Sorry if this thread has been up. George is another 80's/90's star who has done very well for himself in the music biz. George has said his fans have made him rich and doesn't need our money anymore ("the public's money"). Now he will give his music away for free via the internet (and the option to donate money to charity for his songs). Do you think Prince will FOLLOW George's plan?

No.

george also said prince has let him down lately musically and that he used to look up to him and now he thinks he's done...

lets do a test, take the new george micheal cd and play it back to back with the rainbow children.. well see who's lost there substance.

He's going to give it away free because he can't find anyone out there to buy it. He is such a load of crap. This coming from a man who was caught spanking his monkey in a public restroom. His last ok song was about what, 20 years ago.

manonearth said:

I'm sorry but I enjoyed George Michaels "Songs Of The Last Century" far more than TRC. And I enjoyed years of George not releasing an album more than I did New Power Soul or 1999 The New Master. Another important key to being a good artist, is learning to edit yourself...

If you're not allowed to say a particular Prince album sucks, simply because you're not as talented as Prince, then who are you to say a Prince album is good either?

George Michael and Prince have both expressed interest in eachothers careers and music. George certainly has a wonderful voice and has done some great work in his own right.

Let's be honest here. Prince is all about wringing every last $ or £ out of his fans.No1 @ the bank and all that crap. I don't think giving away his music for free would ever enter Prince's head. Simple as that.

Having said that, can't stand George Michael or much he's ever done. Wanker.

Marrk said:

Very sad, but very true . Thank God there are artists, who think differently.

Bull said:

- Funny, I heard this same quote several times about Prince. I think George is much more mature musically now. His version of Roxanne is cool, as well as some songs from Older. I didnt hear his new album yet.

I think that any artist can afford to give their music away for free... There are ways that money can still be made.

01) Licensing. Letting your music be used in the soundtrack to a movie or a radio, TV or Internet advert. I read someplace yesterday that Danny Elfman receives $12 everytime the Simpsons theme is played anywhere in the world. That's a lot of twelve dollars;

02) Touring. The Rolling Stones grossed $65,000,000 from their 1999 tour. When did they last have a significantly big-selling original album or single?;

03) Merchandising. Fans will buy any old cack, won't they? Look at Madonna and her children's books... Who is buying these books, kindergarten kids or their parents and relatives?

If I had a record company, I would release free tracks to a website on the same day that an album hit record stores. It makes complete sense to me. Non-fans wouldn't buy the album anyway, but if they downloaded a few tracks and liked it, they would become fans. Once they are fans, they would buy the merchandising, go to tours, request the tracks to be played on radio - and yes - they would even buy a "proper" official record from a conventional record store.

I honestly believe that in the future, records will be seen as a luxury item. I think the record companies have gone completely the wrong way... Instead of lowering the price of records, they should raise their prices! If they raised their prices by $5.00/£7.50, they could give this money directly to the artist. Records would become a "prestige" purchase and a huge collection would become a symbol of your status (in the same way that Luis Vuitton luggage is).

I mean, its like bottled water... You can get water from your tap, you could even buy a filter to purify the tap water yourself, but people still buy bottled water. Music should be treated exactly the same way. If you give away the music in an unpolished format on the internet, fans would still buy the polished version in record stores.

I don't see why this isn't completely obvious to recording artists, the record industry and consumers.

Bull said:

George Michael has just released his latest album 'patience' with SONY. It's about to TOP THE CHARTS.

George Michael just doesn't want to be greedy thats' all. he know it doesn't cost shit to make an album, so why charge a fortune for it. Prince is just greedy and he knows he has a certain number of fanatics he can bleed dry.

NB -I can't stand George Michael of his music, but i hate pricks like you even more making stupid statements that are soo far off the mark.

Prince did gave away music for free.

for example CYBERSINGLE and THE WORK pt. 1.

generally speaking i don't really think music should be free, it's art and that is never free, because artists need a way to make a living, and i don't like it when the audience starts making demands.

dawntreader said:

Jürgen, I know that music is art, but as soon as it is marketed en masse, it becomes a product. Bear in mind that all music is a copy of the original master-tape. I don't think you can compare a record to say... Van Gogh's Sunflowers - the picture's value is dictated by its rarity. Even Warhol's production-line silkscreens were made in limited numbers. Records are manufactured in their millions.

Also, music is weird because its the only product that advertises itself. Every time you hear a song on a radio, its advertising the song. You don't want to buy a taxi cab every time you take a ride in one.

I do remember Prince giving away the "U Make My Sunshine / When Will We B Paid" single too. You folowed icons at the MPGMC which spelled out "truth".

Bull said:

Hey! Not 20 years ago, cuz my 20th high school reunion isn't for a couple of years!

And again, he'll give it away for free because the $$ is in the concert tix (assuming you get a big place), and the collateral.

If he wants to make $$ for him and Andrew he'll do a Wham tour while the 80s redux is still hot. And he'll feature the 1st Wham album! Hee hee.

Think I'm crazy? Look who's headling Coachella...the CURE and Robert Smith now looks VERY scary w/that makeup.

Prince has a lot more expenses than George - he tours a lot, which costs money initially to set up and sometimes only just breaks even, with all the promotion and things. He has got his own recording facility to keep operational, plenty of band members to pay, plenty of customised instruments to buy, his clothes are all hand-made, etc etc

So Prince needs to constantly keep earning to keep his 'empire' ticking over allowing him to release as many albums as he does and tour as often.

George just sits in his mansion and every couple of years wanders down to the rented studio to record a few tracks, and occasionally goes and does a Princes Trust concert or something.

