I love Musicology, don't get me wrong, but I was wondering.

The only reason Prince is in the #3 position of the Billboard's CD chart is only because he's giving the CD out for free at the concert.

I mean, of course people want to see Prince and to state that this will be his only concert, well hell, who wouldn't go? Especially if you love Prince's older tunes...however, since the concerts are selling out and the CD's including in the ticket price, then isn't that cheating just to get your sells up.

It's a brilliant idea, I'll give Prince that, but Usher and D12 are ahead of him and they aren't including their CD in the ticket price of their concerts like Prince is. It makes me wonder; if Prince weren't giving it away at the concerts, then would the sells be equally as good.

I mean, how many fans that only wanted to see the old Prince listen to Musicology, let alone would've bought the CD just in case it wasn't including in the ticket price?

It makes me wonder...so in actually, is Prince's CD really #3, I mean, does it really deserve that spot?

GeSmi1

GeSmi1 said:

Hi GeSmi1!

very conscientious question!

I heard that Prince's CD would be Number 10 on the charts this week,if they didn't include the CDs being given out at the concerts.That's still a respectable figure.But no,I don't necessarily feel that Prince is "cheating".

MightBQueen said:

Thanks MightBQueen.

I know he's not actually cheating, but what a great ploy to increase sales for records that you know the general publicly may not go out and buy.

GeSmi1

GeSmi1 said:

I think it's more down to his increased profile due to all the high profile mass-media promotion - interviews, MTV, award shows etc, etc.

Just goes to show what record labels can do when you play by the industry rules.

SALES ARE SALES!

What you are witnessing is a revised way for compiling the charts! It's the same as when the charts started factoring in radio airplay to sales (as there is a roylaty payment invovled from the record station).

You watch, over the coming years this will become the norm with everyone (who wants to) factoring in a CD to ticket prices.

It's a fantastic idea (Prince's best in many a long year).

There's no CHEATING, the CDs are sold (admitted people have no choice) and therefore they count.

Good on Prince

Like being arrested for jaywalking on a street lined up with pimps and prostitutes. The whole industry is "cheating". At least, Prince is selling to people who actually made the effort to see him live, rather than having songs pushed on the public by Clear Channel nationwide.

Aerogram said:

good analogy!

GeSmi1 said:

the concert cd'a being counted evens things out ..Prince is getting no play on the radio while the others are getting getting massive play

Hold up, wait a minute...

Firstly, lets give P his props for putting out, and better yet, supporting, via
interviews and appearances, yet another GREAT CD. The public is reacting
to this exposure.

Secondly, when P decided to "give" away his CD at the concerts, HE HAD NO
IDEA THAT IT WOULD COUNT AS RECORD SALES. Billboard wasn't too sure
themselves till after the tour had started. His main objective was to get
the music out to the public, probably thinking that if sales tanked, ala Rave,
at least his concert goers would have new music in their hands.

This is creative marketing, thinking outside the box...P should be commended
for this. However, while P was doing it to get his music heard, let's not
underestimate this point, TO GET HIS MUSIC HEARD...now that billboard has
decided that concert giveaways will indeed count as sales, OTHER ACTS will follow
suit, but their objective will be SALES, first and foremost.

P is a trailblazer once again...

Actually, in one of the radio interviews Prince did right before Musicology was released he said something to the effect of " soundscan isn't counting these or else I would have already charted" So, maybe he wasn't even sure that they would be counted after the official release date.

Moreso than trying to cheat the charts, I think he knew that that this tour was going to bring out all the "casual" fans that have ignored his recent output. And with this cd maybe they would say to themselves " hey, he is still doing some pretty good tunes" and might be more inclined to check out his future projects

Sonuvfunk said:

yeah i'm almost sure Prince didn't know the copies from concerts would count at first.

its a great idea to give out the cds, but as far as counting them into the sales i have a couple issues:

1st. we don't really get the real-deal cd. no case, no booklet, not even the real cover on it. if the cd price iss supposedly built in, then why don'y i get the real cd, booklet and all?

