Prince gets flak for free cd 2007-06-30 by liebherk | 9 Comments | http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2114557,00.html
The eagerly awaited new album by Prince is being launched as a free CD with a national Sunday newspaper in a move that has drawn widespread criticism from music retailers.
The Mail on Sunday revealed yesterday that the 10-track Planet Earth CD will be available with an "imminent" edition, making it the first place in the world to get the album. Planet Earth will go on sale on July 24.
"It's all about giving music for the masses and he believes in spreading the music he produces to as many people as possible," said Mail on Sunday managing director Stephen Miron. "This is the biggest innovation in newspaper promotions in recent times."
The paper, which sells more than 2m copies a week, will be ramping up its print run in anticipation of a huge spike in circulation but would not reveal how much the deal with Prince would cost.
One music store executive described the plan as "madness" while others said it was a huge insult to an industry battling fierce competition from supermarkets and online stores. Prince's label has cut its ties with the album in the UK to try to appease music stores.
The Entertainment Retailers Association said the giveaway "beggars belief". "It would be an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career," ERA co-chairman Paul Quirk told a music conference. "It would be yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music.
"The Artist Formerly Known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores. And I say that to all the other artists who may be tempted to dally with the Mail on Sunday."
High street music giant HMV was similarly scathing about the plans. Speaking before rumours of a giveaway were confirmed, HMV chief executive Simon Fox said: "I think it would be absolutely nuts. I can't believe the music industry would do it to itself. I simply can't believe it would happen; it would be absolute madness."
Prince, whose Purple Rain sold more than 11m copies, also plans to give away a free copy of his latest album with tickets for his forthcoming concerts in London. The singer had signed a global deal for the promotion and distribution of Planet Earth in partnership with Columbia Records, a division of music company Sony BMG. A spokesman for the group said last night that the UK arm of Sony BMG had withdrawn from Prince's global deal and would not distribute the album to UK stores.
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Tagged: Prince
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That asshole gives out free music!
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"It would be an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career," ERA co-chairman Paul Quirk told a music conference.
I can see their point, but obviously he couldn't do it if he were an up-and-coming guy because he would need the money. This is awesome, but I bet there will be a lot of copies of this being sold on eBay by newspaper subscribers who don't like Prince...
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The only problem I have with what Prince has done is that he chose a really sh1tty newspaper to give his CDs away in. The Mail is basically a load of right wing propaganda and poor journalism without Page 3 to compensate.
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The times is intellegent news.
Daily Star, anyone?
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So its a fucking UK newspaper. The rest of the world still has to purchase it. Record companies are just a bunch of whiners.
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waaaaaaah we want more money >
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A spokesman for the group said last night that the UK arm of Sony BMG had withdrawn from Prince's global deal and would not distribute the album to UK stores.
Oh yeah, that'll make the UK retailers happy.
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As somebody said, his(?) choice of newspaper was bad, but also, if hes going to give it out for free, why stop there? It seems pointless to release it free only through one UK newspaper and then make everybody who has no access to that pay. Free music is good, but this is not at all free for most people (I, for one, couldn't allow myself to buy the Mail on Sunday).
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Hahaha, Prince ftw
Prince has always defied major labels/convention anyways. The dude calls his own shots and somehow gets one album deals with major labels AND keeps the master tapes... that's some f*cking REAL clout. Not many artists have such full control over their own music.
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