Prince Gets Mad at Internet For Not Fitting Into His Business Model

Prince

Recently, the artist formerly known as Prince, then formerly known as a symbol, and then known as Prince again, lashed out at the internet as a whole, declaring that the internet is dead and "all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."

This was from an exclusive interview Prince gave to the Daily Mirror, clearly in support of his new album 20TEN which will be released for free, slid into copies of the Mirror.

So has Prince gone batty? Does he not realize the power of the Internet and that the future is on the Internet, and not on vinyl or CD's? Unfortunately, Prince has not gone any further down the rabbit hole than he already is. You see, he's just lashing out at the internet because it doesn't fit into his pre-paid business model.

He had this to say about the internet business model, "I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it."

Of course this comes from a guy who has sued the people running some of his most popular fan sites for copyright infringement.

It seems to me that Prince is a major control freak who is struggling with staying relevant. Frankly, there are more people that don't give a crap about Prince than those that do. Whomever is advising him on his business strategy is doing a terrible job.

Here's what is going to happen Prince. Instead of giving your album to iTunes and making some money off it, one person - just one - is going to rip your CD the old fashioned way, and it'll be all over the torrent sites by the end of the release day. Then, a ton of people who don't give a crap about you will probably not go online to download it.

Read more: http://technorati.com/entertainment/celebrity/article/prince-gets-mad-at-internet-for/#ixzz0tAESyqxl

Of those who do download it, who are not familiar with your music, you might turn them into fans. Do you think they will then run out to the record store to buy more Prince albums? No, they'll download the discography next, and delete all the crappy songs.

At this point in his career, Prince deserves at least a pat on the head from the Internet, like a child announcing they can reach the counter. That's a good boy Prince, now go play in your room.

Frankly, I thought one of the comments on Slashdot said it best, "Do you really want to mess with a guy who owns ass-less pants and who invented the bat-dance? I say just nod politely and walk away."

Read more: http://technorati.com/entertainment/celebrity/article/prince-gets-mad-at-internet-for/page-2/#ixzz0tAF2f1bA