2nd. on the back on the cd i got at the la staples show it says on the back of the cd sleeve, PROMOTIONAL COPY. NOT FOR SALE.

well then, how can it count as a sale?

otherwise, i'm all for prince's sony/columbia's marketing ploy!

go prince go

We may never know how many CDs Prince would have sold if he wasn't giving it out at the concert. I estimate that at least half of us would have bought the CD if we didn't get it free so it's really hard to say how the CD would have charted.

Mazerati said:

Exactly. The industry is noticing this...and watching very closely. It was said upfront that the CD was included in the price. The price of the concert would have been the same IMO cd or no cd. He just put a spin on it and made a little controversy. He has always been complaining about how the industry is messed up and he's showing them exactly what he means and beating them at their own stupid game.

Probably what'll happen is others will do this but have an opt in kind of thing...like a cheaper cd if you get a ticket. Also this is NOT his last concert...just the last tour where he'll be performing his old hits for the "last" time. I'm sure that we will see If I was your GF and other smaller hit pop up every now and then (could be why he isn't playing certian songs). It's probably his last concert of this magnitude.

Him giving his CD's away at the concert ain't got nothin' to do with his CD being at #3 on the charts. It's on the charts cuz it's his time again. He's made another CD that the public is listening to, somethin' they haven't been doing for a while. How is that cheating?

HiinEnkelte said:

I've attended two recent Musicology shows, Penn State and Biloxi... neither of the CDs I received have Promotional Copy stamped on the sleeve. They also have UPC labels, I haven't opened either because I already downloaded the album off NPGMC and bought the retail DigiPak.

I know the CD I received at Penn State wasn't supposed to count because it was before the actually release date.

If you minus the givaways at concerts, he STILL would've been on the top 20.
[This message was edited Thu May 20 16:41:44 2004 by Starmist7]

Starmist7 said:

Since the CDs are being counted by soundscan, they can't be considered as giveaways. I don't think the IRS would take too kindly to that at tax time.

BlaqueKnight said:

yeah, that's what I'm talking about, the soundscan count. It was calculated before, I don't know what the totals are now, but the first week 'Musicology' was on the charts, if you deducted that amount from the total sales, he still was above those below him in sales...
[This message was edited Thu May 20 16:56:35 2004 by Starmist7]

GeSmi1 said:

Like you said, it is an INGENIUS idea!! But from what Prince is saying, you get BOTH CD and Concert TICKET with the sale price..nothing is free. I mean, this is Prince...free??? HA! He's charging $5 for an 11 minute video clip I don't think he's cheating, I think he's thinking of ways to make himself more money, which is what he's best at besides music He thought of a new concept no one else thought of, its different and yes a bit unorthodox, but I think he should deserves the admiration and sales counts he's getting for it. I just wish he'd release more outtakes!! I'll pay money for that!

I'd like to think of it as LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD.

And a great move, I might add.

Too bad this approach would only REALLY work for "legacy artists" (as someone put it) like Aerosmith, Metalica, The Eagles, Elton John, etc. that could front the $$$ for a tour like this one.

But goodie for them too, if they do the same!

But, all the same, this approach could deffinately help other more grounded independent artists get a little mo' recognition. Ani Difranco could pull off some pretty good numbers, I bet. Maybe not Prince's sales, but still a pretty good climb up a rather horrid chart. Or what about OZZFEST? All those jokers on one CD that is given out at a show.

I'd love to see this sort of system take on a lot of forms.

as if the whole "soundscan" system isn't cheatin'

alot of mom and pop' record stores are not equipped w/ this tech. so is soundscan a true representation of record sales....?

i think not
[This message was edited Fri May 21 9:58:30 2004 by isthisdadawn]

[/quote] I think he knew that that this tour was going to bring out all the "casual" fans that have ignored his recent output. And with this cd maybe they would say to themselves " hey, he is still doing some pretty good tunes" and might be more inclined to check out his future projects[quote]

I am the PERFECT EXAMPLE of this. (P lost me after SOOT, really didn't even like SOOT that much. I guess I like the Rude Boy the best. )
But I am glad P did it, because I am finding music that I really like but never noticed because it did not get radio play. Now I am digging P all over again.

prodigalfan said:

What is up with people and SOOT lately? It's SOTT


.
[This message was edited Fri May 21 12:19:39 2004 by Universaluv]

Universaluv said:

Yeah! Goddamnit!