The Prince who fought windmills of virtual life
My eternal Idol, that loveably eccentric genius known as Prince, has been trying SO hard to be King (of Eccentric) this last decade, and now his focus is on his songs, specifically how he’d prefer to make it illegal for any band to cover them, which would only allow them to be heard live whenever his Princeness decided to play them live.
My first thought is, let’s give the guy his Crown right away, because he’s certainly deserved the title over the years! Have you noticed how hard he’s made it to even hear, or buy, his new music? He must be so rich that he just doesn’t give a **. He’s one of only a handful of musicians who can still eat while being this difficult to pay! THAT right there is uber-crazy-man! And when he does tour, twice a decade, the dates are ultra-exclusive and only in the biggest of venues… it’s hard to follow him live, even when you’re trying to support his artistry… ..But you gotta love him for the chutzpa!
Also he’s been very vocal about how music (especially his) should never be downloaded illegally and all the implications of that, namely that he despises the current music industry and fan society, which really have been de-valuing music because we have so many ways to get it free, especially since that’s the way we’d prefer it!
Now you see, I really do agree with him on this issue. The music industry has changed a lot in the last 15 years or so, and it’s really become such a free-for-all frenzy of stuff-yourself-silly with music mindset, with very little consideration of paying musicians for what they give you. This is a huge shame. Good music has value, real value, deep, spiritual value, and the current mindset of the public has stripped much of this value away, because when we insist that we should have access to every recording ever made (via our mp3 ‘collection’) for free, we say quite clearly that we don’t care to pay for music because it’s ‘not really worth anything’, and this is truly a tragedy.
Perhaps it’s only true fans who are buying CDs or paying for mp3 downloads, and keeping their favorite artists solvent. The majority of the public is feasting without even leaving a tip. This is very gluttonous, and sad, and truthfully, criminal. And it insults true artists, because they do create work of exceptional value. Try to think of your favorite songs, and what you’d really be willing to pay for them. What if someone took away your favorite songs; what kind of pricetag would you claim you had lost to an insurance adjuster? I think you know how lost you would feel without your favorite songs and CDs, and if you had to pay to get them back, you’d probably pay full retail and then some. It’s interesting to see so many artists, old and new, giving away a few songs here and there for promotion, in the new business model.
Even more interesting is seeing artists now giving away whole CDs worth of work, just to interest (or keep?) an audience. That, my friends, is not just another cool ‘freebie’ for you and me, but almost a bad omen about where music is heading. It’s like going straight past the clearance bin, and even past the 10-for-a-dollar box at a rummage sale. I guess the plan is to interest some listeners, so maybe they step out and catch the tour. Still, it still looks to me like a dark cloud over music as an artform.
I won’t even get myself started on how music has suffered due to cutback funding in schools, creating sub-par ‘musicians’ who create that one-hit-wonder and disappear, or make a CD with one hit, the rest crap, and then make a 2nd crap CD that they didn’t write, and THEN disappear… awww, let’s just write that off to my jaded side.
So Prince, I feel your frustration, but I don’t think you should charge this windmill, of denying performing musicians the right to play your songs at their concerts. That has always been a gesture of respect and love, and it can only strengthen your legacy. Think of all the jazz standards that are kept alive out of love and respect for the quality, and know that it’s the best type of appreciation. So please relax, get out there and tour every other year, and let your frustrations out on that ol’ Hofner Tele, and we’ll scream as you deserve to hear, and we’ll buy the shirts and the CDs while we’re there, no stolen mp3s for this fan. You’re the real deal, so get out there and share your gift, let the music business disintegrate back at the office. Reign on, Purple Prince.
