prince and the art of career suicide
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let me ask you a question: what’s the difference between prince and trent reznor? the answer is quite simple and gives gives us a look at two distinct camps in the entertainment industry.
the artist formerly known
in an effort to ‘reclaim his art on the internet’, prince is planning to sue youtube, ebay and the pirate bay. the move comes as somewhat of a surprise since acts like this are usually reserved for for the record industry (i.e. the big labels) with whom prince has had a rocky relationship to say the least. furthermore, it is an interesting about-face. before he decided to reclaim his place on the internet throne, prince was last seen giving away copies of his album ‘planet earth’, for free with a british sunday paper.
also ran: metallica, elton john, and just about every other entertainer out there.
the people’s artist
representing the other camp, we have trent reznor of nine inch nails. known for publicly lashing out against the record industry, the nine inch nails front-man has posted tracks from ‘year zero’ on the pirate bay and has made other material available for download, directly from the band’s site. furthermore, reznor was recently quoted in china as making the following statement,
as for the special situation in china, it does not seem to be easy to obtain western music via legal channels, so i have the following suggestion for our fans: if you can find and buy our legal cds, i express my thanks for your support. if you cannot find it, i think that downloading from the Internet is a more acceptable option than buying pirated cds. our music is easy to find on the internet, and you might not need to spend much effort to find most of our songs. if you like our songs after you’ve heard them, please feel free to share it with your friends. as i have put all my effort and heart into my music, i sincerely hope that more and more people can share the enjoyment with us.
also ran: trey parker and matt stone, many indie bands
so what does this say about the entertainment industry?
the positions that these two artists have taken (they aren’t the only ones but they are the most vocal/popular) shed light on the two major problems with the entertainment industry that are the main cause of the content piracy problem.
1. content is not ubiquitously available
if content is not available everywhere and accessible anytime, people who are locked out will have to turn to the black market to get that content. furthermore, if content is not made available everywhere at the same time, there will be people who do not wish to wait another 6 months to get your content while others are already enjoying it, and these people will steal it instead.
2. content is not fairly priced
this is perhaps the touchiest point in the whole debate. consumers argue that the record labels are fleecing them and trent reznor has given legitimacy to the claim. consumers not only argue that content is generally overpriced but that the additional revenue isn’t going into the pockets of the content producer. if prices were lowered and the artists were given a more reasonable share of the revenue (as defined by the consumers) perhaps we would all be happier. of course this is also the argument that can most easily be challenged.
so what are prince’s odds?
just like reznor’s position has gave him a huge amount of free publicity and has made him a godlike figure in the eyes of the consumers, prince’s decision is going to have the exact opposite effect at a time that he could really use some good press. the lawsuits won’t do prince any good. youtube is going to comply and take down all infringing content (as is their policy), only substantially decreasing the artist’s online visibility, and not only is the pirate bay not going to comply but they’re going to throw the lawsuit and the take down notices back in the face of the artist formerly known.
Technorati Tags: prince, nin, nine inch nails, trent reznor, music, entertainment, riaa, youtube, the pirate bay, ebay, metallica, elton john, trey parker, matt stone
September 14th, 2007 at 4:33 am
Furthermore, Trent Reznor can kick Prince’s ass. (:
September 14th, 2007 at 5:40 am
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September 14th, 2007 at 8:13 am
I suppose with the partial destruction of Net Radio over the summer, this Prince probably has some stronger legal precedents than he did before. Well, we love the guy, hate the guy, but he’s from Minneapolis and thus kin. We in the Twin Cities, we treat him like the misbehaved younger brother that probably end up as a crack head in jail… but still making good music
September 14th, 2007 at 8:42 am
I think it is interesting to note that Trent Reznor’s music has been more technologically demanding than Prince’s music. It has won him many tekkie fans. As technology continues to affect the industry, artists like Reznor who have a strong foundation and long-standing fan base in a place where others have not, are going to be smarter about finding the right balance between making a living and pleasing fans. Prince has had some really good success with online sales of his newer material, but I would still consider him a late-comer … at least compared to Reznor and some other, younger bands.
Trust the colonists. They know things.
September 14th, 2007 at 10:03 am
Don’t you think there is a crucial difference between giving your content away and someone ELSE giving your content away? No question that online distribution is important to acquiring new fans, but Prince already has plenty and that is not his goal.
What is the difference between Reznor and Prince? Probably about 80 million records sold. Frankly, he’s not losing much pissing off the YT crowd or the rest of the torrent folks.
Not everything works with the online model and if anyone can do without it, Prince is that guy. I think it’s time to take into account that decisions are made with more than just dollars in mind, sometimes it is about respect or control or tradition. In that light, his decision not only makes sense, it’s probably best.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
You make very good points, Ryan. I also think that, since Prince is relying so much on Internet sales and doing things that might jeopardize his ability to be carried in stores all over the world, he has a vested interest in controlling content online.
It will be interesting to see just what the lawsuit entails. That could shed a lot of light on his perspective.
I still think he’s fighting a losing battle, though. Actually, I think the battle was lost a few years ago.
September 15th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Despite this being now positioned as Prince vs Trent Reznor for the unofficial title of People’s Artist, they have a lot in common especially their mistrust of the major labels. Trent Reznor was especially livid with the major labels for trying to rip off fans and he highlights that instead of using the widespread reach of the internet to further enhance distribution, labels spend more energy to create digital domain roadblocks in order to preserve their existing fat margins via traditional distribution. For full text of my chat with Reznor in China you can go to http://www.music2dot0.com/archives/36
September 16th, 2007 at 11:12 am
I totally agree with the article.
September 17th, 2007 at 12:06 am
Great article.
Totally agree with you. People are uploading Prince videos just for kicks now, it has nothing to do with being a fan.
The only ones that are hurt in this are the real Prince fans.
September 18th, 2007 at 5:05 am
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September 21st, 2007 at 3:12 am
Prince just lives to be in the spotlight. If he could he would open his own record store and then ban it for illegal distribution. He loves his music like they are his children yet he wants us all to listen to it. Whatever the case, I love his music and will always purchase it… or download it… or borrow it… sorry Prince!
October 17th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
that candy ass prince sent me a threatening message on my YouTube channel about suing me for slander for a vlog i made about the lol-suit. can’t wait to meet him in court. fucking lulz.