Via Drudge comes word that Prince is about to release his new CD free in the UK via a newspaper, in addition to concert goers there getting a copy too, basically cutting out retailers. And you know what? I’m ok with that. I really am. Seriously, good for him. I’m old school in that I don’t believe file sharing sites like Napster were ever right, even with the tired excuse that record labels get too much of a cut from the price of the CD.Maybe, but I’m also pro-artist in that I’ve always felt that only they have the final say in how their music is distributed.
If Prince wants to charge $25 a CD, fine. If he wants to give it away for free, cool too. Burn as many CDs as you can. But it’s still his choice to allow it. I’ll likely take shit from the iTunes generation for saying this, but the problem I always had with sites like Napster was just because technology existed allowing access to free songs, doesn’t mean people had a right to them. Lars was right. It is fucking stealing. You know, guns are a great technology allowing me access to banks, but you don’t see me going into Wachovia waving my Jack Bauer Special Edition HK.
So, does this move throw the industry into further turmoil? Will more artists follow suit? Is this a great move for fans and a no-brainer for Prince? (After all, who’s gonna say bad things about a free CD?)
Tags: Prince, Planet Earth
6 comments:
I'm all for artists getting paid - but Prince isn't gonna make any money this way.
Maybe he sees his music as a ministry?
I am enjoying watching the major record labels implode. They lived too high for too long, deciding for us what was good and what wasn't worth listening to, all while taking the biggest cut of the pie. Guys like Conner Oberst and now Prince are finally sticking it to them.
Prince most definitely will make money giving his CD away for free, because it will raise his profile, thus enabling him to generate income from sources other than CD sales (sources that are, and always have been, more lucrative in the first place). The greater the number of people who hear his music, the greater his ability to license his songs for commercials and/or films, along with his ability to sell concert tickets and merchandise.
It's no big secret that artists rarely see a dime in royalties from CD sales. For all intents and purposes, for the artist, a CD is nothing more than a promotional tool that generates a ton of money for people other than themselves.
I think Prince gave away CDs on his last concert tour too. It makes you wonder -- here's a guy who battled with record companies and what is he doing now? American Idol finales, Super Bowl half-times, Vegas and now California shows. You can scoff at all that but the sheer audience numbers are incredible. He's in front of virtually everyone, no matter how young/old, whatever. Like elijah m says, that's just really good business.
Well, the cynic in me might say it also doesn't hurt to have the royalties from 11 million copies of Purple Rain bankrolling your charitable fan endeavours either.
;-p
My main problem with record labels is charging you close to or exceeding $20 for a cd with 3 good tracks on it. I might be oldschool in some of my habits of still buying cd's, but I download a hell of a lot of music and buy what I really want to support. Yes you can remedy this via Itunes but that's not the point, there are artists that shall forever halfass recordings. Definitely some of the royalties don't hurt the artists and the record companies do deserve a cut, but when you break it down, the distribution of wealth seems a tad unfair and some great bands have had to quit due to bankruptcy from spending money on recording an album that won't leave them anything in return. Prince issuing free cd's via newspaper is just as elijah said, a tactic to make their music more lucrative and generate more interest in the music to further promote their live shows and royalties obtained from licensed music. At the very least, one hopes it's a wakeup call for artists so they don't get shafted with shit recording deals. Then again, Prince is the Messiah so maybe he's found out the sound to pronounce his previous name and has embedded it in a hidden audiotrack 3 minutes and sixteen seconds after the album finishes. Who knows?
A few others have also circumvented the labels. Ani DiFranco and Thomas Dolby come to mind. Dolby recorded his last CD on tour, distributed it through iTunes, CD Baby and Amazon, and after, had record labels interested in working with him again. Plus, anyone on his forums/blog got first crack at limited edition DVD/CD releases.
Basically, why would he need to though, short of their traditional distribution channels via the brick and mortar retail stores. Online sales though means that even that is not an advantage like it used to be.
Record labels are fast becoming like travel agents.
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