Besides, what people say and what they actually do are often two different things - George may try releasing music for free, but I reckon it wouldn't be long before his business mind kicked in and realised you can't keep operating at a loss for ever. These people don't become multi-millionaires by accident.

This is the man who spent all that time, money and effort trying to get out of his lucrative deal with Sony, failed, then re-signed with them because it was financially the best deal he could get! And now he's surely dropping them in it AGAIN by saying from now on he'll give his music away for free! I doubt they'll let him if he's still with them.

Funny thing is, if it were Prince announcing he was going to do something like this, some of the same people on here making fun of George Michael for it would probabbly be praising Prince for it...

Tom said:

I agree totally. George Michael is a unique talent with very high standards for the quality of his output. I have never bought a George Michael product that was terrible or left me with that ripped off feeling. Example, his 'Best of' DVD contains 23 music videos and a great 1 hour interview all on ONE disc for under 20 bucks. Great value.

"I mean, its like bottled water... You can get water from your tap, you could even buy a filter to purify the tap water yourself, but people still buy bottled water. Music should be treated exactly the same way. If you give away the music in an unpolished format on the internet, fans would still buy the polished version in record stores." -Binaryjustin

Justin,
I beg to differ.

Needless to say, it's a great comparison! I even have a "Soda Max" at home and can create a palletable alternative to Coca~Cola's "Banaqua", BUT
convenience and prestige are pressing factors.
That said, when friends come over and want to hear the new jam, what do you have to offer? The song. A song that you can only HEAR. Where's the EXPERIENCE? Where's the enjoyment of checking out the picture(s) and/or notes with the PACKAGING? This may be trivial to some, but, as a huge music fan, I absolutely LOVE the whole presentation. Without it, you can just flip on the stereo and let it flow in the BACKGROUND. We need the music like water. But, what fun is it when it comes in a boring paper cup?

-keep bustin'

Binary Justin rules in this topic (at least more or less).

George has enough money now. and still will receive a lot from what he did in the past. So he is just smart and maybe a little sincere (you can donate money for good organisations for getting his free music.)

But besides all: Michael's music sucks. For some time now. I was a great fan of his older work (faith, listen without... and even older). But that cover cd: bleh!!!
And his new album: bleh....! A whining little kid who doesn't have it anymore. Only Flawless is an ok track.

@rt.

Serious said:

I agree, I mean I'm as big a Prince fan as anyone here, but I agree w/ George and it's cool he had the balls to admit it. I haven't heard the whole album yet, but from the three songs I've heard (Amazing, Shoot The Dog, and Freeek) I already like those three songs better than pretty much anything Prince has released after the Gold Experience.

The only memorable thing(s) from George were the videos for that "Dog" song and "Freeek" as of late, which are actually not so late anymore.

The melodies have been long forgotten.

Which brings me to a point, George has made better videos, but Prince wins with sheer music.

...and that was the point from the start, wasn't it?

Interesting topic...

I think a lot of what George is doing has to do with his feelings toward his record company. Apparently this will be his last commercial studio album done or put out this way (hmmm no nod to Prince here). I think it's sort of a statement...something along the lines of "you won't let me out of my contract...well I really don't need the money anyway. It's not about the money." Something like that.

So those of you that don't care for his music can rejoice that it won't be forced upon you and you'll never have to hear him again. the way some talk about him, you'd think that he's as bad as britney. he's not that bad. it's all what you like I guess. for a fan, patience was worth the wait. it's quite good for those that like him.

imagine waiting 8 years for a P record

GustavoRibas said:

His new cd is REALLY good. It will be interesting to see the reaction when he releases it here in the states.

And, 20 years since his last good song?? (Not you Gustavo) Older is one hell of a cd. With b-sides to match it. Songs From The Last Century also a very good cd. And yes, Roxanne is a helluva rendition. Sorry, but while I still can't justify buying TRC, I'm on my third copy of Older.
[This message was edited Sun Mar 21 9:34:39 2004 by HornyPonyDoYoDance]

Marrk said:

Dont u ever darken my door again.

As things stand, GM has given away precisely nothing. But he's got a nice bit of publicity out of it.

P actually has released songs on the internet, for free.

I think GM will soon get bored of releasing music for free (if he ever does it).

PS P's got a wife to support!!
(And a band!)

See this is what I think sucks most about some Prince fanatics; every time another artist is compared to Prince the other artist's music simply sucks and he hasn't made good music in a long time and blablabla, but when somebody says the same about Prince that's all bullshit and they are thr first to attack somebody for having that opinion.
Same thing when another artist's actions are compared to Prince's, in this case George Michael making an entire new CD avalaible for download for free, with the request of donating money to charity. What does he get? It's all crap music and all done out of publicity stunts and bla di bla bla, but when Prince would do the same (which he never has) he would be cheered, hailed and worshipped for his gracious altruism.

Abrazo said:

I love u.
[This message was edited Sun Mar 21 12:18:36 2004 by bananacologne]

nayroo2002 said:

That's what I was saying! Fans will always buy "the real thing", whereas non-fans would never have bought it in the first place.

Prince and George should not be compare 2 each other at all.George has been done 4 years.The reason why he want to give his Music away is it has NO VALUE.I rather listen to Princes outtakes and bootlegs than anything Mr.Michael has ever made!THIS NOT A TOPIC AT ALL-----(((PRINCE IS GOD))))AND EVERY ONE ELSE SUCKS!!!

BinaryJustin said:

i agree with you ! it is a product, especially with all the music that is being promoted that is anything but art.

dont.get.it.twisted. George Michael is NOT giving away Patiecne for download etc. His NEXT and FUTURE offerings will be givin away or available to download.