Prince's CD Giveaway Angers Music Stores

[Incrediblejeff]

Prince's CD Giveaway Angers Music Stores
By Gavin Haycock, Reuters,
Reuters
Posted: 2007-06-30 18:43:31
Filed Under: Music
LONDON (June 30) -- U.S. rock star Prince is to give away his new album for free with a U.K. tabloid newspaper, weeks before its official launch, in a move that has caused dismay among music retailers.

Prince's new 10-track CD Planet Earth will be included with this weekend's Mail on Sunday, the newspaper's managing director, Stephen Miron, told Reuters on Friday.

The album is not scheduled to go on sale until July 24.

"No one has done this before. We have always given away CDs and DVDs, but this is just setting a new level," Miron said.

Paul Quirk, co-chairman of the Entertainment Retailers Association, said Prince's decision "beggars belief".

"The Artist formerly known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores," he said, referring to a period in the 1990s when the funk star, born Prince Rogers Nelson, famously stopped using his name.

"It is an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career. It is yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music," Quirk told a music conference in London on Thursday.

The practice of "covermounts", where newspapers strive to lure readers with DVDs and CDs, is used widely in the industry at a time when many newspapers are struggling to keep readers amid the distractions of online news and entertainment.

Miron declined to say how many additional copies were planned by the newspaper, whose circulation is normally around 2.3 million copies, or how much the Mail on Sunday had paid to secure the deal with Prince.

Prince's mew album comes before a run of 21 concerts he will play in London this autumn.

The concerts by the innovative funk artist, who created such groundbreaking works as 1984's Purple Rain and 1987's Sign O' The Times and has sold an estimated 80 million albums, will be the only shows he performs in Europe this year.

Global deal

Prince has signed a global distribution and marketing deal with Columbia, a unit of Sony BMG, but the U.K. arm of the business has pulled out of the distribution agreement.

"Given the sheer number of copies we are talking about here it seemed the right thing to do for retailers to become exempt from the deal in the UK," said a spokesman for Sony BMG, the world's second-biggest music company.

HMV Chief Executive Simon Fox told reporters following the music and books retailer's annual results he thought it would be "absolutely nuts" to give the album away for free before its commercial release. HMV saw its profit more than halve as it battled cut-price supermarket and online sales.

The Mail's Miron said the newspaper, whose recent CD giveaways include Peter Gabriel, Dolly Parton, Duran Duran and UB40, was not out to put retailers out of business.

"They are living in the old days and haven't developed their businesses sufficiently. We can enhance their business. They are being incredibly insular and need to move their business on," he said.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

It's his music, not their's, therefore he can do whatever the hell he wants with it.

 

[Incrediblejeff]

It's his music, not their's, therefore he can do whatever the hell he wants with it.

agreed.

 

[Ahura Mazda]

Actually no, the album is not just his as there are percentages that belong to different factions, including the record label.

 

[Casius--J]

It's his music, not their's, therefore he can do whatever the hell he wants with it.

Agreed fully.

 

[logansoldcigar]

Actually no, the album is not just his as there are percentages that belong to different factions, including the record label.

Thats a percentage of sales usually.

If he wishes to give away his intellectual property (which it is), and finds someone willing to actually burn the CDs for free, its out side the bounds of his record deal (assuming any advances provided to him by the record company have been paid in full)

If not, he couldnt even tape a wee small song for his neice without having the record company get a cut

 

[Kelly]

Prince is at a point in his career where he can do something like this, and not give a **** what music retailers think....other artists at the beginning of their career could very easily hurt their career in a massive way doing this.....

So to Prince, more power to ya.......to other newer music artists........I wouldn't follow in these footsteps....

 

[jaguarr]

Actually no, the album is not just his as there are percentages that belong to different factions, including the record label.

Actually, yes, because Prince is one of the few artists who really own themselves lock, stock and barrel. The deal he signed with Columbia was for marketing and distribution only and I can guarantee it's all on his terms and not theirs. Their percentage of the pie is far smaller than what they normally get when they have an artist under contract.

I think this is a brilliant move. Prince has always come up with inventive ways to challenge the status quo where the record industry is concerned, particularly when it comes to intellectual property rights for artists and distribution of his music. He's helped pioneer the online sales model successfully (along with Pearl Jam) and gone to great lengths to ensure he owns all the rights to his image, music and other intellectual property. He's setting precedent for many artists to come and helping to tear down the old recording industry business models. He's got my respect for that alone, besides the fact that he's an incredibly gifted and talented musician and songwriter.

jag

 

[Space Moose]

Agreed. Prince is one of the VERY few musical artists who can do what they want, how they want.

 

[black_dust]

Indeed, im sure the music mojos can do without a few album sales and Prince can do what the hell he likes hes earned it

 

[Wilhelm-Scream]

"The Artist formerly known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores,"

This is the very ******ed part.
"Hey! We want to sell your CD's so bad, that if you don't let us sell them right now, we'll NEVER sell them in the future!"

What, are the music stores Prince's psycho-possessive girlfriend?

 

[jaguarr]

This is the very ******ed part.
"Hey! We want to sell your CD's so bad, that if you don't let us sell them right now, we'll NEVER sell them in the future!"

What, are the music stores Prince's psycho-possessive girlfriend?

Music retailers are co-dependent, Wil. And they don't take their meds when they're supposed to, either.

jag

 

[PLAS]

Prince is the man, he should release his "Undertaker" album