bucks in her ticket prices for more cosume changes during her show. You get my drift? HAHA.

Keith/Kacey

Prince is always 7 years ahead of everyone else in ideas!

Music

Production

Promotion

Selling Online (remember that one when "they" made fun of him on this one)

Giving FREE Albums to the Concert Fans! Sure he adds the cost in the ticket!

BinaryJustin said:

They always do from Micheal 2 Janet and even hiphop!

FutureShock said:

U are so right. I read it in the 94 Vibe mag. interview that this was something that he wanted to do. Very innovative guy don't u think?

VinnyM27 said:

I guess it depends on your town. It's not selling like that in NYC.

VinnyM27 said:

-----
Yes, Vinny EWM thinks Prince is sending people out to the stores to buy the cd's and forcing people to buy concert tickets.

Of course he will have no response to your comment about the sneaky crap that record companies do to inflate sales.

smart move...

the CD is selling. went to wal-mart, best buy and circuit city where they were all sold out until I finally snared a copy at target. good PR & marketing is giving prince good exposure. nice fluff piece in Entertainment Weekly, nice pix 2. as the reviews pour in, tell long time listeners something we don't already know, of course you have to listen to him a couple of times before you can truly appreciate him

EvilWhiteMale said:

True, but the ultimate goal is to sell an album (its really the only way to get your music heard), so any strategy would work,

You have to admit, this is the smartest marketing move he's made in forever. It may be sneaky, but who can argue with results? The success of this is already being copied. Blondie annouced they were going to do the same thing on their tour, and a few other bands are considering it.