For some insight into the world of Prince, watch Kevin Smith tell his Prince story (from his DVD: An evening with Kevin Smith).<p>Part 1: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy_cLJ19HMg" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy_cLJ19HMg</a><p>Part 2: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9O130NYr_4" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9O130NYr_4</a><p>Part 3: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCm4Jxo3ltE" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCm4Jxo3ltE</a><p>Part 4: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo0LbQzdz1A" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo0LbQzdz1A</a>
Perhaps it makes sense. Artists will soon make their money via concerts. Prince has a series of concerts coming up. He has a huge old-school fan base, so does not need to get his songs out there (people already know him).<p>His new songs then are more 'rare' among his core demographic (not teens) -> driving more people to his concerts, where he makes the money.<p>Remember that prince, back in 2001 ALREADY jumped on the internet bandwagon. He offered his songs for download then - he is not anti-internet, he has tried it and has changed his model.<p>Remember, this dude makes 50million USD a year, more that most of you will make if your startup sells for a huge amount of money. He knows what he's doing.
This came in my Twitter feed. Kind of funny:<p><i>So Prince is giving away his CD via a newspaper. Kids everywhere are saying - "Who is doing what with a what via a what?"</i><p>Original:
<a href="http://twitter.com/andres_sehr/status/17929286252" rel="nofollow">http://twitter.com/andres_sehr/status/17929286252</a>
If Prince can make more money doing deals with newspapers than online music distributors, then he is making a smart business decision.<p>Prince already has a legion of die hard fans. He doesn't need the internet to build an audience or distribute his music. He, like everyone else, also knows that his music will end up on the internet through unofficial channels. So why bend-over and do a suboptimal deal?<p>He does however need it to maintain buzz, hype and notoriety. Telling everyone the internet "is over" has spread his message about his new album and his own brand to the least likely places. I mean... he's on the front page of Hacker News and Ars Technica. I'm pretty sure I first saw this story on Reddit too. I bet if I read Digg I would see it there too.<p>If anything Prince has demonstrated his understanding of the internet audience. He's told the cool kids they aren't cool and that their favourite toy is out of fashion. Needless to say they are pissed and talking about it.<p>The last time I heard anything about Prince was.... when he released his last album via a newspaper deal.<p>As jeb said earlier: Prince knows what he is doing.
Prince will call his own bluff when he doesn't use internet sales for his upcoming concert series. Yep, phone and on-site sales only, just like waiting for Jethro Tull back in '76. Given that the internet's washed up, how else to get tix into people's hands?<p>Given that on-line sales usually equals Ticketmaster sales, this might not be a bad thing...
I find it weird that he said that the internet was once 'cool and hip', yet filed lawsuits against anyone and their grandmother for putting his content online without license.<p>Um, prince, what made (makes) the internet cool is the free flow of content and information. Many 'modern' bands use this to launch their careers.
Prince believes in Chemtrails and also recommends using the Internet to research them:
<a href="http://mikecane.tumblr.com/post/780660047/prince-is-all-screwed-up" rel="nofollow">http://mikecane.tumblr.com/post/780660047/prince-is-all-scre...</a><p>[typo edit]